OSCE Parliamentary Assembly discusses Aral Sea issues

In the British Birmingham, the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe began its work, in which the delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan takes part, El.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

During the meeting of the OSCE PA Standing Committee, the Heads of the delegations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Askar Shakirov and Sadyk Safoyev, put forward a joint appeal of the parliaments of the two countries to the Organization and its member states with an appeal to become donors in the implementation of projects related to the rescue of the Aral Sea.

The document draws attention to the unprecedented reduction in size and salinization of one of the largest closed water bodies over the past 60 years. Every year, dust storms carry more than 100 million tons of salty fine dust, poisonous salt and sand for thousands of kilometers, reaching the countries of Europe, the Japanese islands and Antarctica, becoming one of the reasons for the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels.

It was noted that the degradation of the ecological habitat has caused negative effects on the health of the population of the Aral Sea region, where the highest percentage of oncological diseases in Central Asia is observed.

The scale of the environmental disaster requires the consolidation of efforts not only by the countries of the region, but also by the entire international community for a comprehensive solution of problems to improve the socio-economic and environmental situation in the Aral Sea basin. This approach is called for by the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Within the framework of the session, the delegation of Kazakhstan organized a side-event on the theme: "Creating a New Kazakhstan in the context of a changing world and modern challenges", during which the parliamentary community was informed about key events related to the domestic and foreign policy of Kazakhstan.

Deputies of the Parliament comprehensively acquainted the audience with the implementation of large-scale political and socio-economic reforms of the Head of The Kazakh state; the results of the national referendum on amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which laid a solid foundation for the construction of the "New Kazakhstan". The focus was on strengthening the role of the Parliament, improving the electoral system, creating conditions for political competitiveness, and developing human rights mechanisms.

The participants of the meeting showed a keen interest in the information provided and supported the ongoing transformations in Kazakhstan.

Delegations from Central Asian and Mongolia met with OSCE PA Special Representative for Central Asia Pia Kauma, during which Kazakhstan's position on regional co-operation and topical international issues was highlighted.

Senators Gumar Dusembayev, Duisengazy Musin, mazhilismen Aigul Kuspan, Aidos Sarym, as well as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UK Yerlan Idrissov take part in the events of the session.

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