IOM organized a steering committee meeting with national partners on mainstreaming the migration, environment and climate change nexus into climate-related national planning processes

Objective of this meeting was to discuss with national partners goals and objectives of this project, nexus between migration, environment, and climate change in Turkmenistan, project activities and further cooperation with the key government agencies and ministries working on this dimension.

The meeting brought together representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan -the leading agency, Department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Economy and Finance, State Migration Service, and State Committee on Statistics.

The meeting began with welcoming remarks by Mr Azat Atajanov, the Head of IOM mission in Turkmenistan: “Climate change and its consequences are among the priority policy areas for the Government of Turkmenistan, and play a key role in the 2021-2025 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).”

Following the introduction, Mr. Berdy Berdyev - the head of the Department on Coordination of International Environmental Cooperation and Projects of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment expressed appreciation and importance of the joint work of IOM and the government of Turkmenistan in this particular project. To reduce the impact of risk-forming factors associated with climate migration, the project plans to conduct desk studies, seminars, as well as capacity building workshops and study trips for national experts and institutions working on social and economic development.