Ashgabat, 6-15 December 2021:  The UNDP Office in Turkmenistan in partnership with Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Turkmenistan (MLSPT) organized the round table meetings on “Partnership of government and public organizations to achieve goals related to preventing violent extremism among vulnerable youth” in Ashgabat, Dashoguz, Mary, Tejen, Turkmenabat and Turkmenbashy.

The events were attended by the members of the advisory councils of pilot cities, including the specialists from the Local Employment Departments of the MLSPT, Hakimliks, Police departments, the Youth Organization of Turkmenistan, the Women's Union of Turkmenistan, as well as representatives of local CSOs, social work specialists of the MLSPT, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of Turkmenistan and primary technical educational establishments of the pilot cities.

About 50 participants representing various sectors brainstormed on the best practical solutions to support local youth with the aim of improving their employment opportunities and providing psycho-social support using available local resources.

Participants reviewed and discussed interests, needs, difficulties and visions of youth in the field of self-employment and education that were raised by youth themselves during the round table meetings with local advisory groups. Representatives of CSOs shared their experiences of working with vulnerable youth and services they were proving to increase education and employment opportunities for young people. In addition, the importance of mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) and mentorship program to empower young people to achieve their lifegoals was highlighted, which is in line with UNDP advocacy on integration of MHPSS in PVE to strengthen community resilience against violent extremism.

Employment is an important aspect of PVE programming for which UNDP brings the best global practices in building partnerships with the aim of mobilizing local resources and realizing innovative ideas to create equal development opportunities for all. Different solutions were discussed to strengthen public – private sector partnership in empowering youth in each pilot city. One of them was building partnership between local educational centers and advisory groups on mobilizing local resources to support young people to develop marketable skills to increase their employment opportunities.

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The Country Component of the Global Project on “Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism in Asia” (STRIVE Asia). A joint EU-UN partnership” aims to strengthen the resilience of local communities by supporting public PVE initiatives, supporting government and public organizations to achieve goals related to preventing and countering violent extremism among vulnerable populations, including youth. The specific goal is to ensure that key government agencies and civil society organizations are better prepared to participate in achieving PVE goals.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Turkmenistan is a key national partner of the project.