UN General Assembly
2001

flexible in easing the debt burden for our countries. In recent years we have witnessed an increasing number of major natural and industrial disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and forest fires. Human casualties and material losses caused by them have become a serious destabilizing factor. For two years running, Tajikistan has suffered as a result of a large-scale drought, unprecedented in the twentieth century. One third of our cotton and grain crops was destroyed by drought. Cattle farming and animal husbandry products have sharply declined. Shortages of water, including fresh water, have increased. We express our gratitude to the Secretary-General, to the United Nations specialized agencies and donor countries for their prompt and generous response to the appeal made by our President in connection with the unprecedented drought in the spring and summer of this year. The concerted collective response of the international community to natural disasters is evidence of the increasing effectiveness of the available international machinery in this regard. The United Nations has played an important role in developing them. The outcome of the United Nations