QURGHON TEPPA, April 11, 2009, Asia-Plus -- An Aarhus Information Center to provide the public with information and legal expertise on environmental matters opened in Qurghon Teppa, the capital of the Khatlon province on April 10. 

According to press release issued by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the Center is supported by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the OSCE Secretariat and the Committee for Nature Protection under the Tajik government.  The Center will perform a broad range of activities related to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.

The center-opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Klaus Rasmussen, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, and Mr. Abdurahmon Qodiri, the fFrst Deputy Governor of Khatlon.

"The OSCE Office is working with the Tajik government on environmental protection issues, and the opening of an Aarhus Centre in Qurghon Teppa is a testimony to this close cooperation," said Klaus Rasmussen.  "The Qurghon Teppa Aarhus Center will provide a forum enabling the nature protection committee of Khatlon province and civil society to build co-operative approaches to address environmental issues."

Abdurahmon Qodiri, for his part, noted, "The Center will contribute to exchange of experience between civil society and authorities on environmental governance problems and will have a positive effect on awareness raising of Tajikistan''s commitments within the framework of the Aarhus Convention."

The establishment of the Qurghon Teppa Aarhus Center is part of the OSCE''s activities to support the implementation of the Aarhus convention in Tajikistan.  The center is the third in the country after the opening of similar facilities in Dushanbe and Khujand with OSCE support in 2003 and 2005.