UN reps inspect environmental situation in Karabakh [PHOTO]
By Vugar Khalilov
United Nations Environment Programme experts have visited Karabakh, special representative of Azerbaijani president in the liberated territories (except Shusha region) Emin Huseyov has reported.
“The United Nations Environment Programme experts visited Karabakh. During the visit, the experts were shown the environmental situation of the region and were briefed about the future development plan,” Huseynov wrote on his Twitter account on March 14.
Armenia’s three-decade occupation of Azerbaijani territories extensively damaged the ecosystem, wildlife, and natural resources in and around the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Armenian’s occupation, including its use of prohibited weapons during the war, damaged nature, biological diversity, water reservoirs in Azerbaijan's territories.
Armenians also resorted to large-scale acts of ecological terror in regions they had to leave under the trilateral November peace deal that stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.
The Coordination Headquarters that is headed by the Head of the Presidential Administration Samir Nuriyev established on November 24, 2020, in line with the presidential decree to address the issues in Azerbaijan's liberated territories in a centralized manner.
Currently, the work is underway to restore Azerbaijan's liberated lands. Azerbaijan will rebuild its recently liberated areas in four stages. The initial stage includes the solution of the issues of governance and security, infrastructure, while the subsequent stages include the solution of the issues of social services activities, reconstruction, and development of the economy.
In 2021, Azerbaijan allocated $1.5 billion for the reconstruction of liberated territories, followed by AZN 2.2 billion ($1.2 billion) in 2022. These funds will be used primarily to restore infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, communications, roads, education, health, and so on) as well as cultural and historical monuments.
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