History of creation and development
History of the creation and development of IFAS
On June 23, 1990, in Almaty, the Appeal to the Peoples of Central Asia and the first Joint Statement of the Leaders of Central Asian Countries were announced, which noted: “An acute problem for the region is the ecological catastrophe of the Aral Sea region. In order to unite efforts aimed at restoring the ecological balance in the Aral Sea basin, we have agreed to create an inter-republican commission and establish a Fund for Assistance to the Population of the Aral Sea region…”. “We appeal to the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to declare the Aral Sea region a zone of national disaster and to make a decision on the development and implementation of a State Program for the Restoration of the Ecological Fund with the involvement of specialized UN agencies and other international organizations in solving this problem…”.
In 1992, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev appealed to the Heads of State of the Central Asian countries to unite efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the drying up of the Aral Sea on the environment and the population of the region.

Agreement
At the meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Kyzylorda on March 26, 1993, the Heads of State of Central Asia adopted the "Agreement on joint actions to resolve the problems of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region, environmental recovery and ensuring the socio-economic development of the Aral region" and signed the Regulation on the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), which was the date of the formation of IFAS. N.A. Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was elected President of IFAS.

International level
During the years of independent development of the Central Asian countries, the Presidents of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev, the Kyrgyz Republic A.A. Akayev, the Republic of Tajikistan E. Rahmon, Turkmenistan S.A. Niyazov, the Republic of Uzbekistan I.A. Karimov demonstrated the greatest political will and state wisdom, which resulted in recognition of and readiness to resolve issues of joint use of water resources of the Aral Sea basin, taking into account the interests of all states in the region. They raised interstate water relations to a high international level, preserving long-standing traditions of friendship, mutual understanding, partnership, directing this high potential to the prosperity of the countries of the region.

Development
During this period, thanks to the consistent policies of the leaders of the Central Asian countries, IFAS and its organizations have become an indispensable political platform for the negotiation process between countries, the development and adoption of bilateral and multilateral agreements for the integrated management, use and conservation of transboundary water resources.
