Defining strategic partnership priorities with the Government of Turkmenistan for 2021-2025

The event gathered high-level representatives from the key government ministries and organizations, UN Agencies, international development partners, diplomatic missions, public and private organizations, academia, mass media and youth.

All the partners and UNFPA convened together to celebrate the achieved progress, remind about the unfinished agenda and commitments, and reflect on the lessons learnt and recommendations derived from the current programme of cooperation between the Government and UNFPA for 2016-2020. The strategic shifts required in jointly implementing the programmes for women and adolescents in the next five years to realize the goals and targets of the 2030 Development Agenda was also the focus of the discussion. The results of the current cooperation were communicated through three powerful stories of a young couple receiving improved family planning services; an empowered Y-PEER Volunteer sharing critical information on reproductive health and gender equality; and a woman with disability, who was able to make a decision on having a child and was lucky to receive the much needed support from the medical professional.

Beyond the national ICPD narratives, the high-level event also featured major highlights of the anniversary edition of the UNFPA Global Report ‘The State of World Population 2019’, outcomes of the Global Nairobi Summit held in November, and the groundbreaking results of the global costing study for the three transformative results towards ending preventable maternal deaths, ending the unmet needs for family planning and ending the gender-based violence by 2030.

Dr. Tachmyrat Siliyev, Deputy Minister of Health and Medical Industry highlighted the progress made since 1994, specifically in the area of improving maternal health and presented the financial and policy commitments voiced at the ICPD25 flagship event held in Nairobi.  “Twenty five years later after the Cairo Conference, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry once again led the Turkmenistan delegation to the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25,” said the Deputy Minister. “At the Summit we reinforced our political will to achieve universal access to reproductive health and improving maternal health; expanding the comprehensive reproductive health education for adolescents; promoting gender equality and preventing gender-based violence; and using quality data for simulating economic growth and sustainable development.”

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the world’s blueprint for a better future for all on a healthy planet,” said Ms. Elena Panova, United Nations Resident Coordinator. “At the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, world leaders first spelt out the links between population, development and human rights, including reproductive rights. They also recognized that promoting gender equality is both the right thing to do and one of the most reliable pathways to sustainable development and improved well-being for all,” she said

In Turkmenistan, partnership between the Government and UNFPA began nearly 30 years ago. Today, the UNFPA support to Turkmenistan has evolved into a strategic partnership, including the fact that the current Country Programme is co-financed by the Government. “Based on extensive consultations with the government partners, public organizations, and women, men and young people, together, we were able to identify new strategic directions of our partnership for the next five years,” said Ms. Ayna Seyitlieva, UNFPA Assistant Representative. “They include providing technical support and policy advice to the Government to improve the wellbeing of women, adolescents and youth, enabled by access of quality population data, implementing programmes and mechanism to advance gender equality, and enhancing the quality and inclusive reproductive health services. We are facing ambitious tasks that we can accomplish only in close cooperation,” she added.

The 2030 Vision for Partnership was voiced through the story of a 10-year-old girl who imagines the world, which nurtures her to realize her dreams and reach her full potential. Ms. Guncha Annageldiyeva, student of the International University of Humanities and Development and volunteer of the Y-PEER Youth Center delivered an inspirational speech to showcase to the high-level guest what it means to live in a world, for which the girls of Turkmenistan aspire. 

“If a 10-year-old’s rights are protected through evidence-based laws, services, information and investments, she will have a chance to reach her potential and become a valuable part of a thriving society,” said Guncha. “And what the world will look like in 10 years will depend on our doing everything in our power to ignite the potential of a 10-year-old girl today and achieve the sustainable development in our country.”