IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX

G. IATP Empowers Youth
in Turkmenistan
IATP in Turkmenistan began activity in 2000. Taking
up the challenge of working in a country with
extremely low internet penetration, IATP aimed to
help meet one of the most crucial needs of the
local population – a basic need for information. In
a country with limited access to any type of information,
IATP centers became a platform for the
most active citizens who used IATP resources for
their personal development the benefit of their
communities.
Focus group discussions carried out in Ashgabat,
Balkanabat, and Turkmenabat revealed another
substantial contribution IATP was making to local
civil society development. At IATP centers across
Eurasia, youth have always been one of the most
active age groups. Yet in Turkmenistan, due to regressive
educational reforms of the government,
higher education became unaffordable for much of
the population. IATP centers to a certain extent
assumed the role of an educational intermediary
between high school and future employment.
Respondents in focus group discussions mentioned
that higher education in the country is too expensive
for the overwhelming majority of young people.
The educational reforms of the Turkmen government
in 1996 reduced the number of higher
education institutions. High competition for university
enrollment, as well as widespread corruption
resulted in the inaccessibility of postsecondary
education for ordinary citizens.
internet skills so she could find a good job. During
the focus group discussion she explained, “I wasn’t
offered a job in the HR department of a production
company simply because I didn’t know how to
use a computer. So here I am.” 67
The survey, however, revealed another important
factor that illustrates IATP’s role among young
people in the country: its role in building selfconfidence
and supporting personal goals. Kseniya
Sherbakova, a 16-year-old school student from Balkanabat
noted that IATP helped her to set her
sights higher, “My experience with IATP training
was a significant stimulus for me. I acquired not
only computer and internet skills but also discovered
I had leadership potential.” Another participant
of the focus group, Lyudmila Beibulaeva, a
21-year-old receptionist from Balkanabat, said, “I
found my educational and professional goals here.
I started dreaming bigger than I did before I came
to the IATP center”. 68
These and other examples demonstrate IATP in
Turkmenistan is helping to bridge the gap young
people experience between finishing school and
starting a career. IATP is developing their professional
potential through computer and internet
skills and giving them access to information that is
invaluable for a people hungry to learn about the
world beyond their borders.
Focus groups discussions in Turkmenistan showed
that the main reason many come to IATP centers
was to pursue their own higher education, which
they hoped would result in finding a good job and
perhaps open up further educational opportunities.
Evgeny Babushkin, a 17-year-old student from
Turkmenabat shared, “You know that it is quite
problematic to enter a university here. I use internet
to educate myself in management issues.” 66
Computer and internet skills are an absolute requirement
for employment in Turkmenistan. Anjela
Kurbanbaeva, a 37-year-old unemployed
woman from Turkmenabat, said she came to the
IATP center in order to acquire computer and
66 Midline focus group discussion, IATP users group, Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan, December 4, 2008
67 Midline focus group discussion, Internet laggards group, Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan, December 4, 2008
68 Midline focus group discussion, IATP users group, Balkanabat, Turkmenistan, November 28, 2008.
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