Ashgabat, 23 November 2011 – Students of the Institute of International Relations of Turkmenistan learned about UNDP’s mission, scope of activities and UNDP’s role in the area of human development in a lecture delivered by Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkmenistan Narine Sahakyan. Regular lectures for students of the Institute of International Relations about work of the UN agencies in Turkmenistan are part of the initiative of the United Nations system in Turkmenistan to expand outreach activities on the occasion of the UN Day celebrations in Turkmenistan. 

Ms. Sahakyan briefed the students about UNDP’s goals, structure, programmes implemented globally and on the country level. It was specially noted that UNDP’s primary focus is to help build nations which can withstand crisis, drive and sustain the kind of growth which improves the quality of life for everyone.

Speaking about the programmes implemented in Turkmenistan, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative emphasized that all projects are based on the national priorities and respond to the Government’s development needs. The students got a deeper insight of the activities carried out by UNDP in the area of governance and inclusive growth as well as environment and energy. Primary focus was made on the achievements in building capacities of national institutions, promoting human rights, fighting diseases, addressing climate change issues and ensuring environment protection. This part of the lecture was complemented by demonstration of the film "One Day on Earth" showing activities implemented by UNDP in different parts of the world.

The students and academic staff of the Institute of International Relations were also introduced to the concept of human development. Ms. Sahakyan made a short presentation on the history of the human development concept and its evolution as well as the basis for Human Development Index calculation. It was specially stressed that high economic growth indicators of a country cannot necessarily translate into higher Human Development Index. At the same time, a country with a low per capita GDP rate may be placed in the category of countries with high HDI due to more expanded choices and better services for people that exist in this particular country.  

Touching upon the issues of the sustainable development, the students and staff of the Institute learned how this concept is defined internationally and what are the challenges the world is facing now in order to ensure the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The sustainable development challenges at the local context were also described and the Turkmen Government’s initiatives to address these challenges were elaborated. The students learned about the joint projects of UNDP and the Turkmen Government in this area and preparations for the Climate Change Conference in Durban and Rio+20 Conference.

The lecture concluded with questions and answers session and sharing of visibility materials on UNDP activities in Turkmenistan.

• UNDP presentation from the lecture (PDF format)