UNFPA, United Nations Populations Fund held a Roundtable entitled “International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) beyond 2014: Population Priorities in Turkmenistan” on 11 July at Mejlis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan.
The Roundtable gathered high level policy decision-makers, government partners, UN agencies, civil society organizations and mass media.
Two decades ago, a landmark Cairo Programme of Action was adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development. Turkmenistan, a participant of the ICPD, has taken active part in the key milestones and events within the ICPD Beyond 2014 process of identifying the population priorities for the period after 2014. All of these process and events have provided a better understanding of the achieved progress, as well as existing gaps and emerging issues of concern in the region and globally.
Ms. Jacinta Barrins, UN Resident Coordinator and UNFPA Representative opened the event with the message of Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin on the occasion of World Population Day. She reiterated the importance of investing in youth and adolescents, particularly because they make up nearly third of Turkmenistan’s population. Ms. Barrins also encouraged the government partners to share their experiences from specific events and provide recommendations on how we can build on progress made in Turkmenistan.
The key findings of the newly launched ICPD Global Review Report were further presented by Ms. Bayramgul Garabayeva, UNFPA Assistant Representative. In her presentation, she reminded that in 2011 the General Assembly resolution was adopted requesting the UN Secretary-General to present a report based on an operational review of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action. Ms. Garabayeva thanked the Government of Turkmenistan for participation in the ICPD Global Review that was nationally led by the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan. The Global Review identified the key achievements and gaps in implementation of Cairo promises and proposed a Framework of Actions for the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Beyond 2014.
The participants of the roundtable discussed the recommendations of each regional and global event, current trends in the country and emerging national priorities within the framework of the ICPD agenda. The government partners confirmed their political support for actions required for the full achievement of the goals and objectives of the Programme of Action within the ICPD beyond 2014 framework.
The highlight of the roundtable was a youth delegate who made a presentation on “Why is it important to invest in youth?”. Mr. Timur Tachmuradov, Y-PEER volunteer, collected responses to this question from his peers and presented them to the policy decision-makers. He then presented the existing opportunities for young people in Turkmenistan and discussed its usefulness from youth’s point of view. Timur ended his presentation with the request to expand the opportunities for young people to have wider access to reproductive health education and services.
UNFPA: Delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
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For additional information, please contact
Ene Tuyliyeva, Advocacy Communication Associate
Tel: 425250
Web: unfpa.org.tm, www.untuk.org
