On 3 May 2024, the first meeting of the Turkmenistan-UN Strategic Advisory Board was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan in a hybrid format.
Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and the UN Resident Coordinator to Turkmenistan Dmitry Shlapachenko chaired the meeting, attended by two Deputy Prime Ministers responsible for the financial and economic sector and the sector of health, sports, education and science, key national ministers and heads of UN agencies in Turkmenistan.
In accordance with the program, the Council meeting was held in two sessions. During the first session, issues of upcoming steps to prepare a Framework program for cooperation in the field of sustainable development between Turkmenistan and the United Nations (UNDAF) for the period 2026-2030 were discussed.
During the second session, the parties exchanged views on the prospects for developing cooperation in the field of sustainable development, including joint projects. In order to create conditions for systematic work, the issue of developing a mechanism for interaction within the framework of the Strategic Advisory Board was also considered.
During the meeting, a Roadmap for the development of a new Turkmenistan – UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2026-2030 (UNSDCF) was approved, and 8 projects in the field of youth policy, digitalization, demography, green energy, climate change and other areas were considered.
“I hope all our joint initiatives will ultimately give powerful impetus to the accelerated achievement of national SDGs, growth of Turkmenistan’s international reputation contributing, as UN’s strategic partner, to strengthening of peace and security, realization of the UN Charter and implementation of the global agreements in the framework of UN summits and conferences”, said UN Resident Coordinator Shlapachenko in conclusion of his statement.
At the end of the meeting, a signing ceremony was held in the field of environmental protection, health, agriculture, as well as in other important areas:
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme;
• Draft document between the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “Capacity building for climate-resilient water resources management”;
• Draft document between the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkmenistan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “Development of digital solutions for sustainable pasture management”;
• Draft document between the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “Development of the value chain of feed for aquaculture and the effectiveness of management of the health protection of aquatic animals”;
• Agreement for a new project “Procurement of health products for the control of infectious diseases in 2024-2025” between the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Development Program;
• Draft document between the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Development Program “Capacity building of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan”.
The Strategic Advisory Council “Turkmenistan–United Nations” was established in March this year on the basis of a decree of the President of Turkmenistan. ///nCa, 3 May 2024