CENTRAL ASIA: Ferghana environment meeting wraps up

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BISHKEK, 16 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A meeting of environmental experts has wrapped up in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, as part of a regional project on environmental safety and emergency preparedness in Ferghana Valley.

"This project will help us reduce the risk of natural disasters and contribute to poverty reduction as well,” Sheishenaly Usupbaev, a participant and head of the Kyrgyz emergency ministry’s department on monitoring and forecast, said in Bishkek.

One of the most densely populated and poorest areas in Asia, the Ferghana Valley is home to some 10 million people straddling the three former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The region is prone to natural disasters. Floods earthquakes and landslides claimed the lives of more than 500 people between 1994 and 2000, affected tens of thousands and the amount of damage caused was estimated at $3 billion, according to the UN.

Ben Slay, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Centre for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), said that the project was aimed mainly at supporting emergency ministries in countries that meet in Ferghana Valley.

"The project envisages helping build their capacity to deal with natural disasters more effectively, along with creating necessary conditions for better living standards for residents of remote mountainous communities," Slay added.

Around US $450,000 has been allocated for that component, according to UNDP. "Moreover, there will be technical and consultancy assistance, access to international experience and experts who'd assisted government bodies and local communities in other countries in tackling their problems," Slay added. "We hope that this amount of funds will be only for the initial phase. We will try and raise financial resources for providing further assistance."

Financial and technical assistance for the project is provided within the framework of the ‘Environment and Safety’ initiative supported by UNDP, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and NATO.

Experts note that the number of natural hazards which killed residents have increased over the past few years due to unfavourable weather conditions and insufficient disaster preparedness on the ground.

Kyrgyz emergency ministry officials said several provinces in Ferghana Valley – including Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan, Sogd province in Tajikistan and Ferghana province in Uzbekistan – were particularly prone to various natural disasters, which mainly occur between April and August.

[ENDS]