Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN
STATEMENT
BY
H.E. Mr. YERZHAN KH. KAZYKHANOV
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
TO THE UNITED NATIONS
AT THE THIRTEENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
"TURNING POLITICAL COMMITMENTS INTO ACTION"
21 APRIL 2005, NEW YORK
Please Check Against Delivery
PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS
866 UN PLAZA, SUITE 586, NEW YORK, NY 10017
TEL: (212) 230-1900 ? FAX: (212) 230-1172 ? E-mail: kazakhstan@un.int
Mr. Chairperson,
The thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development is taking
place on the eve of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly and the Comprehensive
Review of the Millennium Development Goals. Sustainable development will be among
the key issues that will be discussed at and acted on at the United Nations Summit. This
entails a special responsibility for us. The Commission's recommendations should
promote the effective achievement of the sustainable development objective.
Because the problems of sustainable development are closely interrelated, an
integrated and comprehensive approach to their solution is the only way to go, and we
note with satisfaction that such an approach is being used to discuss the issues of water
resources, sanitation and human settlements.
For Kazakhstan, hit by such man-made and natural disasters as the drying up of
the Aral Sea and the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground, the solution of these issues is
a priority. Humanitarian, social and economic implications of these disasters continue to
have a negative impact on the sustainable development of not only Kazakhstan and
Central Asia but a much wider region as well.
The graveness of the situation around the Aral Sea explains the need to take
concrete steps at the international level to address this,problem. Therefore, together with
other Central Asian States, Kazakhstan calls for an international partnership to develop
and adopt a package of measures consisting in the provision of assistance to the countries
of our region. The adoption of a special General Assembly resolution on the problems of
the Aral Sea could become a framework of such a partnership.
Kazakhstan supports' the establishment, practical application and further
development of mechanisms of cooperation and interaction on transboundary
watercourses. In our view, the existing conventions on the protection of international
watercourses and lakes could become a basis for such cooperation. Kazakhstan has made
relevant proposals within the framework of the International Fund to Save the Aral Sea
and at the international conference "Water for Ecosystems and Food", held in February in
the Netherlands, and the Fifth Ministerial ESCAP Conference on Environment and
Development, held in March 2005 in Seoul.
An effective global implementation mechanism requires a solid international legal
foundation. For this reason, we reiterate our earlier expressed view that it is necessary to
develop a United Nations convention on access to freshwater.
In our opinion, a review of the effectiveness of national councils and commissions
on sustainable development would be a timely step. It would be useful to share best
practices with all countries concerned.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, our delegation would like to reaffirm
Kazakhstan's obligations assumed in the wake of World Summit in Johannesburg. In
Kazakhstan, integrated development of the water sector, sanitation and human
settlements on the basis of a comprehensive and cross-cutting approach is always in the'
focus of the Government's attention. In accordance with national development strategies
the following areas also remain among our priorities: energy for sustainable development,
industrial development, pollution of the atmosphere and climate change.
Thank you for attention.
STATEMENT
BY
H.E. Mr. YERZHAN KH. KAZYKHANOV
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
TO THE UNITED NATIONS
AT THE THIRTEENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
"TURNING POLITICAL COMMITMENTS INTO ACTION"
21 APRIL 2005, NEW YORK
Please Check Against Delivery
PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS
866 UN PLAZA, SUITE 586, NEW YORK, NY 10017
TEL: (212) 230-1900 ? FAX: (212) 230-1172 ? E-mail: kazakhstan@un.int
Mr. Chairperson,
The thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development is taking
place on the eve of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly and the Comprehensive
Review of the Millennium Development Goals. Sustainable development will be among
the key issues that will be discussed at and acted on at the United Nations Summit. This
entails a special responsibility for us. The Commission's recommendations should
promote the effective achievement of the sustainable development objective.
Because the problems of sustainable development are closely interrelated, an
integrated and comprehensive approach to their solution is the only way to go, and we
note with satisfaction that such an approach is being used to discuss the issues of water
resources, sanitation and human settlements.
For Kazakhstan, hit by such man-made and natural disasters as the drying up of
the Aral Sea and the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground, the solution of these issues is
a priority. Humanitarian, social and economic implications of these disasters continue to
have a negative impact on the sustainable development of not only Kazakhstan and
Central Asia but a much wider region as well.
The graveness of the situation around the Aral Sea explains the need to take
concrete steps at the international level to address this,problem. Therefore, together with
other Central Asian States, Kazakhstan calls for an international partnership to develop
and adopt a package of measures consisting in the provision of assistance to the countries
of our region. The adoption of a special General Assembly resolution on the problems of
the Aral Sea could become a framework of such a partnership.
Kazakhstan supports' the establishment, practical application and further
development of mechanisms of cooperation and interaction on transboundary
watercourses. In our view, the existing conventions on the protection of international
watercourses and lakes could become a basis for such cooperation. Kazakhstan has made
relevant proposals within the framework of the International Fund to Save the Aral Sea
and at the international conference "Water for Ecosystems and Food", held in February in
the Netherlands, and the Fifth Ministerial ESCAP Conference on Environment and
Development, held in March 2005 in Seoul.
An effective global implementation mechanism requires a solid international legal
foundation. For this reason, we reiterate our earlier expressed view that it is necessary to
develop a United Nations convention on access to freshwater.
In our opinion, a review of the effectiveness of national councils and commissions
on sustainable development would be a timely step. It would be useful to share best
practices with all countries concerned.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, our delegation would like to reaffirm
Kazakhstan's obligations assumed in the wake of World Summit in Johannesburg. In
Kazakhstan, integrated development of the water sector, sanitation and human
settlements on the basis of a comprehensive and cross-cutting approach is always in the'
focus of the Government's attention. In accordance with national development strategies
the following areas also remain among our priorities: energy for sustainable development,
industrial development, pollution of the atmosphere and climate change.
Thank you for attention.
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