An UN-sponsored special seminar on public awareness of gender issues was held in the Turkmen capital.

The officials of the Mejlis, the Ministry of Justice, the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, the national ministries and departments participated in the seminar organised by the State Committee for Statistics of Turkmenistan in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The seminar presented the results of participatory selection of 1,500 households conducted in the capital and five regions of Turkmenistan in 2006 to identify the degree of public awareness of the issues of gender equality in the family, reproductive health, etc. The international experts compiled the questionnaires. 5,183 respondents at the age of 16 and more had participated in the public opinion survey.

Those speaking at the seminar focused on the importance of wider covering the relevant issues in the mass media and continuing the fruitful long-term work with the UN Population Fund, one of Turkmenistan’s active partners in implementing the population and reproductive health programmes. Positively evaluating the grandiose reforms initiated in Turkmenistan the UNFPA experts expressed the readiness to provide overall assistance to the Turkmen partners within the 2005-2009 joint programme aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the national priorities including improvement of the standards of living of the Turkmen people.