The delegation of Turkmenistan has effectively presented its first Voluntary National Review during High Level Political Forum in New York on July 18, 2019. The global community was introduced to the main milestones of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Turkmenistan. The report is prared with support of the joint UNDP and the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan project on acceleration of SDGs implementation. 

As part of the delegation, Mr. Kemal Gaitnazarov, a young SDG Ambassador spoke on behalf of all young people of Turkmenistan and amplified the matters affecting their lives, and how the youth of Turkmenistan can contribute to the global discussion on SDG implementation.

“It is clear, that when someone is missing from the benefits of the progress, it will be hard to achieve the sustainable development goals. We, young SDG Ambassadors very actively engage youth with disabilities and other groups of youth into our activities to ensure, that no one is left behind”, noted the young speaker.

As part of the mission, Turkmenistan organized the side event "Transboundary Waters for Transboundary Benefits: Delivering SDGs to Promote Sustainable Water Management Across Borders in Central Asia and beyond", which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York. The event's participants, including representatives of the Permanent Missions of the Central Asian states to UN along with international organizations, exchanged their views on the importance of consolidating joint efforts in eliminating the impacts of ecological disasters resulting from climate change, as well as depleting water resources in various regions of the world.

“There is a need to scale up support for environmental monitoring and analysis and to promote using data for action in order for the environmental dimension of the SDGs to be met”, stressed Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan.

By underlining the importance of the international transport collaboration between the landlocked countries, the Turkmen side expressed its readiness to actively further participate in the forums organized by the Office of the Deputy Secretary General. During the meeting with the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, the parties discussed a number of practical steps on strengthening the regional partnership in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as in the framework of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship in United Nations Special Programme for the economies of Central Asia (SPECA).