DUSHANBE, December 22, 2012, Asia-Plus – Press release issued by the Permanent Mission of Tajikistan to the United Nations notes that the UN General Assembly on December 21 adopted the resolution entitled “Implementation of the International Year of Water Cooperation, 2013” drafted and submitted by the delegation of Tajikistan to the United Nations under the Agenda item 20 “Sustainable Development.”

“As it is known, next year the international community in accordance with the UNGA resolution 65/154 which was also initiated by Tajikistan will mark the International year of water cooperation.  An initiative on declaration of the International year of water cooperation was initially proposed by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Mr. Emomali Rahmon at the Fifth World Water Forum held in Istanbul in March 2009.

“The following 48 UN Member States representing different parts of the world have become the co-sponsors of the resolution: Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Finland, Georgia, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxemburg, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Vietnam.

“The resolution envisages the convening of the two important events in 2013:  High-level interactive dialogue during the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly in New York (22 March) to mark the 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation and High-level international conference on water cooperation in Dushanbe (August).

“The resolution also invites the Secretary-General, in cooperation with UN-Water and other relevant organizations of the United Nations system, to take appropriate actions to support the implementation of the Year worldwide.

“The adoption of the resolution by consensus has once again demonstrated that the water initiatives of Tajikistan are of global importance and they are widely supported by the UN Member States.”