Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Sukhrob Kholmuradov and UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan Helena Fraser are approved as the co-chairpersons of the UN multi-partner trust fund for human security for the Aral Sea region, Kun.uz correspondent reports. 
 
Today, their candidacies have been approved within the framework of the ruling committee’s first meeting held in Tashkent.
 
UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund was officially launched at the UN Headquarters in New York on November 27, 2018. It must mobilize financial and technical means for projects aimed at eliminating the consequences of environmental disaster in the Aral Sea region. The fund will function until the end of 2023. 
 
“We hope that thanks to the new fund, more international attention will be paid to the Aral Sea region. The government of Uzbekistan has set its clear objectives: not just to talk, but to fight. We hope for the support of the world community,” Mr. Kholmuradov said at a meeting of the committee. 
 
The first donor of the fund was the Uzbek government, which invested $ 6.5 million. Norway, Japan and a number of other countries have also expressed a desire to finance the fund’s projects. 
 
“The government of Uzbekistan is taking all measures to reduce the impact of ecological disaster of the Aral Sea. The main focus is on residents of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm. The Ministry of Innovations is actively developing projects to overcome this trouble,” the deputy PM said. 
 
According to Mr. Kholmuradov, the Ministry of Innovations has prepared projects worth more than $60 million. They are proposed to be included in the base of the fund.