On the way to develop SDG Data base in Turkmenistan

Chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy, the members of the Working Group at the level of Deputy Ministers reviewed the outcomes of the joint UN-Turkmenistan expert meetings to review the targets and indicators of the nationalized SDG goals. Summarizing the results of discussions, the Head of the Strategic and Sustainable Development Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy proposed that the SDG Working Group approves the revisions to the national SDG Matrix, now consisting of 137 targets and 182 indicators.

The National State Statistics Committee presented the demo version of SDG Database developed by private ESRI company and proposed to approve the launch of the online mode for those indicators that Turkmenistan had already reported within the Voluntary National Review in 2019, which was in line with the recommendations provided to the country by the UNDESA Statistical Division. The participants also agreed to create a Task Force and nominate a person from each entity to work on SDG indicators.

“I would like to emphasize that monitoring of the progress on SDGs is an important element of the Agenda 2030. In this regard, the role of the national statistical authorities in ensuring the quality and reliability of data is crucial”, noted Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan.

The meeting also discussed possible ways that Turkmenistan will report its SDG data to international data bases administered by custodian UN agencies on the global level to improve Turkmenistan's ranking in the SDG Index developed by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and in UNDP's flagship Human Development Report.  

The meeting recommended that the relevant national entities should provide data by completing questionnaires regularly sent by the custodian UN Agencies that will result in the improved visibility of Turkmenistan on progress made towards SDGs at the global level.