Turkmenistan
SNAPSHOT
Date of independence: October 27, 1991
Capital: Ashgabat
Population: 6 million
GDP per person: $8,500
USAID IN TURKMENISTAN
http://centralasia.usaid.gov
CONTACTS
Regional Mission Director
William Frej
USAID/Central Asia
41 Kazibek bi St,
Almaty, Kazakhstan 050010
Tel: 7-327-250-79-12
Ashley Moretz
Country Program Officer
USAID
Business Center, A Block
1 Yunis Emre St, "Mir 2/1"
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744017
Tel: 993-12-456-130
Bob Wallin
Central Asia Team Leader
Tel: 202-712-0141
Email: bowallin@usaid.gov
At first, Aysoltan Halitova, a family phy-sician from Mary Province, was skepti-cal about the practices she learned through USAID's Integrated Manage-ment of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) training. The program aims to reduce the most common causes of death among young children by providing doctors with evidence-based tools to assess and manage childhood illness.
When Halitova's young son fell ill with pneumonia, she put her training to work. His quick recovery convinced the doctor to use IMCI-recommended methods for all her young patients. More than 800 Turkmen physicians have been trained on IMCI since 2002.
Overview
Turkmenistan shares borders with countries of interest to the U.S., such as Afghanistan and Iran, and its large hydrocarbon reserves make it a pivotal potential supplier for regional and world markets. It is a regional security partner and a supporter of Operation Enduring Freedom. These factors, combined with overall U.S. objectives in the region, make Turk-menistan a strategically important state that can play a key role in promoting the South-Central Asia integration initiative. Civic enfranchisement and engagement are in their initial stages, however, NGOs still face difficult registration rules and firm control keeps civil so-ciety advocates in check. The Government controls all domestic media, and citizen access to outside information largely arrives via satellite with Russian-language content.
The USAID program in Turkmenistan supports strengthening of private sector, civil society, and health reforms.
Programs
Supporting Private Sector Development
USAID works to establish the capacity and infrastructure to support sus-tainable economic development and growth in Turkmenistan through programming targeted to enhancing agribusiness and both secondary and professional education. The Agriculture Improvement Project builds competitiveness and strengthens the value chain for domestic, regional, and international markets. To improve rural incomes, this one-year pro-ject is helping to link farmers and agribusinesses with agricultural mar-kets, produce better products, and deliver consistent quality products to local and regional markets. The Accounting/CIPA Project supports the Russian language Certified International Professional Accountant pro-gram, which seeks to build local capacity to meet the technical and pro-fessional standards of the accounting profession. USAID funds Junior Achievement programs which offer economic education programs to secondary school students. Junior Achievement provides teacher train-ing, develop and distribute teaching materials, and organize youth events such as Student Company Fairs and Management and Economics Simu-lation competitions. USAID also supports exchanges within the region and to the U.S. to foster greater understanding of private sector devel-opment, macrofinance, and business education.
Improving the Health of Mothers and Their Children
USAID works to establish and institutionalize components of health re-form in Turkmenistan, with a focus on improving the quality of maternal and child health services. To improve the management of childhood ill-nesses, USAID trains health care providers and promotes community health in pilot sites. Programs support the implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control, including improvement in laboratory quality assurance and ad-vanced laboratory techniques. USAID also supports improvements to blood screening in Turkmenistan, to reduce the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases. The CAPACITY Project will assist the Minis-try of Health with its national HIV/AIDS strategy, with a focus on preven-tion. USAID also supports the Government of Turkmenistan's efforts to combat avian influenza.
Promoting a More Active Citizenry
USAID supports the development of civil society at the community level through training, technical assistance, and access to legal information. This includes co-funding for small-scale community projects to meet local economic development needs, as well as assistance to strengthen rela-tions between communities and their local governments. USAID also works with local organizations to expand legal advice to NGOs, the me-dia and other organizations. Additionally, USAID's Community Connec-tions Program offers home stay-based practical exchange opportunities in the U.S. for Turkmenistan's business, community, and local govern-ment leaders to build lasting linkages.
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