What will Turkmenistan and the UN cooperate over the next five years?
United Nations Development Programme and Government of Turkmenistan held the round table to discuss the draft UNDP Country Programme Document for the period 2021-2025. During the meeting, Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Resident Representative a.i., and Mr. Magtymguly Akmyradov, representative of Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed with the representatives of Government, private sector, and NGO the joint work during the next five-year period. As it follows from the presentation of the draft document, the cooperation between the country and the UN is moving from general to particular and is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals implementation. “UNDP enjoys a long-standing and effective cooperation with the Government of Turkmenistan. Our joint achievements within the framework of the current cooperation shapes the next five-year partnership priorities with a special focus on supporting SDGs and outcomes of the UN-Government Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, signed on 14 March, 2020,” Ms. Natia Natsvlishvili mentioned. The upcoming Programme is of a special emphasis on protecting human rights; enhancing economic diversification and stimulation of the private sector; improving the quality of people’s health and social integration of people. It is also focused on building the country’s resilience to climate and disaster risks through promoting sustainable management of water, land and natural resources. The previous National Action Plan for 2016-2020 implied work in the same areas – climate change, energy efficiency, the rule of law as well as socio-economic and qualitative data, but in a more general way. Now, the Turkmen partners are planning to develop emphasized sectors “not in width, but in depth”. It is expected that the draft UNDP Country Programme Document will be soon be finalized and shared with UNDP Executive Board for approval. In the meantime, the parties invite stakeholders to actively provide with feedback and suggestions for further development of the document.
