Ashgabat takes next step towards sustained global progress by opening SDGs Center
Recently, the Institute for International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan opened the Scientific and Methodological Center for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Government and the UN country team officials, as well as students from leading universities, teachers and the general public attended the opening ceremony. UN agencies were represented by Shahin Nilofer, the head of the UNICEF mission to Ashgabat. As she noted, the Center is considered an “essential vehicle support national implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Turkmenistan and national commitments to sustainable development” On behalf of the UN system in Turkmenistan, Ms. Nilofer expressed hope that new structure “will open an international window to report and share Turkmenistan’s experiences and to receive and learn from others”. The Center will become a platform for the development of training plans, recommendations and reference materials for secondary, professional and higher education institutions. It will work out a methodology for studying the sustainable development targets through interaction between public organizations, public and private sectors. Ms.Nilofer stressed the readiness of UN corps in Ashgabat to provide comprehensive support for the activities of the new institution. The commitment of Turkmenistan to further enhancing cooperation for the sake of implementing SDGs is also stipulated in the country's priority foreign policy positions, which will be declared during the 72nd UN General Assembly session. For the benefit of global progress, on the sidelines of UN GA session the Turkmen side intends to use the opportunities of the upcoming High-Level Political Forum “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies”, which will be held in 2018.
Main Stages of SDGs national implementation in Turkmenistan
