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Young SDG Ambassadors to advocate for Agenda 2030 in Turkmenistan

01 April 2019

The world wants to hear the voices of 1,8 billion young people on the matters affecting their lives.

Young people have a power to offer solutions, be agents of change and transform the lives of the generation. Young people in Turkmenistan share the same aspiration. To unleash the potential of Turkmen youth, the United Nations country team, the National SDG Center, the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan called on the young people to present ideas on how they can contribute to raising awareness on SDGs at the national level.

In 2018, 47 enthusiasts participated in the contest, as a result of which UN in partnership with the national partners selected 17 young people from all the regions of Turkmenistan to serve as Ambassadors for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Young SDG ambassadors – are socially active people, leaders of their local communities. Each of them is going to advocate for one Global Goal among their peers for one-year period, disseminate the information on sustainable development among youth, develop a platform for the collaboration at the national and regional levels to build new partnerships for SDGs.

To start off their campaign, UN invited Mr. Jim Shultz, the Director of the Democracy Center, who built capacities of the SDG Ambassadors on efficient advocacy techniques which they will apply in their work.

Today SDG Ambassadors are invited to high level events conducted by national and international organizations in Turkmenistan where they present their vision and advocate for sustainable development where “no one is left behind”.

“The role of the young SDG Ambassadors is to contribute to the development of society and the world around by raising awareness of the SDGs at all levels with the population”, said Kemal Gaitnazarov, SDG Ambassador for Goal 17, a student from the International University of Humanities and Development.

Such initiative takes place in Turkmenistan for the first time. Connecting the youth to the implementation of the national programs initiated by the Government of Turkmenistan is coherently linked to the implementation of the Agenda 2030.

In July 2019, Turkmenistan will present its National Voluntary Review to the High-Level Political Forum to be held in the UN Headquarters in New-York. It is expected that one of the SDG Ambassadors will be part of the delegation of Turkmenistan.

Involving youth and giving them a voice is Turkmenistan’s priority. So, let’s give young people a chance to offer innovative solutions and be Ambassadors of change. Through this creative initiative, the youth of Turkmenistan will amplify critical messages on Sustainable Development Goals and will help the country to achieve all the goals and targets!