OSCE supports Afghan and Tajik experts, students to strengthen water and environmental management co-operation

DUSHANBE, 29 March 2013 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan today hosted an extracurricular day for 30 Afghan and Tajik students from the faculties of Engineering and Natural Sciences at universities in Dushanbe.

The event is part of an initiative to strengthen co-operation on hydrology and environment between Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the Upper Amu-Darya River basin, which is being held from 25 to 29 March in co-operation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Environmental Protection Committee under the Government of Tajikistan.

Hans Peter Larsen, the Acting Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, emphasized the importance of involving young people, “in particular university students, in activities that will have influence on their future, such as environmental protection and water management”.

On 28 March, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan also supported an experience exchange between some 35 senior experts from Afghanistan and Tajikistan as part of the same initiative.

The activities aim to promote better understanding of the environment and the state of hydrological monitoring in the two countries and advance practical skills and relations between officials and experts.