First Intl Water Conference to Be Held Soon in Kabul

Abdul Rasheed Iqbal, chancellor of Kabul Polytechnic University, said that lecturers and scientists from several countries, including Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran, are interested in participating in this conference.

“We plan to organize an international water conference at Kabul Polytechnic University at the end of September 2024, and this will be the first international water conference in Kabul,” Abdul Rasheed Iqbal said during a tree planting campaign program.

At the same time, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Sadrazam Osmani, stated that Afghanistan currently needs global assistance in the sectors of climate change, water management, and forest development.

He called on international organizations and the European Union to help Afghanistan in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

“Our country is greatly harmed, and the reason is that greenhouse gas production in Afghanistan is low, yet its vulnerability is high,” Sadrazam Osmani added.

Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA, and the European Union Chargée d’Affaires to Afghanistan, who also attended the program, pledged that they will cooperate with the government and people of Afghanistan in various sectors.

“Afghanistan faces very severe climate change, and today we are here again — those programs which you have and all the international organizations, the international community, will do our best to help your country in this regard also,” said Roza Otunbayeva.

“We acknowledge and we are here to acknowledge that Afghanistan, despite being one of the countries least responsible for the emission of greenhouse gasses, is one of the most affected,” said Raffaella Iodice, the EU Chargée d’Affaires to Afghanistan.

Previously, officials of the Islamic Emirate have stated that Afghanistan ranks sixth among the countries most affected by climate change, and international aid in this sector has decreased in Afghanistan.