DM Monitoring
BAKU: The objective of series of webinars organized by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) was to assist Turkmenistan in the process of nationalization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators, Giorgi Kvinikadze, Statistician, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia told media.
“Turkmenistan, as many countries throughout the world, has started the nationalization process of SDG indicators. Because of the fact that many global SDG indicators are new (this is especially true for the indicators under FAO custodianship), some challenges accompany this process, not only in Turkmenistan, but in practically all countries of the Europe and Central Asia region,” said Kvinikadze.
“There is no clear understanding of the methodology of indicators and their importance in monitoring corresponding targets and goals; There is no clear understanding of the fact that a country should include all relevant global indicators in its national indicator framework to ensure its visibility in the global picture, adding specific national indicators only as complementary ones; and Because of the first two reasons, some important global indicators are excluded from the national framework or replaced by the indicators that are different from the global ones,” Kvinikadze said.
The series of webinars, held with Turkmenistan, was aimed exactly to fill these gaps, said Kvinikadze, adding that it was a success, especially if one takes into account that this was the first comprehensive statistical activity ever undertaken by FAO in Turkmenistan.
“During the webinars, the participants were presented with methodological reviews of all 21 SDG indicators under FAO custodianship. The ways of data collection and production of these indicators in Turkmenistan were discussed. Special focus was on the indicators that were excluded from the national indicator framework. As the national indicator framework formation is a living process, it was agreed that the issue of including the excluded indicators will be considered,” he said, adding that the series of webinars is just the first step in the process of implementation of SDG indicators under FAO custodianship in Turkmenistan.
The next step will be to build the capacity of respective agencies of Turkmenistan in producing each indicator and setting up appropriate reporting mechanisms, he noted.
“For some indicators this can be done in a relatively short time; for some it will take longer. At the end of the process, Turkmenistan should be able to report on all the indicators under FAO custodianship. This, in its turn, will improve the evidence based decision-making process in Turkmenistan in many important areas of economy and social life of Turkmenistan covered by SDG indicators under FAO custodianship,” Kvinikadze concluded.
The FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia, jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, organized a series of webinars on 12–16 February 2020, dedicated to SDG indicators under FAO custodianship.