UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund and volunteers of the Y-PEER network organized youth consultations for development of the new UNFPA Country Programme. Main objectives of the consultations were to discuss major factors influencing the reproductive health of adolescents, especially regarding their access and utilization of services. Globally, limited access of young people to reproductive health information and services can lead to detrimental outcomes such as intimately transmitted infections including HIV, discrimination on the basis of gender identity, early pregnancies and unsafe abortion. Consequently, meeting reproductive health needs of young people is vital for development, especially in improving the status of women and overall well-being within families and communities.

Youth consultations gave an opportunity for young people in Ashgabat to brainstorm about the issues that directly affect them. Young people expressed that they would favor supportive medical, psychological and policy environment to facilitate the full understanding of their reproductive rights. Young people’s concerns and recommendations will contribute to actions taken by UNFPA and line ministries in order to strengthen country-wide adolescent reproductive health services.

Young people represent a growing and increasingly important socio-economic segment of Turkmenistan. Voices of young people matter in light of the realization of the national strategies on the way towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. Kemal Goshliyev, MSc

National Program Officer on Reproductive Health

Tel: (+99312) 488325

E-mail: goshliyev@unfpa.org

Website: turkmenistan.unfpa.org