Ashgabat, 19 August 2010

“Turkmenistan and United Nations: Eighteen years of cooperation for peace and development”

Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Participants,

[Turkmenistan’s policy on peace and security at global and regional levels]

It is a great privilege for me to participate in this conference, organized on the eve of the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly. In this regard, let me express our gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan for providing us with the opportunity to speak on behalf of the UN System in Turkmenistan.

On the 2nd of March, Turkmenistan and the United Nations marked the eighteenth anniversary of Turkmenistan’s membership as a member-state in the United Nations. Since then, Turkmenistan has taken active participation in the implementation of core provisions of the United Nations Charter. On the 12th of December this year, we will also celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Turkmenistan’s status of neutrality, which was endorsed through approval of the special UN General Assembly resolution. Turkmenistan is the only country in the world, whose neutrality status was approved by the United Nations. In connection with this, allow me to congratulate His Excellency President Berdymuhamedov, the Government as well as all women, men and children of Turkmenistan on this remarkable occasion and to wish them peace and prosperity.

Turkmenistan’s active involvement in the work of the General Assembly allowed the country to be elected as the Vice-Chair of the 62nd and 64th sessions of the General Assembly. Through this experience, Turkmenistan could initiate the approval in December 2008 of a General Assembly Resolution on “Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy and Its Role in Ensuring the Sustainable Development and International Cooperation.”
   
Issues of energy security in this region, as we all know, are directly linked to the issues of disarmament and non-proliferation. Hosting in July this year in Ashgabat of an International Conference on Disarmament Issues in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Region reflects that Turkmenistan showed its strong commitment to peace and security in the region, as well as on the global level. United Nations was represented in this conference by Sergio Duarte, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN High Representative on Disarmament Affairs. Turkmenistan’s peaceful initiatives are not limited by these developments, and I am very happy to note the country’s efforts focused on the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia.

Since the very first days of its independence, Turkmenistan pursues peaceful foreign policy on the basis of friendly and good-neighbourly relations. The Government of Turkmenistan has repeatedly offered Ashgabat as the venue for conducting peaceful negotiations, including inter-Tajik and inter-Afghan consultations, which took place in the mid 90s of the previous century.

Recent proposal of the Government of Turkmenistan to organize in Ashgabat, under the auspices of the United Nations, a high level conference on confidence building measures in Afghanistan and the development of governance institutions, is a pioneering and timely initiative. As the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, I would like to emphasize that we will provide all possible support in the implementation of this proposal.

In implementing its foreign policy, Turkmenistan has also supported the international community in the fight against international terrorism and extremism. As you know, Turkmenistan actively cooperates on the development of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

Fight against terrorism has a direct relevance to the combating of drugs and crime. Turkmenistan acceded to all three international drug control conventions back in the mid 90s of the previous century.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has issued a World Drug Report for the year 2010. The results achieved by Turkmenistan and included into this report, serve as indisputable evidence that the country pays a lot of attention to issues of combating drug trafficking and their consumption. 

In the context of ensuring stability in the region, it is important to mention Turkmenistan’s support to the establishment and functioning of the United Nations Regional Centre for preventive diplomacy for Central Asia.

Dear Participants,

United Nations supports Turkmenistan in the implementation of various government initiatives since the early days of its independence. The United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Populations Fund, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization and the International Organization for Migration are among Turkmenistan’s long-standing partners.

With great pleasure, I would like to welcome the decision of the Government on expanding cooperation with international financial institutions, which are affiliated agencies within the UN system, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well with regional development banks, such as the Asian, European and Islamic development banks.

At the moment, the UN continues to work closely with the Government in such areas as improvement of juvenile justice system, mother and child health protection, strengthening the epidemiological surveillance systems, supporting stateless people, human rights, environment and climate change, improvement of standards in the field of education. 

Considerable efforts were made to support the Government in receiving a grant in the amount of USD 20 mln., which was provided to carry out activities on combating tuberculosis. In this regard, it is worth to mention that later this year Turkmenistan is expected to be certified by the World Health Organization as a country free of malaria, which is a great achievement in this region. In September this year, new buildings of the State Medical University and the National Centre for Communicable Diseases should be inaugurated in Ashgabat. These facts are the evidence of a dynamic development of Turkmenistan’s health sector and of its collaboration with the UN in this sphere.

In the area of science and culture, Turkmenistan and UNESCO have actively worked for a number years and one of the important outcomes of this cooperation is the inclusion of several historical sites of Turkmenistan into the UNESCO’s world heritage list. Turkmenistan plans to expand its cooperation within the frameworks of UNESCO’s science and education related conventions.

United Nations agencies also support Turkmenistan in preparation for conducting the nationwide population census, transition to international statistical standards and the improvement of the national accounts system.

Joint activities are implemented with the involvement of the UN Development Programme in preparation for the elections to local self-governance bodies through exposing staff of Central Elections Commission to international experience and practices in the field of elections, as well as through the training of journalists. Capacity of Mejlis, as a legislative and representative body, as well as the capacity of the Civil Service Academy is improved. There are provisional plans to collaborate on issues of electronic Government. In these and other areas significant contribution has been made for several years by the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs – DESA.

As mentioned by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Turkmenistan in April this year, the United Nations will promote further activities involving youth and public organizations within the framework of local traditions and culture.

Human rights issues relate to an important sphere of cooperation. All United Nations resident agencies in Turkmenistan continue to support the Government and citizens of Turkmenistan on issues of human rights. Last year, a large-scale joint UNDP-EU project on strengthening the national capacity of Turkmenistan to promote and protect human rights was launched. Within the frameworks of the project, a high-level delegation from Turkmenistan visited Geneva to gain a deeper understanding of the activities carried out by the UN Human Rights Council. The visit created a good opportunity to strengthen the capacity of national experts in submitting periodic report to the UN treaty bodies. Our support in this sphere resulted in an increased involvement of Turkmenistan in the work of relevant UN structures dealing with human rights issues. The UN Secretary-General has personally familiarized himself with this initiative in April this year in the course of his visit to the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan.

Active cooperation is underway in the field of environment, climate change and energy efficiency. This work includes providing support both in policy development and in resolution of concrete environmental challenges.

Taking into account the fact that Turkmenistan is located in a seismic area, cooperation of Turkmenistan and the United Nations on emergency preparedness and contingency planning becomes highly important. UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA already work on those issues. A vivid example of Turkmenistan’s interest to cooperate in this area is the provision by Turkmenistan of humanitarian assistance to the people of Haiti, who suffered a devastating earthquake in January this year.

Turkmenistan has recently achieved impressive rates of economic growth, especially during the period of “New Revival.” According to the experts of the International Monetary Fund, this became possible due to the successful implementation of reforms in monetary and credit spheres, exchange rates and tax and budgetary spheres. The country’s development will continue further within the frameworks of the National Programme of socio-economic development of Turkmenistan up to 2030.

The country’s role in the system of international trade and in the international financial relations increases. UN structures and international financial institutions consider Turkmenistan as a middle-income country. 

All these processes demonstrate the importance of adopting new forms of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN agencies working in the country. This implies implementation and introduction of projects on the basis of co-financing, whereas the UN’s major role relates to providing advisory support and support in increasing access to international expertise, specialists, standards and knowledge in those areas, in which Turkmenistan needs support. These forms of cooperation are already applied in many middle-income countries, such China, Brazil, Mexico, Chili, Bahrain, Malaysia, and since recently in such countries of CIS region as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus.

Further improvement of the efficiency of cooperation programmes and projects is needed, and the UN stands ready to take necessary measures in this direction in cooperation with the Government and other international organizations working in Turkmenistan.

Turning our attention to the UN reform, I would like to quote from the speech of His Excellency President Berdymuhamedov delivered at the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly. The following: “The United Nations reform as a whole should be meaningful, goal-oriented and should correspond to the objective realties of the time. In this respect, Turkmenistan supports the efforts of the Member States, of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to make the work of the Organization more dynamic, efficient, transparent, and democratic.” We know that Turkmenistan supports more effective coordination among all UN structures, as an important part of international efforts aimed at the achievement of millennium development goals.

The upcoming 65th Session of the General Assembly has a great importance. For a third time since year 2000 the heads of all UN member-states gather at a summit devoted to the millennium development goals, which takes place in New York on 20-22 September. Delegation of Turkmenistan, chaired by His Excellency President Berdymuhamedov, will also make its valuable contribution to these discussions based on the specific experience of the country.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Turkmenistan is currently applying to the membership in the UN Economic and Social Council, as well as to the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Consideration of these applications is linked to negotiations between the UN member-states. As the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, I fully support these efforts and wish Turkmenistan all the success in these important endeavors.

Within United Nations structures, we also support Turkmenistan’s plans for expanding the UN structures’ presence on its territory. We support proposals on establishment of the Regional Centre of United Nations Environment Programme for the countries of Central Asia and Caspian Basin. Currently, consultations are underway on opening the regional office of the UN Office of Project Services.

As you see, many joint achievements have been made during the last eighteen years. Yet, there are many plans for future, and all of them are related directly to the work of the upcoming 65th Session of the General Assembly. I would like to wish the Delegation of Turkmenistan success in the work of this session. I also would like to express confidence that cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United Nations will further serve for the benefit of Turkmenistan’s development and prosperity.

Thank you.