Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Turkmenistan, in collaboration with the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA RO), conducted a two-day seminar on enhancing national capacity in the field of demography from April 30 to May 1, 2025.

The seminar was facilitated by Mr. Fabio Losa, UNFPA Regional Advisor on Demographic Resilience Policy, and Ms. Ainur Kanafina, UNFPA Regional Programme Specialist on Population and Development for EECA, who shared contemporary knowledge and international best practices in demographic science and policy. 

The following key topics were addressed during the seminar:

• Technical overview of key concepts: demography, human capital, demographic dividend.
• Approaches to strengthening demographic literacy at the institutional level.
• UNFPA's vision in ensuring women's reproductive rights and investing in human capital in implementing demographic policies.
• Research in demography: overview of methodologies and best practices in conducting research.
• International experience and UNFPA's support in establishing a unified digital population register.
• Demographic strategies in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region: lessons learned.

This seminar aimed to deepen the knowledge of Turkmenistan's specialists in the field of demography and provide them with practical tools for developing and implementing effective demographic policies and leveraging the demographic dividend.

It is important to note that this event was preceded by a study visit of a delegation of experts from Turkmenistan to Ankara, Türkiye, from November 25 to 30, 2024, with UNFPA's support. The objective of the visit was to study Turkey's best practices in population statistics and the digitalization of civil registration processes, including the operation of the Central Civil Registration System (MERNİS) and the Address-Based Population Registration System (ABPRS).

The workshop served as a logical continuation of the study visit by the Turkmen delegation to Türkiye and marked another important step in the cooperation between UNFPA and the Government of Turkmenistan. This initiative contributes to raising demographic literacy and enhancing national specialists' skills in digital data collection, analysis, and utilization for evidence-based policymaking in human capital.

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For more information: Kemal Goshliyev, Head of UNFPA Office in Turkmenistan, goshliyev@unfpa.org; +99312488326