UN, Government discuss strategic priorities for cooperation in the area of human rights

The meeting focused on defining strategic areas for collaboration between the Government and United Nations in Turkmenistan and was moderated by the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan. 

The participants of the meeting discussed the adoption of the National Human Rights Action Plan in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025 and Action Plan for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law for 2021-2023, Turkmenistan's work with UNESCO on multi-lingual education and with OSCE on the engagement with the OSCE Commissioner on ethnic minorities, modernization of the legal framework for juvenile justice in Turkmenistan. 

In her opening remark, the UN Resident Coordinator a.i., Christine Weigand stressed importance of maintaining the established mechanism of consultations at such a high level. "This mechanism adds a strategic nature to our cooperation and allows us to agree on joint priorities and to guide the implementation of the agreed plans. It is also a demonstration of our mutual commitment to addressing human rights issues as a fundamental factor in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and is critical to respond and recover from the global pandemic", she noted. 

The UN Country Team made a number of suggestions for strengthening the cooperation and shared the priority areas of collaboration, including data generation, implementation of the UNSG's Call to Action, human rights education, more active engagement with the UN human right mechanisms, including the special procedures, and support to Office of Ombudsperson. 

The Inter-Ministerial Commission agreed to review specific suggestions of activities to be proposed by the UN system in Turkmenistan and reflect them in the relevant national plans.