The workshop has been organized by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS. Representatives of UNDP Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan country offices as well as their government counterparts gathered together in the Turkmen capital to promote a dialogue in the areas of local development and local governance as well as strengthen their joint capacity in these areas.

Local development, local governance, economic development and their interconnection, which are associated with a complex set of issues, constraints and capacity gaps, have been identified as important thematic areas for UNDP programming in Central Asia. In this regard, the workshop participants used this opportunity to share their experiences in these areas, advance their conceptual knowledge of local governance and local development, and jointly outline practical ways to move forward their common agenda as well as identify other opportunities for new initiatives in each country and in the region in general.

The workshop participants looked at successes and lessons learned in each Central Asian country in the area of local development and local governance, and highlighted some common challenges they are currently facing. Reflecting on the issues raised during discussions, local development experts made presentations on local governance, service delivery and local economic development. Experts helped the workshop participants to better grasp the basic conceptual framework for local governance and local development. Based on international best practices, the workshop discussed the role of local authorities and ways to strengthen local institutions and their interaction with local communities, common challenges and opportunities for national and local governments in Central Asia. Issues of accessible, affordable and quality public service delivery and basic elements of local economic development were also addressed at the workshop.

The ensuing group discussions reviewed the local development portfolio in light of newly acquired knowledge and new directions for programming in local development. The workshop agreed that well-designed and targeted local development initiatives can produce tangible improvement in quality of people’s lives in the context of Central Asia. “The various experiences in furthering the local development agenda in Central Asia are now allowing us to create a network of practitioners and better understand the opportunities and challenges we face. Given the discussions we had during the workshop, I am confident that we are well positioned to work together with the governments of Central Asia and support their efforts in advancing their local development agenda,” said Christine Roth, Director for UNDP Central Asia Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS.