The UN will allocate $ 3 million for resolving the socio-economic problems of the Aral Sea region
The United Nations allocates three million US dollars for the rehabilitation of the Aral Sea coast. Mostly these funds will be used to solve the social and economic problems of people living in the zone of ecological disaster.
The first activities within the framework of the socio-economic project are scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan.
As the permanent representative of the United Nations development program in this country, Norimas Shimomur, says, first of all, people need to be helped in accessing alternative sources of livelihood, because with the drying out of the sea, many residents of the region lost their jobs, such as fishermen.
The loss of fisheries associated with the sea left hundreds of thousands of people without means of livelihood. But this is only part of the problem. Ecological problems connected with the drying up of the Aral Sea brought no lesser troubles. According to the UN, due to this disaster, more than 100,000 people were forced to leave habitual places of residence and move to other regions, and 5 million people had deteriorated health.
At present, the amount of water in the Aral Sea has decreased by more than 13 times, and the concentration of salt in the water has increased many fold.
Turkmenistan is the chairman of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea for the period 2017-2019. In the course of its chairmamship, Turkmenistan focuses on enhancing the partnership of the states of the region in the field of sustainable development, rational use of water resources, combating desertification and promoting socio-economic development of the Aral Sea region.
Turkmenistan is preparing a summit of the presidents of the founding states of the Fund, which is scheduled to be held in Ashgabat this year. In the opinion of the organizers, the summit will provide answers to a number of topical issues in the development of the Aral Sea region and the Aral Sea itself.
