State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics and Children's United Nations Fund (UNICEF) held a seminar on systems assessment in Ashgabat administrative data on children in alternative care and guardianship.

The event was attended by representatives of state bodies and departments of Turkmenistan, khyakimliks of Ashgabat and velayats, and as well as the Office of the Ombudsman. Opening the seminar with an introductory speech, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Turkmenistan Adrian Sullivan stressed the importance of ensuring access for children in need of support to alternative services and to further improve the necessary databases, joining joint efforts in this area, taking into account the best interests of the children.

The international UNICEF expert Joanna Rogers and regional office expert organizations in Europe and Central Asia Ekaterina Spasova. They talked about the concept of alternative care and its characteristics, about relevant assessment mechanisms at the national and sectoral levels, as well as reporting on TransMonEE.

TransMonEE is a partnership initiative of national statistical office of the region, which aims to improve coverage, quality, accessibility and the use of child data across a spectrum of rights and well-being of children, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the workshop, the participants discussed the assessment of management systems data for children in need of support and the way forward, aimed at providing access to alternative services and contributing to the improvement of the relevant database.