The issues of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN on the national and regional levels discussed

Ashgabat/Turkmenistan; 02 Feb 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.