Dignitary from Mountainous Central Asia spoke at UVU

On November 11, Dr. Asylbek Aidaraliev, President, International University of Kyrgyzstan spoke on the developing ties between the mountain communities of Central Asia and North America. The mountain countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are very poor, and Dr. Aidaraliev’s efforts have been bent toward international recognition of the many communities of mountain peoples and the unique challenges they face. As a result of efforts of global mountain communities and Kyrgyzstan included, on November 10, 1998, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first International Year of the Mountains (IYM), and four years later, October 29 through November 1, 2002, the first Global Mountain Summit was held in Kyrgyzstan in observation of that proclamation. These conferences are put together to discuss the issues surrounding the improvement of mountain people globally, such as safeguarding mountain ecosystems, making the water in mountain areas safe, and improving the economic conditions of the mountain peoples. These forums have fostered the creation of new international institutions, like Mountain Partnership in Rome, Italy, and these new institutions have strengthened the cooperation between different mountain regions such as Kyrgyzstan and the Rocky Mountain States. Key in this recognition and improved cooperation between International University of Kyrgyzstan and Utah Valley University has been two international “Women of the Mountains” conferences, which were hosted by UVU in 2007 and 2011. One of the focuses of these conferences has been sustainable mountain development. Part of their efforts has been urging and facilitating the cooperation of people from the different mountain regions, such as the visit of Utah State Senator John Valentine and Montana State Senator Carol Williams to Central Asia and the International University at Kyrgyzstan, in particular, where they were presented with honorary degrees for contribution to promotion ties between mountain communities in two regions.

Dr. Rusty Butler, Associate Vice -President, International Affairs and Diplomacy at UVU ( L ) presents

Award of the Honorary Professor to Dr. Asylbek Aidaraliev, President, International University of Kyrgyzstan ( R ) for his contribution to developing cooperation

between two universities in promoting SMD-agenda of the United Nations.

Another important element of joint work emphasized by Dr. Aidaralaev has been the linking of efforts with other related international conferences and Forums. The Lucerne World Mountain Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Lucerne, Switzerland on October 11 and 12, 2011, discussed regional and global experience in mountain development as a preparatory conference to the United Nations Rio +20 Summit on Sustainable Development. In this conference, Dr. Aidaraliev co-chaired the session on Central Asia. The purpose of these efforts is not only recognition, but for mountain regions and nations to consolidate their efforts for the promotion of sustainable mountain development through joint actions.

Dr. Asylbek Aidaraliev, President, International University of Kyrgyzstan

(fourth from the right on the second raw) with students of Utah Valley University, who are contributing to the report on North America on SMD

for the U.N. RIO+20 Summit in Brazil next year. .

There are 600 million people living in the mountain regions throughout the world, most of which are very poor. Some of these mountain areas are plagued by drugs, terrorism, and conflict, and many of these regions are afflicted by water problems which include not only issues of safe drinking water, but also the draining of this precious resource by the more populated regions at lower elevations accompanied by a refusal to pay for the water. These, and numerous other problems, are being addressed through the efforts of Dr. Asylbek Aidaraliev and many others, in the hopes of bringing people together from many regions of the world and finding solutions to the difficulties faced by the mountain peoples and mountain regions around the globe. All of these efforts are aimed at sustainable development in the high places around the world. UVU’s efforts are an important contribution to this agenda, and together with partners from Central Asia, like Dr. Aidaraliev, those efforts are already being recognized by the international community and the United Nations in particular.

Barry McLerran, UVU student with major in Political Science