On March 5, 2024, an expert meeting on the implementation of the Roadmap for the Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions (2023–2027) was held at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision. The event was chaired by the Special Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic for the implementation of the five-year action for the development of mountainous areas, Nurlan Aitmurzaev, and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Kyrgyz Republic, K. U. Kaseyinov. The event was an important step in the country’s efforts to draw attention to the unique challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable mountain development, as well as increasing cooperation between government agencies, international organizations, the non-governmental sector and scientific institutions. CAREC was represented by Vladimir Grebnev, regional climate change specialist, and Kuban Matraimov, director of the country branch in the Kyrgyz Republic.
In his presentation, the Special Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Aitmurzaev Nurlan, recalled that at the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic in December 2021, at the plenary meeting of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, resolution A/RES/76/129 was adopted on declaring 2022 “International year of sustainable mountain development.” Further, in December 2022, the UN General Assembly approved resolution A/RES/77/172, which declared the years 2023–2027 as the “Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions.” Thus, the UN General Assembly supported the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic to hold the “Five Year of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions for 2023–2027” (hereinafter referred to as the “Five Year”) and the Second Bishkek Global Mountain Summit (hereinafter referred to as “Bishkek+25”, 2027), which demonstrates the republic’s important commitment to solving the problems of sustainable mountain development. This also emphasizes the leading role of Kyrgyzstan among mountain states and the desire to unite international efforts in this area.
He recalled that in September 2023, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov signed a Decree declaring the period 2023–2027 the Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions, as well as approving the Five Year Roadmap. The goal of implementing the Road Map is to improve the socio-economic situation of the population and preserve mountain ecosystems. The Roadmap presents planned activities at three levels: global, regional and national. Aitmurzaev also noted that monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Concept of the Five Year Action for the Development of Mountain Regions will be carried out through the implementation of the tasks and activities of the Road Map, approved in 2023.
One of the successfully implemented activities to implement the Roadmap was the participation of the Kyrgyz Republic at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP28 UNFCCC), where, as part of the work of the CAREC-Central Asia Pavilion, a special side event was organized and held, as well as development issues mountain areas are included in the final decisions of the Conference of the Parties. Activities were announced to create a Pavilion of the Kyrgyz Republic at COP29 dedicated to the development of mountain regions with the involvement of CAREC as the only organization in Central Asia that has positive experience in such activities.
The meeting participants positively assessed the structure and scope of the Roadmap activities, showing interest in its joint implementation. In turn, Grebnev V. thanked for the high assessment of CAREC’s activities at the UNFCCC COP28, and noted the need to consolidate the efforts of all parties and an early start of preparations for the UNFCCC COP29 to achieve successful results.
