This week in Karakalpakstan there has been a gathering of ambassadors representing Uzbekistan in different countries of the world. Heads of diplomatic missions, and permanent representatives of Uzbekistan to international organizations, are becoming acquainted with initiatives implemented with the support of UNDP.

The visit of the delegation consisting of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of Uzbekistan to 40 countries, the heads of diplomatic missions, and permanent representatives of Uzbekistan to international organizations, has been conducted in Karakalpakstan on 21-26 December.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been operating in Uzbekistan since 1993. In this time, its priority areas for mitigating the consequences of the disappearance of the Aral Sea have included improving the well-being of the most vulnerable segments of the region’s population, providing support in improving access to basic socially-significant infrastructure, helping create new sources of income, supporting entrepreneurship of women and youth, and improving the regional health sector.

“On our initiative, a UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security was created for the Aral Sea region. We hope that this Fund will become a reliable platform for delivering practical assistance from the world’s community to the population of the region living in a territory with a difficult ecological situation." - Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

After an official welcoming ceremony and high-level meetings were held in the Jokargy Kenes, the delegation of representatives began touring the districts of Karakalpakstan to become acquainted with the large-scale work carried out by the government with the support of international organizations, donors and development partners, including UNDP.

During the visit by the Head of State to the Republic of Karakalpakstan on 2 October 2020, priority tasks were identified for the socio-economic development of the region, and to ensure prosperous life for its population. A number of programmes and projects have been actively implemented in the region, in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On measures for the comprehensive social and economic development of the Republic of Karakalpakstan in 2020-2023’, dated 11 November of this year.

On 22 December, a delegation including Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the UN Bakhtiyor Ibragimov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO Umid Shadiev, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Ulugbek Lapasov, and UNDP representatives in Uzbekistan, visited the sites where projects have been piloted in Muynak with assistance from UNDP.

On 23 December the visit continued in the countryside of the Takhtakupyr district, with an attendance at the commissioning ceremony for the water cleaning plant and supply network of the Taza Konys community, as conducted by the Beltau VCC. Related reconstruction works have been carried out within the framework of the UNDP project ‘Solving urgent problems of human security in the Aral Sea region by promoting sustainable rural development’, as funded by the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security. This initiative has provided access to clean drinking water for approximately 200 rural residents. The project has also implemented water projects for the ‘Mulik’, ‘Marzhankol’ and ‘Zhanadarya’ VCCs of the Takhtakupyr region, through which 3,491 rural residents have received access to clean drinking water.

In his speech at the commissioning ceremony, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the UN Bakhtiyor Ibragimov emphasized that “In recent years, cooperation between the UN and the Republic of Uzbekistan has reached a qualitatively new level. A special impetus in this process was given by the meeting of our President Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev with UN Secretary General António Guterres in June 2017 in Samarkand. There during the meeting, the current state and development prospects of the Aral Sea region were discussed, forming the basis of the development concept which has been successfully implemented to this day.”

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Federal Republic of Germany Nabijon Kasimov also took part in the commissioning ceremony for the water treatment plant and water supply network of the Taza Konys community.

On the same day, delegation members met with the Minister of Health and Culture of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the leadership of the ‘I.V. Savitsky’ State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, where they discussed issues of further cooperation to strengthen the region’s health care system and develop its tourism sector.

As was mentioned earlier, the visit of the delegation consisting of the ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to foreign countries, heads of diplomatic missions, permanent representatives of Uzbekistan to international organizations to the Republic of Karakalpakstan is ongoing.

Photo and video content from the events held on 22-23 December are available at https://bit.ly/2WDALaD.