Red ribbon cutting ceremony at the opening of the Development Information Centre in Ferghana State University, Uzbekistan by World Bank Country Manager Loup Brefort (left) and Ferghana State University’s Rector Madaminbek Akhmedov

On 19 June 2009, a Development Information Centre was opened at Ferghana State University in the Ferghana region of Uzbekistan. The Centre is the result of a joint knowledge initiative by the United Nations agencies in Uzbekistan and the World Bank to provide instant access to their global information resources.

By establishing this resource centre at the fourth largest university in the country, the UN and the World Bank seek to reach out to hundreds of students and researchers in Ferghana valley while concurrently reaching development practitioners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other local groups. The centre will provide users with comprehensive development information, including the latest Uzbekistan-related and global data, serving as a gateway for public information resources in the Ferghana region. The founders will also use it as a knowledge sharing place to promote topical development issues and present global and regional reports or studies. The joint initiative also aims to enhance the capacities of the centre’s staff through various training activities.

The Centre’s opening ceremony included the participation of officials from Ferghana State University, World Bank, UN agencies and the City Mayor’s Office.

In his opening speech, the World Bank Country Manager stressed that international organizations felt responsible for sharing with local populations all the knowledge they had accumulated over their years of experience in more than 100 countries. The United Nations Children’s Fund Deputy Representative joined the World Bank Manager by saying that “development comes from knowledge, and holds the promise of a brighter future for young generations.” They thanked the administration of Ferghana State University for its commitment and generous support.  
 
University Rector Madaminbek Akhmedov said his team considered the opening of the Development Information Centre an important event and would like to continue working with international organizations in the same spirit.   

The Deputy Mayor of Ferghana also underlined the importance of improving access to information and expressed hope that more centres like this one would be set up in other regions of the country. 

The Centre has an open access reference library with development publications and reports, as well as public information materials donated by UN system organizations and the World Bank. Computers with free Internet access will enable visitors to get better acquainted with their online databases and publications. Face-to-face conference facilities are also available thanks to the hosting university.

Children participate in World Environment Day activity in Gafur Gulyam Park

The UN family joined hands with the State Committee for Nature Protection and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan to commemorate World Environment Day 2009.

This year’s theme, “Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change”, reflects upon an urgent need to undertake more decisive steps to combat climate change and its impact on human welfare. The slogan also calls on people of all ages and from all walks of life to support government-led efforts by making their own contributions to saving the planet. To help everyone lead an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, the United Nations Environment Programme provided some suggestions such as planting more trees and cleaning parks to reducing the consumption of electricity, water and paper.

The commemoration event took place in Gafur Gulyam Park in Tashkent on 5 June 2009. Attended by official representatives of environmental state bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), it also brought together over one hundred children who took part in a recent painting contest on the environment or who wanted to try their luck in another, "chalk drawing on the asphalt" competition to be held in the park on that day.

The UN in Uzbekistan has been supporting the efforts of Uzbekistan in protecting the environment since the opening its country office in 1993. In particular, United Nations Development Programme is implementing a number of projects to preserve the unique flora and fauna of the country, to promote the use of renewable energy and rational use of land and water, and to decrease the negative impact of human activity on the environment.

Participants at climate change briefing organized by UNO Tashkent

A UN-sponsored meeting of Uzbek journalists, environmental activists and filmmakers was held on 4 June 2009 where participants discussed the impact of climate change on the country.

The meeting was organized  by the UN Information Office in Tashkent with the support of the Centre of Hydrometeorology under the Cabinet of Ministers and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project “Capacity Building for Clean Development Mechanism in Uzbekistan.” Held on the eve of World Environment Day, the meeting aimed to rally the mass media’s support for the efforts that both the UN and national organizations around the world have undertaken to combat climate change.

As a signatory to both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Uzbekistan has supported the Road to Copenhagen initiative and is actively involvedinthe UN negotiations on a new international climate change deal. Tatiana Spektorman, Head of the Department on Monitoring Trans-Border Environmental Pollution of the Centre of Hydrometeorology, briefed the participants on the main findings of the second national communication on climate change presented last year at the UNFCCC conference in Poznan.

She said that the observed rate of warming in Uzbekistan is now twice as high as compared to the average rate for the globe.  Cold days and nights have become less frequent, while hot days and nights have become far more frequent.  It is projected that by 2050 the average annual temperature will increase by 2-2.5 degrees.

Ms. Spektorman stressed that at the current pace, this type of climate change would impact all sectors, but especially water resources, agriculture, and health.  In light of this, the country must be prepared to either live with these changes or prepare to carry out adaptation and mitigation measures.

The next speaker, Lilia Zavyalova, Manager of the UNDP project “Capacity Building on Clean Development Mechanism in Uzbekistan” focused on Uzbekistan’s participation in the international carbon market under the framework of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CDM helps local enterprises from developing countries obtain advanced technologies and investments to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Ms. Zavyalova informed the audience that the Executive CDM Board registered the first six CDM projects for Uzbekistan in April 2009. These projects will be implemented by the “Uzkimyesanoat” Company and will result in the reduction of nitrous oxide emissions by up to 1 million tons of CO2 equivalent a year. The funding is provided by the Mitsubishi Corporation.

The portfolio of CDM projects in Uzbekistan includes 79 project proposals at present. Of these, 59 have already received approval by the Ministerial Council on the CDM and are at various stages of preparation.

A question and answer session was followed by a screening of the documentary film ”Sardoba” which is about the ancient traditions of preserving water reservoirs.

Diora Berdibayeva and Ramin Gasanov, International Relations' 4th year students

The University of World Economy and Diplomacy and the United Nations information office (UNO) in Tashkent held a Model UN conference and debate to mark the annual International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
 
The debates, held on 28 May 2009, focused on the topic “A dilemma for the UN peacekeeping operations: providing ways to achieve self-sustaining peace or leaving conflicts unresolved?” Using case studies from past and current UN peacekeeping operations, two groups of students from the Faculty of International Relations
presented their arguments on this theme to their university peers.

The first group claimed “it was not the job of peacekeepers to create a permanent solution. The goal is to stabilize a situation so as to give politicians and diplomats the opportunity to establish a permanent self-sustaining peace.” On the contrary, the second team insisted that the current peacekeeping model was far from perfect and should be criticized for leaving conflicts unresolved. They said peacekeeping only contributed to maintaining an unstable status quo and did not offer any way out in the long run. 

The heated debates revealed no winner but ended in a peaceful consensus. Both sides agreed that UN peacekeepers deserved far greater support from Member States to carry out their mandates in today’s complex and challenging world.  With a minute of silence, they honoured the memory of all men and women who had lost their lives in the cause of peace.

On 30 May 2009 students from University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Westminster University, Tashkent Law Institute, University of World Languages and International Business School gathered in Tashkent to debate another highly topical issue, “Security Implications of Pakistan’s Tribal Areas and the emergence of neo-Taliban.” The Model UN delegates underscored the need for large-scale international support for both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan to tackle the new threat to stability in the region.