United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed in Tajikistan on official visit

The President of Tajikistan H.E. Emomali Rahmon and the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed opened the second Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference. During the three days of the Water Conference, government delegations, UN entities, civil society organizations, and the private sector are discussing how to catalyze partnerships for achieving progress on the water-related Sustainable Development Goals. The outcomes are expected to feed into the 2023 Summit.

After opening the conference, the Deputy Secretary-General attended a signing ceremony of the new Cooperation Framework between the Government of Tajikistan and the UN in Tajikistan for the period of 2023-2026.

The Cooperation Framework is a joint document setting out the national development priorities for the next 4-year period. The document was signed by the Prime Minister of Tajikistan H.E. Mr. Kokhir Rasulzoda and the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan Ms. Sezin Sinanoglu.

“I congratulate Tajikistan on its 30-year anniversary of membership in the UN. The successful development of the new Cooperation Framework for the next four-year period reflects our strong partnership. This Cooperation Framework has ambitious aims to improve the lives of people in Tajikistan and create equal opportunities for each person to realize her or his human rights based on equality, justice and respect for human dignity” noted the Deputy Secretary-General in her opening remarks with the Prime Minister.

In the afternoon the Deputy Secretary-General visited a primary health center in Rudaki district and learned how the joint UN-EU Global Spotlight initiative supports making health services accessible for the local population affected by gender-based violence. This joint initiative aims to contribute to ending sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls by 2030. The Deputy Secretary-General reaffirmed during the visit that the UN is committed to supporting provision of essential services to all women and girls, with a focus on those most vulnerable, and to date more than 3,500 women have been reached through these mobile health fairs in villages around the country.

Access to essential services, including health, legal & social protection, are key to eliminating violence against women and girls. In 2021 the UN in Tajikistan supported 2.2 million individuals with access to various essential health services to achieve SDG 3.

From Rudaki District the DSG returned to Dushanbe and visited the Teacher Innovation Center of the Ministry of Education and Science. She met the Minister of Education and Science and observed how the UN supports the Ministry to create innovate educational tools such as recorded educational podcasts for children.

The DSG highlighted how COVID-19 showed the world the importance of reforming education and learning for children and adolescents and ensuring its available even in challenging circumstances. In 2021 the UN reached 183,391 children in Tajikistan with innovative digital learning material in partnership with the Ministry.

She welcomed the intention of Tajikistan to share its experience in the forthcoming Transforming Education Summit to be convened by the UN Secretary-General in September 2022.