Ashgabat, 26 February 2019: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), along with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, leads the process where UN agencies provide support to the Government of Turkmenistan in preparing its first Voluntary national report (VNR) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be presented in New York this summer.

To do that, UNDP has engaged in partnership with the UN ESCAP to provide support in preparing VNR. During their mission to Turkmenistan, UNESCAP and UNDP experts met the Ministry of Finance and economy and the inter-agency working commission comprised of various relevant ministries and agencies to consult on preparation of the VNR and held a seminar on Systems Thinking and Integration of the SDGs into National Planning.

As part of the mission, invited experts also met SDG Ambassadors, young people of Turkmenistan promoting SDGs among their peers and public at large. During the meeting, SDG Ambassadors and experts exchanged opinions on the role of youth in implementation of SDGs in Turkmenistan which will be reflected in the VNR.

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As part of implementation of SDGs, Turkmenistan will present its progress on implementing the 2030 Agenda in 2019 at the High-Level Political Forum.

The UN agencies provide support in preparation of the report by hosting working meetings with civil servants to prepare for a Voluntary National Review on Sustainable Development Goals.