Finland has become a new donor to the UN Multi-Partnership Trust Fund for Human Security for the Aral Sea region in Uzbekistan (MPTF), the fund’s website reported.
On May 29, the Finnish government and the MPTF office in New York signed a standard administrative agreement on the Finnish contribution of € 1 million to the fund.
The decision to contribute the said sum was announced at the 15th meeting of the Uzbekistan-EU Cooperation Council in Brussels in November 2019, by the Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
These funds are designated, at least what will remain from untransparent schemes, to implement the Unified Fund Strategy agreed by all interested parties, which is aimed at solving six interrelated problems - ensuring environmental, economic, food, social security, preserving the health of the population and eliminating the inefficiency of donor assistance.
Note: The Fund under the auspices of the UN was set up at the end of 2018. Norway became the first donor of the fund, contributing about US$ 1.1 million in 2019. In March 2020, the European Union also contributed 5 million euros for the fund's projects. The government of Uzbekistan transferred US$ 3.5 million to the fund.
