The Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe began in Birmingham (United Kingdom), where a delegation from the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is taking part.
During the meeting of the OSCE PA Standing Committee, Askar Shakirov and Sadyk Safoev, heads of the Kazakh and Uzbek delegations, put forward a joint appeal of the parliaments of the two countries to the Organization and its member states to become donors in implementing projects related to saving the Aral Sea.
The document, which was distributed to the participants of the session, draws attention to the unprecedented for the past 60 years decrease in size and salinization of one of the largest closed water bodies. Every year, dust storms carry more than 100 million tons of salty fine dust, poisonous salt and sand for thousands of kilometers, reaching Europe, Japanese islands and Antarctica, becoming one of the causes of melting of glaciers and rising of sea level of the world.
It was noted that degradation of ecological habitat has caused a sharp deterioration of health in the Aral Sea region, where the highest percentage of oncological diseases in Central Asia is observed.
It was emphasized that the scale of the ecological disaster requires consolidated efforts of not only the countries in the region, but also the entire international community to comprehensively address the socio-economic and ecological situation in the Aral Sea basin. The leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev call for such an approach.
Within the framework of the session, the delegation of Kazakhstan arranged a side-event themed "Creating a New Kazakhstan in a Changing World and Modern Challenges", during which the parliamentary community was informed about the key events related to the domestic and foreign policy of Kazakhstan.
The deputies of the Parliament informed the audience about the implementation of the large scale political and social-economic reforms by the Head of the Kazakhstani state; the results of the nationwide referendum on making changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which laid a firm foundation for building of the "New Kazakhstan". The questions of strengthening of a role of Parliament, improvement of election system, creation of conditions for political competitiveness, development of mechanisms of human rights protection were in the focus of attention.
The meeting attendees have shown keen interest in the information provided and have supported the reforms taking place in Kazakhstan.
Delegations from Central Asian countries and Mongolia met with Pia Kauma, OSCE PA Special Representative on Central Asia, during which Kazakhstan's position on regional cooperation and topical international problems was highlighted.
Senators Gumar Dyusembayev, Duysengazy Musin, mazhilismen Aigul Kuspan, Aidos Sarym, as well as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom Yerlan Idrissov took part in the events of the Session.
(Press Office of the Senate, 74-72-27)
