Ashgabat, 22 June 2010 – The high-level delegation of the European Union visited the UN House in Ashgabat on June 17 to get acquainted with the UN experience of work in the sphere of human rights in Turkmenistan. The EU delegation consisted of Rolf Timans, Head of the European Commission’s Human Rights Unit; Silvia Escobar, Spain’s Ambassador for Human Rights, and Emma Achilli from the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. The Ambassador of Romania to Turkmenistan, Radu Liviu Horumba, and the Coordinator of Europa House in Turkmenistan, Theo Hensels, also attended the meeting.

The meeting at the UN House came one day ahead of the already traditional annual Turkmenistan-EU human rights dialogue. In this regard, the EU delegation was particularly interested in the UN successes in promoting human rights in Turkmenistan and challenges faced in this area.

The UN Resident Representative, Lenni Montiel, in the company of UNICEF’s Representative Samphe Lhalungpa, UNODC International Project Coordinator Ercan Saka, and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Narine Sahakyan briefed the visitors on the UN constructive cooperation with the Government of Turkmenistan on the human rights issues and highlighted the major areas of work in this area. The sides also discussed cooperation in the human rights area  within the framework of the EU/UNDP/OHCHR joint project of “Strengthening the National Capacity of Turkmenistan to Promote and Protect Human Rights” as well as EU/UNDP regional Border Operation Management programme for Central Asia. 

The EU delegation was also updated on recent developments and progress in other areas as part of the broader human rights agenda in the country, including juvenile justice, combating drugs and others.