Ashgabat, 2 June 2021: The UNDP Country Office in Turkmenistan together with other UN Agencies held the educational session on environmental issues for children in “Altyn Damja” summer camp located in Gokdere.
The Educational session in a summer camp was held in the framework of the World Environment Day campaign, launched by the UN Agencies on 14 May 2021, and was organized by the UNDP Turkmenistan/Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection project “Sustainable Cities in Turkmenistan: Integrated Green Urban Development in Ashgabat and Avaza” in partnership with other UN Agencies, Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan, Society of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan and young SDG Ambassadors.
The activity aimed to raise ecological awareness among children and help them to start caring about nature, water resources and flora and fauna, as well as develop understanding and promote the behavioural change in relation to rational consumption and waste minimization and management.
The Educational session included presentations by UNDP Project specialists on the negative effects of plastic on our planet and people’s health, sports competitions and games, environmental education quizzes and interaction of children with young SDG Ambassadors on good environmental practices.
“The idea was in a game format to demonstrate children the threat plastic poses to our nature and our health, teach children environmentally friendly practices and stress the importance of their personal contribution in saving the planet” – said Jemal Dyrdykova, UNDP “Sustainable Cities” project specialist outlining the objectives of the educational activity for children in Gokdere summer camp.
As a result of this important initiative, children were able to increase their knowledge on waste management in an informal format, which allowed them to practice and have fun while learning about waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Through interactive discussions and practical lessons children developed a sense of wise consumption and rational use of resources.
Prior to this session, on 31 May 2021 at the UN Building, UNDP experts participated in the Environmental awareness training activity organized for young SDG Ambassadors, which allowed them to actively facilitate the educational session for children in the summer camp.
In addition, in the framework of the World Environment Day campaign, UNDP “Sustainable cities” project organized and together with other UN Agencies staff actively participated in the Trees planting activity held on 31 May, in Ashgabat. This ecological initiative demonstrated an example of good practice and served as a reminder of our connection with nature and our planet.
“I am very glad to join our colleagues in the Tree planting activity on the occasion of the World Environment Day” – said Ms. Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Turkmenistan, “Today, we take our chance. We are planting trees and will take care of our trees with water efficient means to make our personal contribution to ecosystem restoration, which is one of key priority directions for UNDP”.
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World Environment Day takes place every year on 5 June. It is the United Nations’ priority day for promoting worldwide awareness and action for the environment. The theme for the World Environment Day 2021 is “Ecosystem Restoration” and it focuses on resetting our relation with nature. It also marks the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, which is intended to massively scale up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems to fight the climate crisis and prevent the loss of a million species. The World Environment Day is an opportunity for driving the momentum, to realize our responsibility to care for the nature and to renew our commitment to save the environment and promote 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Source: UNDP office in Turkmenistan.
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