OSCE supports annual meeting of Kazakhstan’s Aarhus Centres

ASTANA, 1 July 2015 – An OSCE-supported annual meeting of the Aarhus Centre representatives took place today in Astana.

The event was organized in partnership with the Energy Ministry and the National Aarhus Centre for some 30 government officials, the Supreme Court judges, environmental non-governmental organizations and heads of the 14 Aarhus Centres operating in Kazakhstan. The participants discussed the ways to enhance the Aarhus Centres’ role in providing access to environmental information and justice as well as make their activities more target-oriented. They also reviewed opportunities to increase public participation in the environmental decision-making process and learned from the experts and representatives of the Aarhus Centres from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan about best practices in the field.

The meeting was followed by a training session on the legal aspects of the Centres’ sustainable operations, fundraising opportunities and interaction with government agencies, civil society as well as the business and media communities.

“All OSCE participating States recognize that environmental disasters and conflicts over access to water, food and energy could be potential sources of crisis and instability,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana. She added that the prevention of such confrontational developments at the national level depends upon strengthening co-operation and ensuring the equal participation of all members of society in dealing with environmentally sensitive issues.

Supreme Court Judge Beibut Shermuhametov said: “The most beneficial way to enhance co-operation between state bodies and the public is through a regular and constructive dialogue which provides opportunities to the stakeholders to network and share their experiences and agree on ways and means to achieve the goals related to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention.”

The meeting is part of the Office’s longstanding efforts to assist the host country in the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in full compliance with its requirements and to promote access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.