VZCZCXRO6358
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1098/01 2840415
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110415Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9526
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1133
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0681
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0557
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2860
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1809
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0591

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001098 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID KDEM UN TX
SUBJECT:  UNITED NATIONS REVIEWS RECENT GOVERNMENT REQUESTS FOR 
ASSISTANCE IN DONOR MEETING 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In an October 8 donor meeting organized by the 
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Turkmenistan Resident 
Representative Richard Young provided an update on recent United 
Nations' activity, and outlined the proposed UN system's support to 
the Government of Turkmenistan's agenda for reform.  In response to 
invitations by the Government of Turkmenistan, the UN has identified 
six priority areas of support: electoral reform, human rights, 
economic reform, education, information and communication 
technology, and local governance.  Although availability of funding 
to accomplish these ambitious plans was not addressed in the 
meeting, Young said that UNDP hopes to enter discussions with the 
government in early 2008 to modify the current 2005-2009 UN 
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which guides its current 
activities.  Since several of the proposed areas overlap with 
requests received by other donors active in Turkmenistan and this 
meeting offered limited opportunity for discussions about how 
organizations might avoid duplication, future coordination and clear 
communication will remain critical.  END SUMMARY. 
 
SIX PRIORITY AREAS OF SUPPORT TO GOVERNMENT'S REFORM AGENDA 
 
¶3.  (U) The Government of Turkmenistan has invited the UN system to 
support its reform efforts in a variety of areas.  In an October 8 
donor coordination meeting organized by UNDP and attended by 
representatives of most embassies and donor organizations active in 
the country, Resident Representative Young distributed a paper, "UN 
System Support to the Government of Turkmenistan's Agenda for 
Reform," that formalized a single UN response to the government's 
proposals.  The paper outlined the scope of action in six priority 
areas and identified possible forms of cooperation through the UN 
agencies active in Turkmenistan. 
 
¶4.  (U) For election reforms, it received a request to support the 
development of a professional electoral body that can supervise the 
upcoming regional people's council and parliamentary elections. 
Specifically, the UN has been requested to review national 
legislation on elections in line with international best practices, 
build the capacity of the Central Election Commission, and train 
local officials involved in carrying out elections.  These requests 
overlap with similar government requests made to OSCE, and Young 
stressed that the UN will have to cooperate with others involved in 
these activities. 
 
¶5.  (U) Young believed that one of the most significant developments 
to date had been the request to support the government in its 
strengthening of human ights institutions and its ability to 
respond to treaty obligations.  Proposed areas for future 
collaboration include strengthening national capacities to follow-up 
on Concluding Observations and Reporting to Treaty Bodies; support 
towards ratification of new human rights' conventions; building 
capacity among government bodies working on human rights issues; and 
raising awareness of human rights among the general population, in 
schools and higher education institutions. 
 
¶6.  (U) Economic reforms need to address a range of challenges, and 
current high energy prices provide a window of opportunity to 
diversify the economy and to move towards more sustainable 
practices.  The UNDP has been asked to work with the government to 
build capacity in the following areas: macroeconomic analysis and 
forecasting, improved management of state property, private-sector 
development, public administration reform, pension reform, 
introducing international accounting standards, and increased 
investment in the social sector through medium-term budgetary 
framework.  Young acknowledged that, while the above areas have been 
touched on in various meetings, the UN is awaiting a specific 
proposal from the Ministry of Economy and Finance before it can 
proceed.  Once received, it plans to recruit a senior consultant to 
provide long-term technical assistance to the ministry. 
 
ASHGABAT 00001098  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) UNICEF Representative Mahboob Shareef said that "quality of 
education" is the most important area for focus, so that the new 
generation is prepared for the needs of an emerging market. 
Recognizing that reform of the education system represents one of 
the greatest challenges, since it involves capacity building at 
different levels of the system, Shareef suggested that the 
government needs to adopt a comprehensive approach to educational 
reform, and that UNICEF was prepared to assist in this effort.  In 
response to a question from the Kyrgyz Ambassador to Turkmenistan 
regarding what a "comprehensive approach" would entail, Shareef 
clarified that although the government has stated its vision for 
education reform, it has yet to share the goals or objectives of the 
reforms.  Furthermore, no clear leader had been identified within 
the government to carry the reform process forward. 
 
¶8.  (U) In spite of high-profile calls for increased access to 
Internet in Turkmenistan, the public and state and private 
enterprises still have very limited access.  Investment in 
information and communication technologies could provide a powerful 
injection for economic reform and accelerate progress in educational 
reforms.  The UN is prepared to provide normative frameworks to 
increase the role of the private sector, prevent abuse of new 
communication technologies, and tackle cyber crime. 
 
¶9.  (U) Turkmenistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested UNDP's 
support to improve public-services delivery to rural areas.  The 
responsibility for developing local government capacity resides with 
Turkmenistan's Parliament, while provincial governors are 
responsible for service delivery, so UNDP has been requested to 
partner with Parliament and local-government structures to assist in 
building capacities to support rural economic planning and community 
development, training vulnerable groups to respond to social 
disparities and communities' needs, and building capacity in 
budgeting and expenditure tracking at the local level. 
 
¶11.  (U) Although availability of funding to accomplish these 
ambitious plans was not addressed in the meeting, Young told USAID 
Representative afterwards that the UN hopes to enter discussions 
with the government in early 2008 to modify the current 2005-2009 UN 
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which guides its current 
activities.  He did not expect this to be a time-consuming process, 
given the existing requests from the government. 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: The UN-organized donor meeting was the first 
formal meeting of its kind in several months in Ashgabat.  Given 
limited direct information about the UN's plans for increased 
support for the government's reform agenda, the level of attendance 
reflected the high interest of embassies and donor organizations in 
learning more about its intentions.  Several of the proposed areas 
of engagement overlap with requests received by other donors active 
in Turkmenistan, but time constraints limited the opportunity for 
detailed discussions about how organizations might work together or 
avoid duplication.  Future coordination events and clear 
communication among donor organizations will remain critical.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND