OREANDA-NEWS. October 5, 2009. The European Commission, the UN Development Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented the new project Strengthening the National Capacity of Turkmenistan to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Turkmen capital. The members of the Interagency Commission for Monitoring Implementation of Human Rights International of Turkmenistan and the representatives of he diplomatic mission accredited to the country and the international organisations attended the official ceremony. The European Commission was represented by Mr. Dirk Megank, Director of the Foundation for European Aid to Asia and Central Asia and Ms. Margaret Nicholson, Director of the OHCHR Department for Europe and Central Asia.

Opening the meeting the organizers noted that the new project is a logical continuation of the joint project of the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations aimed at providing assistance to Turkmenistan in preparing the national reports on implementation of the ratified international docuemnts. It was emphasized that having chosen the path of fundamental reforms Turkmenistan declared the supremacy of law, protection of the interests, rights and freedoms of an individual as the highest value of society. Abiding by the democratic principles Turkmenistan took active part in international affairs demonstrating invariable adherence to its commitments.

As an equal member of the international community Turkmenistan joined a number of the fundamental UN conventions and other important international documents regulating the issues of peace, security and human rights. In this context the participants emphasized that President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s progressive policy was recognized by global community that welcomed and supported Turkmenistan’s resolute steps to further democratic development and guarantee the rights and freedoms to citizens. That was vividly illustrated by the successful speech delivered by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the 64th session of UN General Assembly who had put forward the new proposals and initiatives aimed at achieving the UN development goals – peace, security and sustainable development that highlighted the readiness of the Government of Turkmenistan to continue the constructive dialogue with the UN, the European Union and many nations of the world.

Presenting the project objectives the participants noted that these included raising knowledge of civil servants, officers of the law enforcement and other agencies of the human rights standards and taking the follow-up measures to implement the recommendations of the treaty bodies. The project would be implemented jointly with UNDP in Turkmenistan in partnership with the OHCHR and the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under President of Turkmenistan. The partners in Turkmenistan would be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Mejlis, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry of Education, the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The three-year project would be financed by the European Union, UNDP and OHCHR.

The project activities would be aimed at maintaining the constructive dialogue between government agencies of Turkmenistan and the international organisations, designing the strategies to improve the human rights system in Turkmenistan, creating the resource (information) human rights database on the official language. The projects would provide for conducting international forums, trainings, study tours, distribution of national and international legal information through the media.