Expert missions of the upcoming project Ecological Regional Development of the Aral Sea Region were supported by SLU-CA. These missions were aimed at meeting with representatives of governmental, scientific, private business and civil society to conduct consultations to further develop scenarios for the upcoming regional project. The drying-up of the Aral Sea is one of history’s worst environmental disasters.
In 2018, BMZ received a request from the Government of Uzbekistan to resume and strengthen its financial and technical assistance, particularly in Karakalpakstan*. As a follow-up on this request, BMZ commissioned GIZ to send an expert mission to
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in order to explore options for such a trans- boundary – viz. regional – project, which will involve the two riparian countries and possibly also Turkmenistan.
The mission was composed of representatives from GIZ’s Planning Department and SLU-CA (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan). It met with representatives from the government and other national and international interlocutors at national and sub-regional levels in Tashkent, Nukus*, Nur-Sultan, Kyzylorda and Almaty.
The objective of the mission was to develop and propose to BMZ scenarios for a regional four-year project on the sustainable development of the Aral Sea region, starting in 2020. Based on its results, an initial concept* of the project was created with the following outputs: 1) Strengthening the capacity of authorities and institutions for integrated development planning, 2) Providing geo-information about the Aral Sea region in high-temporal resolution as a basis for planning, 3) Improving the advice on sustainable resource usage, 4) Introducing cooperation formats for cross-border development planning (economic cohesion), 5) Piloting integrated, climate-friendly and environmentally sound approaches to resource management.
*Abbreviations/Explanation:
Karakalpakstan – is an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern end of Uzbekistan.
Nukus – the capital of Karakalpakstan.
The initial concept has not yet been coordinated with BMZ, and hence represents only a tentative version.