MARSEILLE, March 14, 2012, Asia-Plus – The problem of transboundary water is typical for Central Asia, where the main water resources originate in some countries, while other countries use the lion’s share of the region’s water resources.
Tajik Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Resources, Rahmat Bobokalonov, remarked this on March 13 while addressing a high-level roundtable on the transboundary problems that took place in Marseille, France on sidelines of the Sixth World Water Forum.
The roundtable was organized by delegations of Tajikistan, the United States and Zimbabwe.
“Tajikistan, where about 60 percent of all water resources of the entire Central Asia originate, now uses only 10-15 percent of them to meet its own needs,” Tajik minister noted.
“Some countries have need in water resources for generation of electricity in winter period, whole others are interested in having enough water resources for irrigation in summer period,” said Bobokalonov. “Under such conditions, only due consideration to common regional interests, acceptable comprises and conclusion of feasible agreements will bring to regional effect and sustainable developlment”
According to him, Tajikistan is prepared to closely cooperate on issues of rational use of water and energy resources with all the countries of the region, with due consideration to the common regional interests.
Speaking at the roundtable, representative of Kyrgyzstan’s MFA noted, “We use only 10 percent of water resources, while the downstream countries use 90 percent of the water resources of the region.”
He noted that only complex and systematic approach was guarantee of long-term cooperation between the Central Asian countries.
We will recall that Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Resources, Rahmat Bobokalonov, is representing Tajikistan at the Sixth Water Forum that opened in Marseille on March 12. The main theme of this forum is “Solutions for Water.” Delegations from 140 countries, totaling more than 25,000 participants, are attending the Sixth World Water Forum that will last until March 17.
The goal of the 6th World Water Forum is to tackle the challenges the world is facing and to bring water high on all political agendas. There will be no sustainable development while the water issues remain unsolved. Everywhere on the planet, for all and everyone, the Right to Water (recognized by 189 states at the UN one year ago) must be guaranteed and implemented.
Every three years the World Water Council organizes a World Water Forum in close collaboration with the authorities of the host country.
The World Water Forum is the largest international event in the field of water—over 30,000 participants from more than 190 countries attended the last edition that took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009. The main theme of the Istanbul World Water Forum was “Bridging Divides for Water.”
World Water Forum aims to: raise awareness with decision makers and the public at large on water issues and, subsequently, to generate action; contribute to improving access to water supply and sanitation and report on progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); provide opportunities to progressively develop shared visions on challenging water issues, to develop new partnerships and to pave the way for cooperation and action among a wide diversity of organisations and individuals; and encourage greater media attention for water issues and solutions
