Today, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received the newly appointed head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in our country, Mohammad Fayyazi, who presented his credentials to the leader of the nation.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity to meet in person, the representative of a major international organization conveyed warm greetings and best regards from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell to the head of state, confirming the Fund’s high interest in further developing the traditional fruitful dialogue with Turkmenistan.

Welcoming the new head of the UNICEF Office and congratulating him on his appointment to a responsible post, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that cooperation with the United Nations and its largest specialized agencies, including UNICEF, is one of the key lines of the foreign policy of neutral Turkmenistan.

Continuing the meeting, the leader of the nation and the head of UN Children’s Fund Office exchanged views on the priority areas of long-term bilateral cooperation and the prospects for its further expansion to address common goals and objectives. A practical guide in this regard is the National Action Plan for the Realization of Children’s Rights, which meets both the interests of the country and the global Sustainable Development Goals. The intensification of cooperation was noted in the context of the election of our country as a member of the UNICEF Executive Board for 2018-2022.

A significant result of this cooperation was the signing of a solid package of documents and multilateral instruments at the international Conference “Policy of Peace and Trust - the Basis of International Security, Stability and Development” on December 11 last year, in which President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part. These included the Work Plans for 2022 aimed at implementing the United Nations Children’s Fund Programme for Turkmenistan for 2021-2025, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and UNICEF, etc.

The head of state expressed special gratitude for the support provided by UNICEF in relation to maternal and child health in the implementation of large-scale national projects being carried out, inter alia, as part of the work with WHO to fortify food and provide the population with iodized salt, as well as to conduct of childhood immunization, in terms of coverage of which Turkmenistan is the leader in the Central Asian region.

With the assistance of the UN Children's Fund, in accordance with the signed Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation, Turkmenistan is carrying out a regular purchase of WHO-certified immunobiological preparations, and organized free vaccination of the population.

Highlighting the unconditional importance of digital technologies in the life of modern society, the President of Turkmenistan emphasized the necessity for their widest introduction into the national educational system. Therefore, today at every stage, from kindergartens to higher educational institutions, there is a full range of necessary computer equipment, Internet access, and each first grader is provided with personal computers.

Expressing sincere gratitude to the head of state for paying the constant attention to cooperation with the UN Children’s Fund, Mohammad Fayyazi noted that it is a great honor for him to work in Turkmenistan, and assured that, for his part, he would in every way contribute to the successful continuation of bilateral partnership, based on many years of experience of joint work that has great potential.