Mr. President,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
This High-level Segment of the Sixteen session of the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development has on its agenda the thematic issues of agriculture, rural
development, land, drought, desertification and Africa, which are most timely and of the
greatest importance. Drastic increase in prices for food and energy resources, and the
problems related to climate change make today?s discussions even more relevant. These
new challenges, accompanied by other widely known current threats and challenges,
impose unusually difficult tasks on the states, and sometimes become a matter of life and
death for countries and peoples. For this reason, only concerted actions taken under the
coordinating role of the UN can guarantee a successful solution to the global food crisis
under way. In this respect, I would like to emphasize that Tajikistan supports the
initiative of the Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon to establish the High Level Task Force
on the Global Food Security Crises in charge of development of measures for responding
to the food crisis.
In Tajikistan, where 93 per cent of the territory are covered with mountains, the
dramatic increase in global prices, and unexpected climate conditions in recent years
affected the most vulnerable groups of population who, in any case, are spending one
third of their income on food. Besides, the locust destroyed a considerable part of the
agricultural crops in the south of the country, and threatens to affect even more spacious
territories. In response to the situation the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs issued an appeal for allocation of humanitarian assistance to Tajikistan to address
these disasters. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to extend appreciation to
the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, WFP, FAO, and other donors for
their support and assistance rendered for addressing the food problem.
Currently the Government of Tajikistan is making every effort to ensure food
security and reduce poverty through expansion and improvement of microcredits for
agriculture, rational use of available resources, increase in agricultural crops, provision of
farmers with seeds of high quality, mineral fertilizers and modernized equipment, and
modernization and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities
Mr. President,
It is hard to imagine sustainable development without access to energy, which as it
was noted at the previous CSD session is such an important element for development. We
believe that development of energy generation by means of renewable sources of energy
such as water, solar energy and wind, is the ultimate way of attaining the goal. We also
need to enhance cooperation on transfer of modern and advanced technologies of energy
production and conservation.
Today, Tajikistan that possesses huge hydropower potential, spares no effort to
develop this branch of economy. The construction of a number of small- and medium
scale hydropower stations are being completed at the moment, and the establishment of
the International consortium for the completion of construction of the Rogyn hydropower
station is being negotiated. All the above projects are important, both for Tajikistan and
the entire Central Asian region., not only as energy providers but also in terms of
irrigation.
Mr. President,
The discussion of the implementation of the CSD-13 decisions, held the other day,
proved that tangible progress has been made in the field of water and sanitation.
However, new efforts are required to reinforce the progress achieved. Despite the fact
that over the last 15 years the number of people having access to freshwater and basic
sanitation has not increased considerably, in order to implement the MDGs on water and
sanitation by 2015 this number should increase by another 2 billion people. In this regard
the active implementation of the International Decade of Action ?Water for Life?, 2005-
2015 remains relevant and very significant.
Within the implementation of the goals of the Water Decade the Government of
Tajikistan, in cooperation with DESA, UNDP, ISDR and other UN agencies, is holding
the International Conference on Water Related Nature Disasters Reduction in Dushanbe
on June 27-28, 2008. Active participation of the UN member states in the Conference
will be regarded as a big contribution into the implementation of MDGs, Water Decade
and other global water issues.
Mr. President,
In conclusion, I would like to note that all the issues on the agenda of this CSD
session are of enormous importance for the solution of the Aral Sea crisis. It was
inadequate usage of the water and land resources over the last 40 to 50 years in Central
Asia that caused this crisis. Currently the states of the region are taking cardinal measures
to draw attention to the issue at top level forum, including the UN General Assembly, and
hope that other UN member states will render support in this matter.
Thank you for attention.
