Fergana and Kokand have joined the Urban Resilience Coalition of Central Asia, alongside Namangan. The coalition, established in 2025, now comprises 10 cities. The original members — Petropavl (Kazakhstan), Osh (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and Namangan (Uzbekistan) — have been joined by Bishkek and Manas (Kyrgyzstan), Isfara (Tajikistan) and Fergana and Kokand (Uzbekistan).
The announcement was made during the second Regional Urban Resilience Dialogue, held in Tashkent on 19−20 October. The event aimed to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and help local communities prepare for climate threats and natural disaster risks.
The dialogue was organized by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was held with the support of the government of Japan as part of two regional projects: Enhancing Urban Resilience to Disaster Risk and Climate Change in Central Asia and Strengthening the System for Region-wide Disaster Risk Reduction in Central Asia.
Through the coalition, cities can exchange experience, learn from one another and find practical solutions to better prepare for floods, earthquakes and other hazards, while taking climate risks into account in their long-term development planning, the UNDP office in Uzbekistan said.
GIZ (the German Agency for International Cooperation) supports the cities of Osh, Manas, Isfara, Fergana and Kokand as part of the coalition.
In addition, national seismological institutions in the region agreed to strengthen cooperation on earthquake preparedness. A new memorandum signed at the event provides a framework for exchanging scientific knowledge, improving coordination and helping countries better understand and prepare for earthquake risks.
“Our shared goal is safe and sustainable cities and communities,” deputy minister of emergency situations of Uzbekistan Khurshid Sotiev said. He expressed readiness to cooperate in this area with governments, development partners, UN agencies, the scientific community and non-governmental organizations.
“Urban development must be risk-informed. Every investment in prevention, preparedness and resilient infrastructure saves lives and protects development gains,” UNDP resident representative in Uzbekistan Akiko Fujii said.
“Our challenges are significant. The structural vulnerabilities in housing and infrastructure remain, rapid urbanization outpaces risk management capacity and the impacts of climate change accelerate. This is precisely why sustained international partnership matters. Japan continues to share its experiences, its knowledge and its resources in support of regional and international cooperation to reduce and manage disaster risk,” ambassador of Japan to Uzbekistan Kenji Hirata said.
Participants in the dialogue reviewed the experience of UNDP-supported pilot cities, explored practical tools for disaster preparedness and learned from Japan’s experience in building safer, more resilient cities.