Our Work

Democracy, Human Rights and Governance 

This three-day-old male calf was produced through the artificial insemination trainings conducted by USAID’s Agriculture Technology Program.

USAID provides much-needed legal advice to not-for-profit organizations and the media in order to facilitate the registration of organizations and the creation of a more participatory society. USAID also improves the delivery of government services by introducing officials and civil society leaders to internationally accepted practices through training on effective governance, strategic planning, management, organizational capacity building, and implementation of democratic policies and legal reforms. USAID has trained over 600 civil servants from various ministries and government institutions.

Economic Growth and Trade

USAID enhances the ability of government institutions to manage finances and to provide regulatory oversight that lays the foundation for investment and competitive private sector development. In agriculture, USAID activities improve livestock genetics to produce more milk and meat as well as teach best practices of greenhouse management to increase incomes of livestock owners and fruit and vegetable producers. USAID aims to reform the regulatory and managerial environment of electricity transmission to support Turkmenistan’s desire to greatly increase transmission to Afghanistan. In partnership with Chevron, USAID supports the Junior Achievement program in Turkmenistan, which gives young people invaluable opportunities to acquire practical skills in economics and entrepreneurship that help them to improve their quality of life and foster economic and social development in their country. These courses reach as many as 25,000 students annually.

Education

USAID has trained teachers from 10 percent of the country’s secondary schools, helping them to adopt interactive teaching methods that encourage greater student involvement and higher performance. USAID also trains educators in innovative uses of information and communication technology in higher education institutes; this program has already furthered professional development for close to 700 higher education faculty and research assistants.

Global Health

Faced with increasing challenges to combat tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, USAID is assisting Turkmenistan to modernize approaches to address the dramatic infection rates that result from Soviet legacies of insufficient treatment protocols, investments and approaches. Through the introduction of the internationally recommended strategy for TB control, the Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS), TB treatment success rates climbed from 63 percent in 2000 to 83 percent in 2011.

USAID partners with Chevron to support two centers that concentrate on HIV prevention activities for vulnerable youth. The youth centers also support English language and computer courses, sports and social clubs, and counseling on reproductive health. These centers reach over 3,000 young people per year, and associated outreach campaigns have successfully provided information to over 1,300 drug users on how to prevent HIV/AIDS. A USAID-sponsored drop-in center for at-risk people provides counseling services, information on HIV prevention, and referrals for medical services.

Highlights of Our Work

• New USAID-supported tuberculosis control and treatment methods are available to the entire population. Mortality rates per 100,000 have dropped from 9.0 in 2006 to 5.3 in 2011.
• USAID has been instrumental in assisting Turkmenistan’s transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Adoption of IFRS further integrates the country into the global economic system.
• A USAID-funded market economics program has been taught to more than 15 percent of the country’s high school students.