Turkmenistan and the heads of UN agencies agreed to strengthen the activities of specialized UN programs in Turkmenistan, including in the Central Asian region.

This agreement was reached during a meeting held on Thursday in the format of a videoconference between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the heads of UN agencies in Turkmenistan and the region.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the negotiations were attended by the Regional Director of the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO) for Europe and Central Asia G. Yop-Son, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran G. El Khoury, UNHCR Regional Representative for Central Asia H. Friedrich Schodder, Representative of the United Nations Regional Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) A. Mukhidov, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan D. Shlapachenko and the leadership of the UN country offices in Turkmenistan: UNDP, UNODC, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, in including the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.

During the negotiations, was an exchange of views on the prospects for cooperation between Turkmenistan and specialized UN agencies in such areas as: sustainable development, digitalization, sustainable transport, climate change and environmental protection, as well as tasks to reduce greenhouse gas and methane emissions, rational use of water resources , the humanitarian dimension, including aspects of human rights, resolving issues of refugees and stateless persons, preserving national cultural heritage, including the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, applying and implementing best practices in the education and health systems, including the fight against non-communicable diseases and initiatives to single health.

The Turkmen side made a proposal to consider the possibility of opening up new areas of cooperation, in particular, to expand the representations of the UN and its structures in the country.
In their speeches, the heads of the UN departments informed about the ongoing joint work with the Government of Turkmenistan, supported the recommendations of the Turkmen side on new ways of interaction and shared their ideas and proposals in this direction.

Also at the meeting, the schedule of upcoming meetings and joint planned events was considered, the source notes.