14 August 2017, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. As a part of a global initiative to celebrate the International Youth Day, UNFPA Turkmenistan CO facilitated the meeting of the Youth Leaders and Volunteers at the Y-PEER center of Ashgabat.

Y-PEER, the Youth Peer Education Network, is a ground-breaking and comprehensive youth-to-youth initiative, supported by UNFPA, consisting of more than 500 non-profit organizations and governmental institutions worldwide. Its membership includes thousands of young people working in many areas, including those involving adolescent sexual and reproductive health. UNFPA has been supporting expansion of the international youth network Y-PEER in Turkmenistan since 2011, during which period more than 25,000 young people were covered by informational educational sessions.

The theme of International Youth Day 2017 is Youth Building Peace.

Approximately 40 participants have discussed the issues of Youth Leadership and Participation in decision making and contribution of young people to conflict prevention and transformation, inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace as well as the role of Turkmen youth in building peaceful and open society through achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development committed to fostering peaceful and inclusive societies and affirmed that “sustainable development cannot be realized without peace and security”. Goal 16 aims to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. The World Programme of Action for Youth, which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines to improve the situation of young people, also encourages “promoting the active involvement of youth in maintaining peace and security”. Young people’s inclusion in the peace and security agenda and in society more broadly, is a key to building and sustaining peace.

The Y-PEER volunteers showed video-materials on the theme of the International Youth Day 2017 “Youth Building Peace”, made presentations on SDGs and achievements of Y-PEER network in Turkmenistan as well as results of informational-educational campaigns in the summer camps of Geokdere and Awaza.  The Y-PEER volunteers also made theatre based performances, played music, sang songs, and organized a talk show on gender equality.

UNFPA in Turkmenistan continues advocating for Youth Participation and Leadership as well as increasing access of adolescents to information on Reproductive Health and gender equality.

***
For additional information, please contact:

Kemal Goshliyev, Reproductive Health NPO
goshliyev@unfpa.org

Ene Tuyliyeva, Advocacy Communication Associate
tuyliyeva@unfpa.org

Tel: 488326