Kazakhstan proposes creation of specialized UN water agency

Kazakhstan has proposed creating a specialized international structure within the UN system that would focus entirely on water resources issues and consolidate the disparate mandates of existing institutions, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during the plenary session "Peace and Trust: Unity of Goals for a Sustainable Future" in Ashgabat, Report informs.

"Existing international institutions typically operate in a fragmented manner, within narrow mandates, which is inappropriate for the scale of growing water problems. The UN system lacks a specialized structure focused exclusively on water issues. Therefore, Kazakhstan proposes creating an international organization that could consolidate all existing mandates of various UN organizations," he said.

According to him, the best option would be to transform the interagency mechanism into a fully-fledged specialized UN agency or organization. Implementing such an initiative is fully consistent with the UN's sustainable development goals and serves the interests of the entire international community.

Tokayev paid special attention to the situation in the Caspian Sea. He warned that, at the current rate of degradation of the region's ecosystem, dangerous processes could become irreversible and trigger a chain reaction of environmental, socioeconomic, and even political consequences.

The president recalled that Kazakhstan has already proposed developing a special interstate program to prevent the destruction of the Caspian Sea ecosystem and called on the international community to support these efforts.

"Overall, in my opinion, water diplomacy requires close interstate coordination," he added.