In February 15-16, 2022, on the initiative of public association “Yenme” and with the support of the Governance Support Program (GSP) in Turkmenistan, project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) a working meeting was held via ZOOM videoconferencing with representatives of public associations (PAs) to review changes in national legislation since July 2021 to January 2022. It has already become a good tradition to meet and discuss changes in legislation regulating or related to the activities of PAs in Turkmenistan. At each previous semi-annual legislative review meeting, new laws or key amendments and additions to existing legislation relevant to the activities of the PAs were discussed.
Thus, in 2020, additions and amendments to the law “On Public Associations” and to the Electoral Code of Turkmenistan were discussed. At the meeting last summer, the adopted on that time new laws “On the Prevention of Infectious Diseases”, “On Renewable Energy Sources”, “On Trade Names” and “On Public-Private Partnerships” were discussed. Some adopted laws on changes made to existing laws, including “On Education”, were reviewed.
The February meeting was based on a detailed explanation of the new law of Turkmenistan “On Social Services”. The main principles of this law have already been discussed at the Forum of Public Forum Associations held in January 21 this year. In this regard, at the numerous requests of representatives of the public sector, this meeting was organized with the involvement of a legal expert, Hemra Agayev, one of the developers of the law of Turkmenistan “On Social Services”.
On the first day of the event, H. Agayev immersed the participants in the review of legal acts adopted on October 30, 2021 at the 15th and 4 December 2021 at the 16th meetings of the 6th sessions of the Mejlis, respectively, at the 3rd and 4th sessions of the 1st convocations of Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) of the Milli Gengesh (National Council) of Turkmenistan. In the review was spoken about the law “On the State Budget of Turkmenistan for 2022” adopted by the Mejlis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan, the laws of Turkmenistan “On Trust Management of State Property”, “On Postal Communication”, “On Joining the Agreement on the Establishment of the Global Green Growth Institute”, “On the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases”, “On hunting and protection of hunting riches” and “On Social Services”. The new version of the laws “On the State Land Cadastre” and “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in Turkmenistan” was presented, as well as amendments and additions to the Criminal Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Turkmenistan on Administrative Offences, the Air Code, the Tax Code were announced; in such current laws of Turkmenistan as: “On Communications”, “On Denationalization and Privatization of State Property”, “On Licensing Certain Types of Activities”, “On Highways and Road Activities”, “On Joint Stock Companies”, “On Enterprises”, “On currency Regulation and Currency Control in Foreign Economic Relations”, “On Railway Transport”, “On the Prevention of the Harmful Effects of Alcohol”, “On the Protection of Atmospheric Air”, “On Environmental Safety”, “On Courts”, “On Enforcement Proceedings and Status of Court Bailiffs”, “On Shared Construction of Residential Buildings and Other Real Estate Objects”, “On Information and Its Protection”, “On Notaries and Notarial Activities”, “On Dog Breeding and Cynology”, “On State Support for Large Families”.
And the second day of the meeting was completely devoted to explaining the new law of Turkmenistan “On Social Services”.
During the report, the participants of the Working Meeting asked questions on the new law, including:
– Does the law “On Social Services” provide for any benefits for those organizations that provide these services?
— Is it possible to use grants or other financial, technical assistance received by a PA for the provision of social services within the framework of the law?
– Is it possible to cover information about the social service done in the media or does the provider need to maintain complete confidentiality?
— Do social service providers need to obtain an appropriate license?
— Are the positions of social work specialist and social worker included in the qualification list of positions established in Turkmenistan?
— Do the provisions of the law allow the provision of social services to victims of human trafficking?
H.Agayev, answering questions, stated the legislative acts of Turkmenistan and explained in detail the law enforcement practice of the provisions of the law “On Social Services” and other relevant legislation, which fully satisfied the expectations of those who asked questions.
During the meeting, an opinion was expressed that it would be good to provide for the possibility of state financial support for social services supplied by PAs in the developed normative legal acts to the law. The participants of the Working Meeting noted the timeliness and particular relevance of the adopted law of Turkmenistan “On Social Services”, which will expand the activities of PAs and carry out their activities not only professionally and taking into account the accumulated experience, but also apply their skills on a legal basis. Summing up, everyone expressed a desire to organize a joint meeting – a “Roundtable”, where they could exchange views in detail on the possibilities of each PA to make a contribution, as well as develop proposals for determining specific steps in creating a mechanism for the application of certain articles, provisions of new law and regulatory legal acts of the authorized body.
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