The Obligatory Happy Childhood of Ašgabat

President Berdymukhamedov calls for ‘adequate rest’ programmes during the summer holidays, with the state media extolling compliance with international conventions. But the reality tells of hundreds of thousands of children who are unable to feed themselves adequately, while in the cities those over the age of five can already dedicate themselves to washing cars and helping out at market stalls or construction sites.

Ašgabat (AsiaNews) - On 1 June, Turkmenistan also celebrated the International Day for the Defence of Childhood, in the days of the ‘final bell’ for schools, and the government of Ašgabat announced a series of ‘special programmes’ to ensure children a ‘happy childhood’, with worthy conditions for education and holiday recreation. According to Radio Azatlyk's investigations, however, not many Turkmen share this ideal vision of childhood.

Some inhabitants of the Balkan velayat say that ‘the successes of these programmes remain only on the paper of state media reports’, while being a child in Turkmenistan ‘is not at all easy and fun’. Hundreds of thousands of children are unable to feed themselves adequately, and in many families, meat is not even eaten once a month. Many children spend their days on the streets, trying to pluck some fruit from the plants they find lying around.

In the city of Turkmenbaši there are so many children begging in the streets, rummaging through rubbish and pushing trolleys at the market that one wonders if there are at least some who are not forced into these desperate activities. A packet of baby food, which should be enough for a fortnight to feed the little ones, costs 550 manat, when the state subsidy for caring for a child comes to a maximum of 300 manat.

These difficulties, say the inhabitants of Balkan, often lead to the break-up of families, to frequent divorces in search of mates who are at least a little more materially endowed, and parents often abandon their children to grandparents and relatives to look for work abroad, so ‘children become orphans with their parents still alive’. The continuing deterioration of economic conditions often forces children to spend their holidays doing odd jobs, such as working in cotton fields or shepherding flocks in agricultural areas.

In the cities, those over the age of five can already dedicate themselves to washing cars and helping at market stalls, construction sites or transporting goods to the shops. If they can find some activity with a minimum of remuneration, ‘then yes, children feel happy’, says another interviewee, because they feel superior to those who wander the streets without getting anything, or only collect plastic bags to get a few pennies in reward.

The president of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, at the last session of the Council of Ministers instructed the vice-premier to organise ‘adequate rest’ programmes during the summer holiday period for the children, so that they can enjoy dedicated activities in the holiday centres dedicated to them in Geokder, in the Avaz tourist area and in all the velayats of the country. Sending a child for 20 days to one of these centres costs 4,500-5,000 manat; registration alone is 2,000 manat, the rest goes on clothing and necessary equipment, while a teacher gets a maximum of 2,000 manat a month, so only a few children of high-ranking families can go to the summer holiday centres.

The state media, on the other hand, repeat that in the country ‘there are all the right conditions for a happy life in childhood, and above all for a good holiday rest’, enthusiastically adhering to the declarations and official texts of the international conventions, the UN and the Hague on children's rights and protection from all violence and oppression.

Photo: Analytical Center for Central Asia

• Turkmenistan
• Ašgabat
• childhood
• children
• food
• work
• family