In recent years, Turkmenistan has made tremendous progress in providing clean water to its population. By 2020, 95% of the country’s population had access to safe drinking water. The gap in access to safe drinking water has also narrowed across the country, according to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.
Provision of drinking water to the population is carried out primarily through access to central water supply. 99.9% of the population use water supply services organized in compliance with safety requirements.
This success has been achieved due to a number of factors, including investments in water infrastructure, improved water management, and increased public awareness of the importance of clean water.
Also, almost the entire population of the country is covered by basic sanitation services. According to the MICS-6 cluster survey, the share of the population using sanitation services, including hand washing devices with soap and water, in 2019 was 98.7%. The large and small water treatment facilities have been built, a drainage and communication system is being developed, and new treatment facilities are being built.
Effective water legislation, modernization of water management infrastructure and a comprehensive policy for the conservation of water resources are Turkmenistan’s strengths in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. According to the methodology proposed by UNEP-DHI, the degree of implementation of integrated water resources management in Turkmenistan is estimated at 64 points.
Turkmenistan makes a significant contribution to solving global problems of rational use of water and actively expands international cooperation in this direction. The country complies with its obligations under the ratified UN conventions on environmental protection, including the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, as well as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
An important aspect of Turkmenistan’s cooperation with other countries in the region is the issue of the Aral Sea. In 2021, the country adopted the National Program of Turkmenistan for the Aral Sea for 2021-2025. The program is aimed at improving environmental conditions on the territory of the country in the Aral Sea region and contributes to the implementation of the UN resolution “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea”. ///nCa, 14 August 2023
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