The rapidly changing
situation, growing tensions, radicalization, security
challenges and threats in various regions of the world
today cannot but raise serious alarm and concerns
around the world. In this regard, needless to say, those
problems enjoy special priority on the agenda of the
General Assembly at this session.
The war in Afghanistan, which has been ongoing
for more than 30 years, remains a serious source of
threats to regional and global security. The situation
unfolding in Afghanistan, according to experts, is
generally uncertain and unpredictable overall. In
these conditions, the drawdown of the International
Security Assistance Force troops in 2014 may lead
to an escalation of confrontation in the country, stir
up terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking, and
aggravate the interregional standoff. Undoubtedly, it
will have a negative impact on the situation in the wider
region of Central Asia and contiguous regions.
It should be recognized that the world has adopted
the unambiguous view that there can be no military
solution to the Afghan problem. The only way out of the
Afghan crisis is a political process through negotiations
among the main parties involved, the achievement
of consensus regardless of how difficult it might be,
and active assistance provided by the international
community and the United Nations.
Uzbekistan adheres to an open and clear policy with
respect to Afghanistan on the basis of the principles
of good-neighbourliness and non-interference in the
country’s internal affairs. Uzbekistan shall further
develop mutually beneficial and friendly ties with
Afghanistan on a bilateral basis, and support the
Government elected by the Afghan people themselves.
We shall also continue to render practical assistance
in restoring the economy of Afghanistan, taking
into account the fact that economic well-being is
an indispensable condition for ensuring peace and
prosperity in that country. These principles and
approaches towards Afghanistan are enshrined in
Uzbekistan’s foreign policy concept, which has the
status of law.
Secondly, today a new global development
agenda is under consideration at the United Nations.
It must reflect the interconnection of human beings
with the environment and contribute to supporting
economic and social development while maintaining
ecological sustainability. Uzbekistan attaches priority
to sustainable development and ecological safety.
We have recently adopted an action programme on
environmental protection for 2013-2017, which serves
as confirmation of that priority. The Government of
Uzbekistan will allocate approximately $2 billion for
implementation of the programme aimed at further
maintaining decent conditions in the environment, the
reasonable use of natural resources, and the introduction
of the ecological basics of sustainable development in
the economic sectors.
The loss of the Aral Sea is one of the largest global
ecological catastrophes in contemporary history. Each
year, it becomes more evident that the problem of the
drying up of the Aral Sea and, above all, its impact on the
environmental, social and humanitarian situation, gene
pool and human health are assuming an increasingly
baneful and irreversible nature. We are grateful to
the United Nations, and to Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon in particular, for the keen attention paid to the
problem of the Aral Sea. That enormous support gives
us the confidence that the countries of the region will
not be left alone in the struggle against that planetary
catastrophe.
I would like to draw public attention today, first,
to the issue of preventing the complete destruction and
protecting the remaining environmental system of the
Aral Sea region, ensuring minimum living conditions
for the people, and preserving the existing flora and
fauna. Those key issues are the focus of the message
of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chair
of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea,
and created as an official document of the General
Assembly (A/67/884, annex).
Secondly, we take this opportunity to call
upon international donors to extend assistance
in implementing the programme of measures on
eliminating the consequences of the drying up of the Aral
Sea and averting a catastrophe in the ecological systems
in the Aral Sea region (A/68/383, annex), which is fully
consonant with the Millennium Development Goals,
particularly, in achieving ecological sustainability,
combating diseases and improving motherhood and
childhood protections.
Thirdly, ensuring the reasonable use of water
resources is an acute problem leading to a worsening
ecological situation and shortage of potable water in
our region and on a global scale. It is an open secret that
the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, the two major
transboundary rivers of Central Asia, have historically
been a common good and a source of life for the nations
of the region. The Aral Sea basin is supplied with water
from the flow of those rivers.
In that regard, we cannot but be concerned about
the plans of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to construct
new large hydropower stations with gigantic,
global-scale dams: the Rogun hydropower station with
a 350-metre-high dam upstream in the Amu Darya
River, and the Kambarata-1 hydropower station, with a
275-metre-high dam upstream in the Syr Darya River.
The implementation of such plans, according to many
competent specialists, would lead to the disruption of
the natural flow of the rivers, which is fraught with most
dangerous ecological and socioeconomic consequences.
The already fragile water and ecological balance in
Central Asia will be radically disrupted. Moreover, the
construction of these facilities is planned in areas where
there is a tectonic fracture with a potential seismicity
of not less than 9-10 points on the Richter scale, which
carries a high risk of man-made catastrophes.
Taking that into consideration, we firmly adhere
to our principled position of the unacceptability of
constructing hydropower facilities on international
watercourses without the preliminary endorsement of
all interested countries. It is necessary, in line with
international legal practice, to conduct a mandatory,
fair international expert examination of the Rogun
and Kambarata-1 projects, under the auspices of the
United Nations, to assess the possible impact of new
hydropower facilities on the natural water regime, the
environment, flora and fauna.
Uzbekistan’s position is based on the norms of
international law, in particular the provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Protection and Use
of Transboundary Watercourses and International
Lakes of 1992 and the Convention on the Law of
Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses
of 1997.
The year 2015 — the deadline for implementing
the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 — is
approaching. In that regard, it should be underscored
that the achievements of the Republic of Uzbekistan
during its years of independence in the economic
sphere, social policy, addressing specific issues
related to improving the well-being of the population,
the quality of education, health-care services and
ecological sustainability have allowed our country
to ensure priority implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals. I can offer figures and facts that
reflect the current potential and development rates of
our country.
In comparison with the year 2000, the gross
domestic product (GDP) of Uzbekistan grew by a
factor of 3.1 and the GDP per capita by a factor of
2.6. The nominal salary grew by a factor of 22, the
average amount of pensions by a factor of 12.7, and
real income per capita by a factor of 8.4. During the
past six years, the economic growth of Uzbekistan has
steadily exceeded 8 per cent. The State expenditures
for the social sphere and civil protection in Uzbekistan
grew more than fivefold. About 60 per cent of all State
expenditures go towards funding social development,
including more than 34 per cent for education, and over
15 per cent is spent on public health care.
I am confident that Uzbekistan’s continued
participation in United Nations efforts in the sphere
of sustainable development shall contribute to further
raising the living standards of the people, achieving
the high goals of ensuring security and stability in the
entire region.