UNFPA has announced three international consultancy vacancies that spotlight pressing demographic and social challenges in Turkmenistan. These roles aim to support national efforts in strengthening maternal health protocols, addressing gaps in legislation on gender-based violence, and understanding declining fertility trends. Together, they reflect the country’s urgent need for data-driven, rights-based policy solutions to improve reproductive health, gender equality, and long-term demographic resilience.
Improving Maternal Health through Updated Clinical Protocols in Turkmenistan
Despite Turkmenistan achieving a remarkably low maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 5 per 100,000 live births, sustained progress in maternal health remains a priority. While this is well below the global SDG target of 70 per 100,000 by 2030, outdated clinical protocols pose a risk to maintaining and improving this success and further eliminating preventable maternal deaths.
Medical knowledge and WHO guidelines continue to evolve, and failure to regularly update clinical practices can compromise care quality, hinder effective response to obstetric emergencies, and limit healthcare workers’ capacity to provide optimal maternal and neonatal outcomes. This makes it essential to align national protocols with the latest international standards.
To address this, UNFPA is recruiting an international consultant to revise and update clinical protocols in obstetric health in partnership with Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Health and Medical Industry (MoHMI). The goal is to contribute toward eliminating preventable maternal deaths, enhance evidence-based practice, and ensure Turkmenistan’s maternal healthcare system remains resilient, modern, and effective. The expert will assess existing protocols and identify gaps, lead capacity-building sessions and revise key clinical protocols, including for C-sections, obstetric hemorrhage, miscarriage, and vacuum extraction and analyze outcomes and draft a report with relevant policy recommendations. The consultant will also deliver onsite trainings and workshops for doctors and stakeholders to ensure effective implementation.
Strengthening Legal Protections Against Gender-Based Violence in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is working to modernize its national legislation to better protect women and address gender-based violence (GBV), in line with its constitutional commitments and international obligations. In 2024, the CEDAW Committee urged Turkmenistan to adopt, without delay, a law that specifically defines and criminalizes all forms of GBV, including domestic violence. Current laws lack gender-sensitive definitions of discrimination, retain discriminatory provisions, and do not fully meet international human rights standards. Addressing these gaps is crucial to protecting women’s rights, ensuring legal accountability, and advancing gender equality.
To support this effort, UNFPA is recruiting an international legal expert to work with national stakeholders, including Turkmenistan’s Parliament, to strengthen legislation on family wellbeing and GBV prevention. The consultant will conduct a desk review and legal analysis, facilitate stakeholder consultations and a legislative workshop, support the development of a revised model law on domestic violence aligned with international standards and draft a final report and step-by-step action plan to guide future legislative reforms. The consultant will also contribute to establishing a Working Group on legislative improvement and provide technical input throughout the process.
Demographic Change and the Need to Understand Fertility Aspirations in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, home to over 7 million people, is undergoing important demographic changes. The median age is 30, and the dependency ratio is 39.7%, meaning there are about 40 dependents (children and older adults) for every 100 people of working age (15-64). This relatively low dependency ratio indicates a large and potentially productive workforce, offering a window of opportunity known as the demographic dividend – a phase where economic growth can accelerate if jobs, education, and services are in place.
However, this advantage may be short-lived. The total fertility rate has declined from 3.2 to 2.6 over the past decade and continues to fall. In 2023, the birth rate was 22 and the death rate was 6 per 1,000 persons. According to the 2022 Census, 57% of the population is of working age, 34.9% are under 15, and 8.1% are 65 or older. Life expectancy is 70 years, and the population growth rate has increased slightly from 1.3% to 1.8% annually.
Looking ahead, the working-age population is projected to grow by nearly 1 million by 2050, while the share of children will decline and the elderly population is expected to double to 15%. These trends reflect a shift toward aging and lower fertility, both of which can place growing pressure on healthcare, pensions, education, and labor markets.
Although fertility remains above replacement level, its steady decline – coupled with a growing elderly population – poses serious long-term risks for socioeconomic development and demographic resilience. Yet, Turkmenistan lacks recent, detailed data on fertility preferences and the reasons behind this decline. There is limited understanding of:
- How many children people want and when
- Why actual fertility is falling below desired levels
- How social, economic, health, and gender-related factors influence decisions
Without this information, national planning in healthcare, education, social protection, and labor remains reactive rather than strategic. Understanding fertility aspirations is essential to:
- Guide evidence-based policy on family planning, gender equality, and youth support
- Develop a national demographic resilience strategy, and
- Help Turkmenistan harness its current demographic opportunity and prepare for future ageing
To address this challenge the UNFPA is recruiting an international consultant. The expert will review existing data including the 2022 census, design culturally adapted survey questionnaires, develop training materials and train national partners (Ministry of Health, Statistics Institute, CSOs, academia) on survey execution, analyze survey results, prepare and present analytical reports with key findings and policy recommendations.
