An introductory training on social and environmental obligations under the project “Response to COVID-19 in Turkmenistan”, financed by a World Bank loan, was held in Ashgabat for project stakeholders. In particular, it was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, including its Sanitary and Epidemiological Service and the “Turkmenmedtehnika” enterprise, the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, public and non-governmental organizations – “Keyik Okara”, “Beyik Eyyam” and “Tebigy Kuwwat”, and also UNICEF and WHO.

The United Nations Development Program organized the training.

Turkmenistan, as a recipient of investments from the World Bank, must adhere to a number of project requirements, which include the elimination of certain environmental and social risks. Accordingly, the country has committed to improve the environmental and social performance of the project in accordance with national legislation and international best practice.

Project Environment and Social Analyst Shohrat Niyazmuradov presented ten environmental and social standards stemming from the World Bank's sustainable development framework and explained which of them are applicable to a project implemented in Turkmenistan. He also reviewed tools for assessing, mitigating and managing potential environmental and social risks. He reviewed the role of each health facility, the country's ministry of health and medical industry, UNDP and other stakeholders and implementing partners. The participants were familiarized with the main documents regulating all environmental and social aspects related to the project: the “Framework Document for Environmental and Social Protection” and the “Stakeholder Engagement Plan”.

The implementation of the project will require decisive and rapid efforts from all stakeholders, as meeting environmental and social obligations will be a particularly difficult task due to the emergency nature of the project, according to a UNDP press release. However, all partners are determined to achieve compliance and look forward to the successful implementation of the project.

Let us remind that the project “Response to COVID-19 in Turkmenistan” was launched in October last year. Its budget was 20 million USD.

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