Turkmenistan had a major session of interaction on Tuesday, 2 February 2021, with the United Nations at the national and regional level. It was a productive meeting, covering several dimensions.
We are producing here the pressers issued by the foreign office of Turkmenistan and the UN system in Turkmenistan to highlight the unanimity of positions.
Press release of foreign office of Turkmenistan:
The issues of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN on the national and regional levels discussed
Today, on the 2nd of February 2021, a meeting took place in the MFA of Turkmenistan between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the heads and representatives of the UN and its agencies in the country and in the region. The session was held in the hybrid format that is some participants were present in the conference room, while other participants took part in the meeting through videoconferencing.
In particular, around 30 country and regional heads and representatives of the UN, including the Office of Resident Coordinator, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNFPA, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO) and others took part in the session. The representatives of the Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia also participated to the session.
At the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan thanked the representatives of the international organization for constructive cooperation and personal input into the expansion of partnership with Turkmenistan. He emphasized that cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United Nations is a strategic vector of the external policy of the country. “Today our collaboration encompasses practically all the main spheres – from provision of security to the issues of gender equality, from ecology matters to the protection of refugees’ rights” said the Minister.
During the session, a constructive exchange of views took place regarding the effective implementation of plans and projects determined for current year. The participants highlighted the importance of the joint documents signed between Turkmenistan and international organizations in December of last year. These are 44 documents with the total sum exceeding 82 million US dollars, in which case the co-financing on the part of Turkmenistan constitutes the largest proportion. Among the main courses of collaboration are education, healthcare and social services, food security and ecology.
Also, the issues pertaining to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations for 2021-2025 were discussed.
The participants of the meeting heard the speeches of the representatives of above said agencies that reflected the results of joint work, as well as the current and prospective plans and projects. The representatives of the international organizations, including the UN Country team highly appraised the activities of Turkmenistan on implementing the joint agreements.
During the meeting, the importance of the International Year of Peace and Trust that was recently launched by a special event in Ashgabat was also highlighted. In this regard, the events embedded in the Roadmap of holding the year should undoubtedly contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals within the Agenda 2030.
The press release issued by the UN system in Turkmenistan:
Strategic priorities of cooperation between the UN and Government of Turkmenistan in 2021 discussed
Ashgabat, 2 February 2021 – The UN in Turkmenistan and the Government of Turkmenistan held an online meeting to review the strategic priorities of cooperation between the UN system and the Government of Turkmenistan in 2021.
The UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Turkmenistan informed the participants on the overall cooperation priorities aimed at acceleration of the SDGs achievement in the country. She particularly highlighted such cooperation priorities as strengthening the public health system preparedness and response to the socio-economic impacts of the global covid-19 pandemic; further integration of SDGs in the national programmes and policies, financing for SDGs, as well as monitoring and reporting on SDG implementation progress; enhancing national disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction and the cooperation in promotion of human rights.
The UN agency Co-Chairs of the five Results Groups for the outcome areas of the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021-2025 presented the priorities in the following areas:
- Enhanced governance and rule of law;
- Sustainable economic diversification;
- Strengthened environmental management and climate resilience;
- Quality, inclusive health and social protection;
- Quality education and skilling.
“Over the past period, the cooperation of Turkmenistan and the UN system has been comprehensive covering the most important areas of development. However, the global pandemic has added further challenges for the sustained progress on SDGs. The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021-2025, which brings together 19 UN agencies, provides excellent platform for further scaling up the UN’s engagement in support to sustainable development of Turkmenistan in 2021 and beyond”, noted Ms. Christine Weigand, the UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Turkmenistan.
Closing the meeting, Mr. Rashid Meredov, DPM, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan noted the importance of the joint work in order to achieve the identified strategic priorities within the UNSDCF and on a number of cross cutting issues.
Also, a related press release by the UN system in Turkmenistan:
Developing the Joint Programme proposal to use human security approach for mitigation of multidimensional risks of the global health pandemic in Turkmenistan
Ashgabat, 2 February 2021 – UN in Turkmenistan jointly with the Government of Turkmenistan held online meeting to review the Concept Note of the new UN Joint Programme proposal “Empowering and Engaging the Youth to Mitigate the Multi-Dimensional Threats of the Health Pandemic” and to finalize the full-fledged proposal.
The Concept Note of the proposed Joint Programme was developed by the UN Country Team in consultation with national partners as part of national response measures to mitigate the negative socio-economic impact of the global pandemic and was submitted to the UN Human Security Trust Fund in September 2020. The Concept was approved by the Fund and as the next step the full programme proposal needs to be submitted.
“The endorsement of the Concept of the proposed Joint Programme by the UN Human Security Trust Fund is a sign of acknowledgement of strategic partnership between the UN and Government of Turkmenistan”, has noted Ms. Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator a.i..
The proposed Joint Programme brings together four UN agencies: UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC and IOM, whereby UNFPA acts as the lead agency.
Key objective of this 18-month joint programme is to use the human security concept, which offers comprehensive, context specific and preventive approach to mitigate the multidimensional risks of the global pandemic, as part of the implementation of Turkmenistan’s Immediate socio-economic response plan to acute infectious disease pandemic, which was adopted in July 2020. The programme offers opportunity to engage the youth to the implementation of the socio-economic response plan at the level of local communities. /// nCa, 3 February 2021