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Preamble
Turkmenistan considers the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly as an important stage in the consistent consolidation of international efforts to address key issues on the global agenda, the approval of the central and coordinating role of the United Nations in preserving and strengthening universal peace, stability and security, and the full implementation of the declared Sustainable Development Goals.
The directivity of Turkmenistan’s activities to develop coordinated multilateral approaches, as well as the practical implementation of global strategies and programs will be determined, in the relevant areas, by the country’s membership in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trade and Development Council of the UN Conference on Trade and Development( UNCTAD), the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the UN Commission on Population and Development, the UN Commission on Social Development, The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development and other United Nations structures, as well as in a number of other specialized UN bodies.
Consolidating the International Community Efforts to Control the Pandemic
Turkmenistan will continue to support the coordinated efforts of the International Community to combat a new type of coronavirus infection, the political and socio-economic consequences of its spread.
Emphasizing the importance of unity and solidarity of all member states and organizations of the UN system in the fight against a common threat, we consider it unacceptable to politicize the problems of the coronavirus spread.
We believe that the most effective way to minimize the negative economic consequences of the pandemic is to strengthen the work of the relevant United Nations structures in certain key areas of global economic recovery.
In this regard, we intend to intensify our efforts to strengthen the stability of international transport systems in emergency situations, based on the provisions of the UN General Assembly Resolution “Strengthening ties between all modes of transport to achieve stable and reliable international transport for sustainable development during and after the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19)”, adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan on July 29, 2021.
With this view, we judge it expedient to pay special attention to strengthening the interconnectedness of global programs to counteract the pandemic and the UN strategies in the field of emergency response, including in the field of health, such as the Sendai Framework for Action for 2015-2030.
In particular, during the 76th session of the General Assembly, we intend to promote proposals for the establishment of the following international and regional instruments: the Special Program of the World Health Organization for the Study of the coronavirus genome; the Multilateral Mechanism of the World Health Organization to combat Pneumonia; the Methodological Center of the World Health Organization for the Treatment and Prevention of Acute Infections; the Central Asian Regional Center for Epidemiology, Virology and Bacteriology.
Turkmenistan banks upon support of the Member States of the United Nations and the specialized agencies of the UN system in the implementation of the above-mentioned proposals.
Issues of International Politics, Peace and Security
Assistance to the International Community in preserving and strengthening universal peace, security and strategic stability remains the core line of Turkmenistan’s activities in the United Nations.
We plan to take a number of concrete practical steps for the further practical realization of the potential of neutrality as an effective tool of peacemaking and achieving constructive consensus decisions, as well as the implementation of the provisions of the UN General Assembly Resolution “The role and significance of the policy of neutrality in maintaining and strengthening international peace, security and the process of sustainable development”, adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan on December 7, 2020.
In particular, during the 76th session, Turkmenistan intends to continue regular meetings of the Group of Friends of Neutrality for the Sake of peace, security and sustainable development.
We invite the States of the Community of Nations to take part in the work of this new format of political interaction within the walls of the UN during the upcoming session of the General Assembly.
The year 2021, declared by the UN General Assembly on the proposal of Turkmenistan as the International Year of Peace and Trust, is intended to unite additional efforts on the part of the United Nations system to form traditions of peaceful and trustful coexistence of the peoples of the world.
We invite the UN Member States and international organizations to take an active part in the work of this forum.
Large and representative events within the framework of the International Year of Peace and Trust, held in Turkmenistan and some other countries, clearly demonstrate the need and objective relevance of broad international communication on topical issues of global and regional security, the preservation and strengthening of international law and the UN Charter, and the confirmation of the leading role of supporting international institutions.
According to Turkmenistan, the achievement of these goals as the most important part of global efforts to strengthen long-term stability, peace and trust should not be limited to a time frame, but on the contrary, become a permanent topic on the UN strategic agenda, thereby ensuring the continuity of the substantive international dialogue that began this year in these areas.
In this context, Turkmenistan, based on the previously expressed initiative to establish a dialogue on security and cooperation in the Central Asian region, proposes to establish an International forum on Security, Peace and Development in Central Asia, which operates on a regular basis.
Turkmenistan assigns a special role to preventive diplomacy in solving the tasks to maintain peace and security, counter new challenges and threats.
We intend to consolidate this initiative during the upcoming Sixth Caspian Summit, scheduled to be held in Turkmenistan in 2021.
Terrorism, extremism, cross-border organized crime, illegal trafficking in drugs and weapons, and human trafficking continue to be serious challenges and threats for international security.
During the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Turkmenistan will continue to pay special attention to the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy at the regional level, based on the provisions of the Ashgabat Declaration of 2011 and the Joint Action Plan for Countering Terrorism in Central Asia.
We bank on the support of the region’s countries and the International Community in the process of creating and continuing the work of this counter-terrorism structure.
Turkmenistan, supporting the central role of the UN in consolidating international efforts to combat transnational organized crime, stands for the development of new international legal instruments to counter emerging threats, in particular, cybercrime and related challenges to international information security.
During the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly, Turkmenistan will continue to advocate for the consistent strengthening of the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament regime, assigning a central role to the United Nations and its multilateral disarmament mechanism in this direction.
Considering the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a fundamental instrument of international law in the field of ensuring international security, Turkmenistan sees as the main task of the upcoming 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT in 2022 the prevention of further corrosion of the international legal system of arms control and the non-proliferation regime.
In this regard, we emphasize the role of UNAM and note the need to improve the activities of this Mission, taking into account the realities of modern Afghanistan and the development of the military-political situation in this country in the near future.
Also, during the 76th session of the General Assembly, we propose to consider the possibility of creating new international mechanisms to support Afghanistan on the basis of the positive experience of the countries – immediate neighbors of this state in addressing issues of Afghan issues.
In particular, we see the implementation of this initiative through the prism of the practical implementation of the Kabul Declaration on Good-Neighborliness, supported by the UN Security Council resolution of December 24, 2002.
Sustainable Development
Turkmenistan considers energy, industry, transport and trade as strategic areas of the United Nations economic activity, which are key to ensuring favorable international conditions in the post-crisis period of global economic recovery and are able to provide the necessary incentives for expanding economic and trade cooperation and the growth of world industrial production.
Turkmenistan will continue to promote the issue of ensuring adequate funding in the implementation of Global Programs and strategies, the main of which is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In this regard, in order to accelerate the implementation of the decisions of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development and the mobilization of resources to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we always emphasize the expediency of organizing the next International Conference on Financing for Development.
During the upcoming session of the General Assembly, Turkmenistan will attach special emphasis to the issues of ensuring universal access to reliable, stable, financially efficient and modern energy sources (Sustainable Development Goal No.7).
The UN General Assembly resolutions on the reliability and stability of energy supplies to world markets, adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan in 2008 and 2013, are intended to become the basis for this.
In order to continue the multilateral dialogue in this direction, we propose to organize in 2022, together with the “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative, an International Forum to accelerate progress in achieving SDG-7, paying special attention to the issues of sustainable transit of energy resources and the creation of modern UN international legal instruments in this regard.
We call on all states and specialized agencies of the UN system to take a constructive and effective part in the development of a Special Interregional UN Program for the Development of Transport.
Continuing to contribute to maintaining a broad dialogue at the global level on the development of international transport systems, the Turkmen side, together with the Office of the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, plans to organize an International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked Developing Countries in Turkmenistan in April 2022.
On the economic track, we advocate closer cooperation of the United Nations with regional and sub-regional organizations on the basis of the principles laid down in the UN Charter.
In this regard, we welcome the mechanism of the biennial resolutions of the UN General Assembly on the cooperation of the World Organization with certain regional structures.
We intend to take a number of practical steps to implement the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan on the development of a UN Strategy aimed at implementing measures for the development of low-carbon energy, as well as the creation under the auspices of the UN of an International Road Map for the development of hydrogen as one of the priority areas in the energy sector.
In this context, we advocate increasing the role and effectiveness of the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a key universal platform for defining and implementing the agenda of global cooperation in the environmental sphere.
We continue to pay special attention to the issues of minimizing the consequences of the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea.
During the upcoming session of the General Assembly, Turkmenistan will continue to implement the initiative put forward by the President of Turkmenistan at the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development on the creation of a Special UN Program for the Aral Sea basin.
At the same time, we note that the adoption of the General Assembly Resolutions “On Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)” on April 12, 2018 and May 28, 2019 can act as an international legal basis for working on this Special Program.
International Humanitarian Cooperation
Based on the fundamental Conventions and other multilateral international documents of the United Nations in the field of human rights, Turkmenistan expresses its readiness for further practical activities to develop multilateral humanitarian cooperation.
In this context, within the framework of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, we will focus our efforts on cooperation with specialized structures of the United Nations on the implementation of national, regional and global strategies, programs and action plans for ensuring human rights and freedoms adopted on the basis of international legal documents of the United Nations.
Turkmenistan, as a member of the UN Commission for Social Development for 2021-2025, intends to strengthen the role of this commission as the main coordinating body of the World Organization engaged in developing coordinated approaches and actions on global issues of social protection, youth affairs, strengthening the role of the traditional family and other areas.
At the same time, we are convinced that the main principle of the work of the entire UN system in the field of the promotion and protection of human rights is equal interstate interaction based on the existing mechanisms of international law and respect for state sovereignty and sovereign equality of states.
In the context of migration crises’ emergence in certain countries and regions of the world, we consider it necessary to intensify the efforts of the UN specialized agencies in this area, in particular, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Among the humanitarian structures of the UN system, we attach special importance to the development of cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In this regard, Turkmenistan intends to expand its participation in the work of UNESCO specialized structures, being a member of the Executive Board of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the International Committee on Physical Education and Sport of UNESCO, as well as promoting its candidacy to the Intergovernmental Council of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Program of UNESCO for the 2021-2025 period.
Final Provisions
The priority positions of Turkmenistan at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the international initiatives and proposals put forward, determine the approaches of our country to active interaction with all member states of the Organization, UN bodies, institutions, agencies and institutions.
Turkmenistan will continue to make efforts to strengthen the central and coordinating role of the United Nations, which is the only universal platform for developing compromise solutions based on an equal dialogue, and calls on all partners to work together effectively in the name of affirming the high ideals of peace and justice, implementing global goals and objectives.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan
