Ashgabat, 25 June 2009 – Two newly-piloted local self-governance bodies (Gengeshes) of Dashoguz province have joined a programme of trainings on participatory local development planning and mini project management, which was developed within the framework of the UNDP Project “Local Self-Governance”. In the course of the two-day training held in Magtymguly and Maslakhat Gengeshes, representatives of local communities, Gengeshes, village leaders and staff of local administrations learned the methodology of participatory planning for local development, as well as tools and procedures for needs assessment and identifying the socio-economic priorities at the village  level. “The participatory local development planning is a very efficient form of engaging local people in decision making process.

Ashgabat, June 23, 2008 – On June 15, the Ministry of Finance of Turkmenistan on behalf of the Government of Turkmenistan has signed the Grant Agreement with the World Bank on the “Statistical Capacity Building for Growth and Poverty Reduction” Project. The project will be implemented by the State Committee of Statistics (SCS) of Turkmenistan. The total budget of the grant is US$ 387,500. The Grant is financed by the Trust Fund for the Statistical Capacity Building. The Grant aims to further strengthen capacity for collection and analysis of socio-economic statistics in Turkmenistan to support socio-economic development of the country. The three major components of the Grant include: a) Development of a Statistical Master Plan; b) Strengthening Capacity to Conduct a Living Standards Measurement Survey; and c) Strengthening Capacity to Conduct a Survey of the Informal Sector. 

Ashgabat, 23 June 2009 – Five-day training on “Demography and Demographic Policy” for a group of specialists from line-ministries dealing with demography issues has been held on 15-19 June 2009 in Ashgabat.  Objective of the training was to increase the capacity of the national specialists from the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Economy and Development, State Statistics Committee and the Institute of Strategic Planning and Economic Development in integrating demographic and population dynamics data for national plans and policies development. The training programme has been developed based on the needs of national specialists, covering range of subjects and topics of the training programme curriculum.