Youth Forum of the Leadership Academy and Innovation Lab fosters a youth-adult dialogue

More than 80 representatives of the government organizations, civil society organizations, development partners and United Nations agencies, as well as mass media, participated in the Forum.  Young leaders from the capital and all five velayats presented six out of 28 most powerful projects generated during the Academy. 

“It is clear that the youth of Turkmenistan is eager to make a positive and constructive contribution to the development of their country,” said Ms. Elena Panova, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan during her opening statement. “Innovative activities such as the Academy of Leadership and Innovation Lab serve as an effective platform for the meaningful participation of young people in the life of their country.  Such platforms are essential for the successful implementation of the Youth Policy Law, as well as its State Programme and Action Plan.”

The Leadership Academy and Innovation Lab is a UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund initiative organized jointly with the Youth Organization of Turkmenistan and Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and with the support of the British Embassy in Turkmenistan.  In October 2018, the Academy has gone mobile bringing the Turkmen youth a platform to innovate and generate social innovation projects.  The social innovation projects will feed the next State Programme on the implementation of the Youth Policy Law.

More than 220 young school pupils, young professionals, college students, youth with disabilities and most-at-risk youth gathered for five days to learn, discuss, debate and then propose solutions to the existing challenges in their own communities.  The Academy served as a platform to create an enabling environment to empower adolescents, to understand their rights, promote creative thinking and foster civic responsibility through the development of social innovation projects.

Promoting youth leadership and participation is key to UNFPA’s work. The partnership with the Government of Turkmenistan aims to enable young people, with strong focus on girls, to develop the skills, knowledge and support needed to make a positive contribution in the lives of their families, communities and country.