OREANDA-NEWS. May 03, 2011. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received Ms. Helen Clark, Under-Secretary-General and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Mr. Jens Wandel, UNDP Deputy Regional Bureau Director for Europe and the CIS.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity of a personal meeting, the UNDP Administrator conveyed the warm greetings of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the leader of the Turkmen state noting that she was very glad to visit Turkmenistan and discuss key aspects of bilateral cooperation during a new meeting with the Turkmen leader. Ms. Helen Clark emphasized that the United Nations viewed Turkmenistan as a dependable partner due to the constructive domestic and foreign policies of the country that actively participated in the international dialogue to address urgent problems facing the modern world. This was convincingly evidenced by the recent election of Turkmenistan as a member of three authoritative UN Commissions, including the UN Commission on Population and Development for the period of 2012-2015, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs for the period of 2012-2015 and the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme on a permanent basis.

Greeting the UN high-ranking officials and reaffirming that Turkmenistan was committed continuously to strategic cooperation with the United Nations, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized that pursuing the policy based on positive neutrality and peacefulness, our country called for establishment of wide international partnership to ensure global peace, security and sustainable development. Focusing with satisfaction on the dynamic nature of Turkmenistan-UN cooperation, the President noted that it was evidenced by effective contacts with the major United Nations structures, in particular the UNDP, which had resulted in completing and launching a number of joint projects.

The priority aspects and prospects for fostering a fruitful dialogue built originally on a long term basis and covering a variety of areas such as the socio-economic, humanitarian, health, environment and other sectors were discussed during the meeting. In this regard it was noted that the next step to deepen and expand traditional contacts, particularly in the legal sector, would the opening of the Information Centre for Human Rights at the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under President of Turkmenistan that would aim its activity at raising awareness of government officials, researchers, students, members of public organisations and other stakeholders of international practices in this area. The Centre would be opened under the Project “Strengthening the National Capacity of Turkmenistan to Promote and Protect Human Rights” jointly implemented by the Government of Turkmenistan, the European Union, the UN Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Evaluating highly Turkmenistan’s achievements on the path of drastic socio-economic and democratic reforms, Ms. Helen Clark said that these reforms had laid a solid foundation for the progress of the Turkmen state and society as well as facilitated the intensification of fruitful cooperation in the whole spectrum of areas.

In this context it was noted that the Turkmen leader’s participation in the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, when President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had put forward a number of international initiatives that had found support of the international community, had given new incentives to develop Turkmenistan-UN partnership in recent years. The UNDP Administrator emphasized that by taking a constructive approach to collaboration within the UN structure and addressing challenges of the modern world, Turkmenistan took the specific steps, including providing actively assistance in peaceful development and restoration of socio-economic infrastructure in neighbouring Afghanistan that in its turn had a beneficial effect on the situation in the region as a whole.

Upon concluding the meeting the leader of the Turkmen state and his guest expressed belief that Turkmenistan-UN cooperation would be furthered successfully in the interests of global wellbeing and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Lenni Montiel, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan attended the meeting.