Kyrgyzstan, 2009

At the outset, I should like to express our

congratulations to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his

election to preside over the General Assembly. We

wish him the best for his work in leading the Assembly

at its sixty-fourth session.

Given the sweeping changes occurring at all

levels of global development, the role of the United

Nations as a universal international forum is difficult to

overstate. The contribution of all Member States to

increasing the effectiveness of the United Nations can

considerably contribute to strengthening international

peace and security, development, human rights,

environmental protection and sustainable development.

We believe continuing United Nations reform to

establish an efficient mechanism to address

contemporary challenges and threats is important for

the further strengthening of the Organization’s

capacities and credibility. We call for broader

representation in the Security Council and for

improvement in its working methods. We propose

expanding the number of permanent members of the

Council by giving seats to Asia, Africa, Latin America

and the Caribbean.

I would like to confirm that my country, being

cognizant of our full responsibilities, is for the first

time nominating itself as a candidate to become one of

the non-permanent members of the Security Council,

for the period 2012 to 2013. The Kyrgyz Republic,

located in the heart of Central Asia, is taking an active

part in maintaining peace and security, economic

cooperation and environmental stability at both the

global and regional levels. We are prepared to

contribute as much as we can to the work of that key

body of the United Nations.

The election of the Kyrgyz Republic to the

Human Rights Council in 2009 illustrated the

international community’s recognition of our

achievements in building a developed society. I should

like to take this opportunity to thank Member States for

their support of the candidacy of the Kyrgyz Republic.

I assure them that Kyrgyzstan stands ready to make

every effort to promote issues related to the protection

of human rights and respect for the rule of law and

11 09-52586

international law, as well as other issues on the

Council’s agenda.

The Kyrgyz Republic welcomes the decision of

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the Central

Asian countries. We look forward to great results from

that visit.

The overall situation in Central Asia remains

complicated. In many respects, it depends on

developments taking place in neighbouring

Afghanistan. No one would today dispute the fact that

there is a need to work out and apply fundamentally

new comprehensive and viable approaches in the

humanitarian, politico-anthropological and

socio-economic sectors, which will ultimately

contribute to the building of a strong and prosperous

Afghan State. It does not appear to be possible to

achieve a final and complete stabilization of

Afghanistan by military means alone.

On 4 March 2009, President Kurmanbek Bakiev

of the Kyrgyz Republic announced an initiative to

establish at Bishkek, capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, a

permanent forum and centre for hosting international

conferences on security and stability in Afghanistan

and Central Asia. This was called the “Bishkek

initiative”. We are convinced that this “Bishkek

initiative” will become a forum of practical

cooperation in the area of security, with priority on the

problems of jointly bringing about peace, security and

stability in the region, combating terrorism, separatism

and extremism and countering illegal drug trafficking

and cross-border organized crime.

Along with global challenges, every country

faces its own specific problems. Addressing them will

ensure that we move steadily towards the achievement

of the Millennium Development Goals.

At the same time, in this era of globalization,

existing problems have proven to be very closely

interrelated. The Kyrgyz Republic, as a landlocked

mountainous country and one of the world’s

developing nations, believes that the world community,

under the leadership of the United Nations, can and

must more actively assist in using the foreign-debt-

swap mechanism to achieve sustainable development.

With respect to Kyrgyzstan, given the global

economic crisis, we propose considering several

options, namely, a swap of the Republic’s debt for

providing assistance to Afghanistan in pursuit of its

socio-economic development, and a debt swap for the

sustainable development of poor mountainous

countries and the rehabilitation of uranium tailing

ponds.

The Kyrgyz Republic calls for the active

involvement in Afghanistan’s recovery of neighbouring

States that possess relevant scientific, industrial and

agricultural capacities. Kyrgyzstan stands ready to take

part in the restoration of communications, construction

and the training of medical, educational and

agricultural specialists. We are pleased to inform the

Assembly that our country and the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) signed an

agreement on the development of a customs centre in

the city of Bishkek for training Afghan specialists.

The General Assembly has adopted a number of

resolutions on mountainous countries that contain

analyses of their socio-economic situations and

recommendations to international financial institutions,

relevant United Nations agencies and Governments on

how to assist them in overcoming obstacles to their

sustainable development. The delegation of the Kyrgyz

Republic, one of the initiators of a draft resolution on

sustainable mountain development, would be grateful

for support for that draft at the sixty-fourth session of

the General Assembly.

We discussed problems related to planetary

climate change at the high-level Summit of the General

Assembly. Kyrgyzstan shares the opinion that

environmental and ecological security problems are

posing new challenges and risks in the twenty-first

century. Kyrgyzstan will give highest priority to active

preventive measures in the sphere of environmental

protection as a foundation of its sustainable

development and to maintain the balance between

human rights, society, nature and the preservation of

unique natural sites for our descendants.

The numerous uranium tailing dumps containing

large volumes of the toxic waste of uranium production

and other harmful technological wastes are of great

concern to our region. They pose a grave danger to the

health of the people and to the cleanliness of

transboundary river basins and arable lands.

Kyrgyzstan is working tirelessly with other

countries of Central Asia to draft international legal

documents on the prevention of radiation pollution in

Central Asia. Two framework documents have been

adopted within the framework of the Treaty on the

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Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons — one on the

environmental danger of tailing dumps and the other on

the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central

Asia. I would like to inform the Assembly that the

Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia

entered into force on 21 March 2009, and we appeal to

nuclear Powers to support this Central Asian initiative

and to sign the protocol on negative security

assurances.

I am pleased to note that the High-Level

International Forum held in Geneva on uranium

tailings in Central Asia demonstrated a new model of

effective regional cooperation aimed at practical

resolution of this urgent issue. The great interest and

concern expressed by all participants — including

representatives of Central Asian and other States,

international organizations and donors at the national,

regional and international levels — give us cause for

optimism. I take this opportunity once again to express

my gratitude to all our partners at the Forum, the

United Nations system, the United Nations

Development Programme, the International Atomic

Energy Agency, the European Commission, the

Eurasian Economic Community, OSCE and the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

In furtherance of the Forum agreement, the

countries of Central Asia shall submit a draft resolution

for consideration by the General Assembly on the role

of the international community in the prevention of the

radiation threat in Central Asia. We hope for timely

action on the part of our international partners, donors

and international organizations to address the problem

of uranium tailing dumps and to provide sufficient

financial, technical and other assistance to the region.

The challenges facing the United Nations are

complex and demand consolidated efforts from all

States. The representatives of the United Nations

provide broad assistance to countries on a wide variety

of issues. We appreciate their constructive cooperation

on and support for Members’ initiatives. The United

Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for

Central Asia, established in Ashgabat in December

2007, has already proven itself in a short period of

time. The issues raised by the Centre are relevant and

require prompt responses. We support the intention of

the Centre to expand its representation in each country

of Central Asia and request the appropriate committees

take our views into consideration.

Central Asian countries pay considerable

attention to water and energy problems. Despite the

activities to increase the effectiveness of water and

energy regulation in Central Asia, pursued within the

framework of integration organizations and regional

structures, rallying countries around this issue remains

the most pressing problem in our region.

We believe that mutually beneficial cooperation

is the basis for long-term intergovernmental

cooperation in the water and energy spheres. It is

essential to create conditions to improve incentives to

store water in reservoirs during the winter and then to

make it available for irrigating fields in the summer. If

this proposal were pursued, the largest reservoir in

Central Asia, on the Naryn and Syr Darya Rivers, the

largest watershed of the region, would have the

required stocks of water in times of drought and be

able to provide water at least to maintain food and

energy security for all the countries of Central Asia.

If decisions are taken only for short-term benefit,

and water is depleted and regulating capacities are lost,

that would inevitably have dangerous consequences for

the entire region. These strategic issues can be solved

only by merging the irrigation and energy schedules for

supplying water and providing compensation fuel

deliveries that should be the subject of

intergovernmental cooperation among stakeholders.

Water conservation technologies should also be

exploited.

In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm the

adherence of the Kyrgyz Republic to the goals and

objectives of the United Nations aimed at ensuring

peace and security and the welfare of all nations and

peoples on the Earth.