15 October 2012: The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and partners have opened the Kyzlorda Training Centre for Aral-Syrdarya Basin Water Management in Kazakhstan to support modern water management and sustainable development practices in the region.

The center will offer training in integrated water resource management (IWRM), environmental legislation, natural sciences, water engineering and climate change issues. At the opening ceremony, Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, Kazakhstan, expressed hope that the center would contribute to environmental security and economic development of the Aral-Syrdarya area.

OSCE partners supporting the new center are the Kyzlorda Regional Administration, the Executive Directorate of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and Kyzlorda State University. The launch event took place on the 20th anniversary of IFAS, in conjunction with the 10th meeting of the Aral Sea Basin Council. [OSCE Press Release]