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Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the fifth meeting of the Turkmenistan – United Nations Strategic Advisory Council. This meeting marked an important step toward further successfully implementing Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, implemented under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and aimed at developing broad international cooperation. Significant importance is attached to multifaceted interaction with the UN.
The Council meeting was attended by members of the country’s government, heads and specialists from ministries and industry agencies, as well as UN missions accredited in Turkmenistan.
As noted, strengthening the strategic partnership with the United Nations is a key vector of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy. In this regard, this Strategic Advisory Council was established in March 2024 in accordance with a Decree of the President of Turkmenistan. Within its framework, current issues of our country’s cooperation with the United Nations in areas such as peace and security, the economy, sustainable development, education, climate change, and humanitarian affairs are discussed. To date, four Council meetings have been held.
As President Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized at a recent Cabinet of Ministers meeting, our independent country’s relations with the United Nations are steadily developing. This latest Council meeting is clear evidence of this.
During the meeting, the preparation of the third Voluntary National Review on Turkmenistan’s implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was discussed. As is well known, our country was among the first to begin implementing the SDGs at the national level. At the same time, an Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Preparation of Related Reports was established.
To prepare Turkmenistan’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR), in 2018, our country’s delegation participated in the Political Forum held in New York under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As a result, the first and second VNRs were presented at the ECOSOC Political Forums in 2019 and 2023.
To continue this work systematically, preparations for the third Voluntary National Review are currently underway. Its main areas were discussed at the regular meeting of the Strategic Advisory Board.
Additionally, draft cooperation programs on methane emissions reduction and youth policy were discussed with specialized UN agencies.
As is known, at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Dubai in 2023, Turkmenistan announced its accession to the Global Methane Commitment. In this regard, the UN has prepared a draft program aimed at implementing consistent measures to reduce methane emissions.
In our country, special attention is being paid to youth policy at the state level. Specifically, the Strategy for International Cooperation of Youth of Turkmenistan for 2023–2030 was adopted, and the State Program on State Youth Policy for 2021–2025 has been successfully implemented. Furthermore, at Turkmenistan’s initiative, the Central Asian Youth Dialogue, aimed at promoting the areas of “Youth, Peace, and Security” on the international agenda, was established.
In this context, the draft “Youth, Peace, and Security” Program for 2026–2028 was discussed at a meeting of the Strategic Advisory Council. This document will serve as a reliable foundation for supporting youth and ensuring their active participation in regional and international events. It should also be noted that, at the initiative of Hero-Arkadag, a Framework Agreement on the establishment of the Turkmenistan–UNESCO Trust Fund was signed in 2015 between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Following the meeting, a number of pre-agreed documents for the current year, prepared in cooperation with the relevant UN agencies, were signed. These include: the Work Plan for 2026 between the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative Office in Turkmenistan for the implementation of the UNICEF Country Program for Turkmenistan for 2026–2030; the Work Plan for 2026 between the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative Office in Turkmenistan for the implementation of the UNICEF Country Program for Turkmenistan for 2026–2030; Work plan for 2026 of the project “Improving universal access to quality reproductive health services” between the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Population Fund; Work plan for 2026 of the project “Strengthening the education system to optimally use the demographic dividend” between the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Population Fund.
