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Turkmenistan and the Fight Against COVID-19

Name: Turkmenistan and the Fight Against COVID-19
Start: 2020-07-06T10:00:00-04:00
End: 2020-07-06T11:30:00-04:00
Location: Webex Virtual Event

6 July, 2020 @ 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Even if officials in Turkmenistan continue to remain in denial about the virus, there are growing signs that not only the pandemic might have reached the country, but the authorities are increasingly concerned about how to deal with it. While certain early measures have been taken by the government officials such as banning incoming and outgoing flights and establishing quarantine centers in the Lebap region, state media and high-level officials grew silent about the situation. Today, Turkmen authorities are facing the challenge of responding to the “unspoken outbreak” that is evolving in the increasing number of cases across the country. Join us to discuss Turkmenistan’s management of the pandemic with our four speakers.

Speakers

Rachel Denber, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division

Rachel Denber, Deputy Director of Europe and Central Asia Division, specializes in countries of the former Soviet Union. Previously, Denber directed Human Rights Watch’s Moscow office and did field research and advocacy in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. She has authored reports on a wide range of human rights issues throughout the region. Denber earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in international relations and a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University, where she studied at the Harriman Institute. She speaks Russian and French.

Aynabat Yaylymova, Founder and Program Direсtor of Saglyk.org

Aynabat Yaylymova is a native of Turkmenistan and has worked with a number of civil society organizations in Turkmenistan and the United States. She is the Founder and Program Director of Saglyk.org, a centerpiece project of the Turkmenistan Health Initiative. Saglyk.org has been working to improve public health literacy in Turkmenistan over the last 10 years, including becoming a source of COVID-19 information in in the Turkmen language.

Before that, Aynabat worked as a Program Manager of the Europe and Central Asia Program at the Bank Information Center (BIC), a World Bank watchdog organization in Washington, DC. In Turkmenistan, she co-founded and led the Alliance for Responsible Community Action (ARCA), an organization dedicated to promoting civic education. She is an alumna of the first Central Eurasia Leadership Academy and from 2006 to 2008 was the manager of that program. CELA is a large network of mid-career professionals and leaders from Central Asia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan.

Farruh Yusupov, Acting Director of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service

Farruh Yusupov is Acting Director of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service. He originally joined RFE/RL in 2004, working as an editor with the Uzbek Service and providing major contributions to its investigative work, including a series of reports on corruption involving members of Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s family. Yusupov also launched several radio programs for the Uzbek Service, including “Health,” “The Other Side of the Coin,” and “OzodNavigator.” His 2007 radio documentary, “Uzbekistan and its Neighbors After Andijon,” was nominated for an AIB award. Before joining RFE/RL, Yusupov worked for USAID-funded projects in Uzbekistan. He has an M.A. in Linguistics from Ferghana State University, Uzbekistan.

Luca Anceschi, Senior Lecturer in Central Asian Studies (Central & East European Studies)

Luca Anceschi teaches Central Asian Studies at the University of Glasgow, where he also edits Europe-Asia Studies. He is the author of Turkmenistan’s Foreign Policy–Positive Neutrality and the Consolidation of the Turkmen Regime (2009) and Analysing Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy: Regime New-Eurasianism in the Nazarbaev Era (2020), both published by Routledge.

RSVP