South Caucasus and Central Asia to strengthen cooperation in fight against cross-border effects of natural disasters

Baku. 11 February. REPORT.AZ/ Spring floods of large rivers bring enormous damage to the economy of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Report informs referring to the UN News Center, this issue, as well as the prevention of the consequences of natural disasters discussed during the meeting of Ministers of the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus in Bishkek under the auspices of the UN.

The meeting was attended by delegations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Participants of the meeting agreed to strengthen regional cooperation to reduce the impact of natural disasters and adapt to new realities related to climate change, to work together in implementing the future framework program to mitigate the risks of disasters for the period after 2015.

At the meeting it was noted that Central Asia and the Caucasus greatly exposed to natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, floods, droughts and extreme temperatures. These disasters lead to serious human and economic losses.

130 natural disasters were recorded in the region between 1980 and 2010 that in one way or another affected 14 million people and caused economic losses of 3.8 billion dollars.

Regional meeting took place 40 days before the beginning of the Third World Conference on Disaster Reduction, to be held in Japan in March this year.