Ashgabat, 18 December 2009 – Representatives of major stakeholders in local self-governance in Turkmenistan convened today at the Annual National Conference at “President” Hotel as part of the UNDP/Mejlis joint project “Development of Local Self-Governance in Turkmenistan.” The conference was attended by members of the National Parliament, the interdepartmental working group on development of local self-governance from over 20 ministries, organizations and public associations as well as regional and district executive authorities, local self-governance bodies and mass media.

The conference reviewed progress achieved by the project in advancing Turkmenistan’s efforts to strengthen local self-governance system, discussed major directions and priorities of Turkmenistan in this area and got acquainted with international experience and best practices of local self-governance.

Speaking about project achievements, Parliament Vice-Speaker Kasym Babayev said that the scope and quality of work of local self-governance bodies in pilot regions, their vision and knowledge increased significantly thanks to the project’s capacity building activities. According to him, communities in these pilot regions actively participated in local development initiatives, including appropriations for local projects. “One of the project’s most important achievements was enhanced interaction between local self-governance bodies and local authorities in pilot regions on issues of participatory local planning that goes in tune with Turkmenistan’s strategy on development of local self-governance system in the country,” Kasym Babayev stressed.

Assessing the project results over the past year, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Narine Sahakyan emphasized that UNDP and Mejlis have made a great step forward in improving the legal and policy frameworks for further development of local self-governance in Turkmenistan and strengthening the capacity of local self-governance bodies. She assured the Mejlis leadership of UNDP’s continuous support in further joint initiatives in the sphere of democratic governance in Turkmenistan.  

During ensuing presentations, the participants shared their experiences of joint work in pilot regions of Turkmenistan as part of the project. They also discussed ways to improve the legal mechanism of preparation and management of local budgets, improvement of methodologies and fiscal policies at the local level and the role of local self-governance bodies in local planning. To this end, the conference listened to recommendations for improvement of local self-governance system in Turkmenistan that were drawn on the basis of research and needs assessment conducted by the project. These recommendations aim at further improving the national legislation and regulations for local self-governance taking into account the priorities of socio-economic development of Turkmenistan.

Speakers at the conference also noted the need for adaptation at the national level of effective methods of local development planning based on the broad and active participation of local communities and populations, as well as procedures for identifying socio-economic priorities at the village level. There was also stressed the importance of better coordination and more active participation of all concerned ministries, departments and public organizations in this process. As many of the speakers noted, these measures will help improve quality of local plans and enhance participation of local communities in decision-making process in their respective territories. 

In the course of the conference, participants also had an opportunity to look at the European experience of local self-governance, including its traditions, core values, models of territorial organizations of local self-governance bodies, their legal and financial bases, functions and competences as well as challenges faced by some European countries in transition to local self-governance. The presentation to this effect was made by UNDP’s international consultant on decentralization and local governance from the University of Warsaw Pawel Swianiewicz.

Wrapping up the discussions, the conference supported the idea of developing a national programme on local self-governance in Turkmenistan, the need to define sources of budgeting of local self-governance bodies and their independent budgets. The conference participants also made recommendations for development of the project’s strategy for the next year and noted that there are all conditions in place to scaling up the project activities across Turkmenistan.

The UNDP-supported Project “Local Self-Governance” started in 2007. The project is implemented jointly with the Parliament of Turkmenistan. The project aims at improving the quality of services provided at the local level through strengthening capacity of local self-governance bodies and improving the legal and policy environment for further development of local governance.