UN and Government Discussed Progress on SDG Implementation

The members of Result Group 1 formed within the Partnership Framework for Development, agreed between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations until 2020, discussed the mechanisms of SDG monitoring and related issues.

Mr. S.Mahmudlu, UNICEF Deputy Representative and co-Chair of the group congratulated participants on the election of Turkmenistan to ECOSOC for 2019-2021 and successful participation of Turkmen delegation at High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York this month.

Participants highlighted the high amount of work made in the country but noted the low visibility and dissemination. Participants agreed, that the coordination and diversified approach should be strengthened. In this regard, proposed UNDP Platform could be a good opportunity to develop these capacities and improvement of existing mechanisms for data monitoring.

The participants also reviewed the Action Plan to conduct Voluntary National Review and prepare a National report for HLPF on the progress of the implementation of Agenda 2030 in Turkmenistan which is planned for July 2019. This plan was developed with the technical assistance from the UN Agencies and approved by the Government of Turkmenistan in June 2018. Mr. Slobodan Tagic, UNDP Senior Programme Coordinator shared his experience in supporting the countries with preparation to the HLPF and stressed the importance of greater visibility and well-prepared delegation to promote and advocate countries’ priorities.

The work of RG 1 is aimed to strengthen the evidence base for policy development with reliable and disaggregated data and enhanced monitoring and evaluation systems to effectively monitor progress in the implementation of national programmes including SDGs.