While Turkmenistan reports positive changes and investments toward children’s rights, there are significant gaps in data accessibility and transparency. Consequently, experts, researchers and journalists heavily rely on reports from international organizations like the United Nations and other external sources for insight into a country’s complex challenges. Publicly available evaluations, protocols, and comprehensive research are essential to assess the true impact of these initiatives and to promote informed policy decisions in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
After its ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, Turkmenistan has reportedto the UN Treaty Bodies three times on how the country implements the Convention. Turkmenistan went under its V-VI periodic review in 2024 during the review the government submitted the following documents to the Committee: Replies of Turkmenistan to the list of issues in relation to its V-VI periodic reports; Statement by the Head of delegation of Turkmenistan. These documents contain some important state data concerning the status of children in the country. The Committee elaborates the recommendations in its Concluding Observations.
Progres Foundation read through the documents to present state statistics to the public in Turkmenistan alongside with comments from the Committee’s Concluding Observations (dated Sep 24, 2024) on the country’s V-VI periodic reports in order to raise awareness around the issues of children’s rights and well-being in the country and to contribute to better understanding of the situation.
Note to the reader: These are statistics and statements submitted by the Government of Turkmenistan. The government ministries, agencies including state committee on statistics and the state media do not publish and publicly share these numbers online. Progres Foundation also recently published a summary of recommendations from the same periodic review for Turkmenistan.
State Budget Allocations
The government declares thatTurkmenistan has committed significant portions of its budget to sectors affecting children’s welfare, such as education, healthcare, and social services. However, data on detailed budget allocations remains largely inaccessible to the public and the Committee notes with concern the lack of budget transparency and the weak capacity for monitoring.
- 2023 Budget Breakdown: Education: 39% of public and social services budget, Healthcare: 14.1%, Social Security: 34.7%, Housing and Utilities: 9.6%.
- Trends (2015–2022): Share of funding for education, health, and social services rose from 49.0% to 67.7% of the total budget.
- Vaccination Funding: Over USD 83 million allocated for vaccinating children against 14 WHO-recommended infections.
Outreach and Awareness
Efforts to raise awareness about children’s rights have included seminars, outreach events, and educational materials. However, the impact of these initiatives remains unclear, and most resources developed in partnership with international organizations are not publicly accessible.
- 2021–2024 Activities:
- 29 seminars on child protection held in cooperation with international organizations.
- 48,929 minors participated in 535 events in 2022; 27,969 minors participated in 720 events in 2023.
- 36 training sessions and seminars on violence and abuse affecting children for internal affairs officers were held with 60,000 participants.
- 5,000 children educated on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Over 20,000 child-friendly booklets distributed.
- Training for Emergencies: 1,043 students, 400+ Red Crescent staff, and 200 school staff trained in disaster risk reduction, gender mainstreaming, and sanitation in emergencies.
The Committee recommends that the State party continue to strengthen its awareness-raising programmes, including campaigns, in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and civil society organizations, among others, to ensure that the Convention and its Optional Protocols are widely disseminated and made known by the general public, including parents and children themselves in Turkmen and other local languages, including Uzbek and Kazakh.
Public Consultations
Despite periodic public consultations, these sessions are not publicized in advance, limiting citizen involvement and transparency in the consultations process.
- 2020 Consultation: More than 300 schoolchildren participated in online questionnaires as part of the national report preparation.
The Committee recommends to promote the meaningful and empowered participation of all children within the family, communities and schools and ensure the active involvement of children, especially from disadvantaged groups, in decision-making in all matters affecting them.
The Committee urges the State party to lift its restrictions on civil society organizations, particularly those working with and for children, and to systematically involve all relevant civil society organizations in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols.
Infrastructure for Child Protection
New facilities have been established to improve protection services for children, yet detailed guidelines and protocols remain unavailable.
- Investigation Rooms: Child-friendly rooms opened in Ashgabat and Turkmenabat police departments.
- Ombudsman’s Office Expansion (2024): Two departments established for protecting women’s and children’s rights and human rights in the private sector.
Healthcare Initiatives and Clinical Protocols
Although clinical guidelines, treatment protocols and health initiatives are being developed, much of this information is not accessible for public use and evaluation.
- Clinical Guidelines: 12 guidelines for visiting nurses and 15 protocols for reproductive health of girls and 8 for boys created with UNFPA.
- Hospital Certifications: 95% of hospitals and 18% of primary care centers are “baby-friendly” certified.
- Psychology Graduates: Increased from 8 annually (2018–2021) to 20 in 2022, with plans for 50–60 specialists graduating annually in 2025 and 2026.
- Social Work Programs: Bachelor’s degree programs in social work launched in 2023 at two universities; 45 social work specialists have been integrated into the social service institutions of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Currently, in 18 etraps (districts) and cities, social work specialists provide psychosocial counselling and rehabilitation and reintegration, including for children.
The Committee remains seriously concerned about the rates of suicide among children and the lack of information as well as comprehensive and disaggregated data enabling to define the root causes of this phenomenon.
Sanitation and Water Access
Government data reports improved access to clean drinking water, yet independent verification is limited.
- Access to Clean Water (MICS 2019): 99.9% of the population using safely managed water services; 100% in Daşoguz and 99.8% in Lebap in Aral Sea regions.
Kindergarten access
Government data shows recent increases in preschool institutions, especially in rural areas, but location-specific data is not available.
- Preschool Institutions (2024): 1,099 institutions serving 214,803 children, including 214 new institutions in rural areas.
Source: Replies of Turkmenistan to the list of issues
The Committee acknowledges advancements in the right to education and compulsory 12-year schooling in the State party but raises concerns about unequal kindergarten access, limited resources for early education, insufficient data on educational access and outcomes, inadequate language study opportunities for minority children, forced participation in events, and the low quality of teachers’ working conditions.
The Committee also remains concerned about a significant number of children with disabilities who remain in special schools and that, in some areas, there is a shortage of specially trained teachers and assistant teachers.
Child Welfare and Disabilities
The numbers of institutionalized children and children with disabilities have risen, suggesting improvements in early detection but also indicating unmet needs for comprehensive support.
- Institutional Care (2023):
- Children aged 0–3 in children’s homes increased by 5.9%.
- Children in orphanages increased by 17.4%.
- Children with Disabilities:
- 2021: 4,482 children with disabilities (+1.6% from 2020).
- 2022: 4,770 children (+6.4% from 2021).
- 2023: 4,864 children (+2.0% from 2022).
Source: Replies of Turkmenistan to the list of issues
The Committee is deeply concerned about the significant increase in the rate of institutionalization, especially regarding the growing number of children with disabilities in all types of institutions. It is also concerned by the lack of tailored support and aftercare for children leaving alternative care, particularly for children with disabilities, and the limited awareness of aftercare options for those under guardianship. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned about the large number of children left without parental care due to labor migration of parents.
