21/07/2020 - 21:19 6933

On July 15, 2020, the presentation of the first Voluntary National Review (VNR) of Uzbekistan on progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held at the High-Level Political Forum under the aegis of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The presentation with the participation of UN member states that have made commitments to the SDGs was held by videoconference.

For reference: The Voluntary National Review (VNR) is the process by which countries assess and present progress made towards the global Sustainable Development Goals and “Leave no one behind” Commitment.

In her welcoming remarks to the participants of the Political Forum, Chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan T.K. Narbaeva emphasized Uzbekistan's strong commitment to the implementation of the Global Agenda 2030 and the promotion of large-scale reforms that are fully consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the National Center for Human Rights A.Kh. Saidov, responded to questions from the participants of the Political Forum.

The presentation of the Voluntary National Review of Uzbekistan was made by the representative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction. During the presentation were presented achievements of Uzbekistan in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the tasks and challenges facing the country in this area.

Separately, it was noted that the implementation of the SDGs in Uzbekistan coincided with large-scale reforms within the framework of the Action Strategy in five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021.

The Strategy for Action and its five priority areas have been identified as being consistent with the global SDGs.

Work is in progress to integrate National SDGs into national, sectoral, regional development strategies and programs, including the elaborated Concept of integrated socio-economic development of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Poverty Reduction Strategy until 2030.

During the presentation, it was noted that the government monitors the effectiveness of reforms through 23 global ratings (indices), including the global SDG rating, according to which Uzbekistan today ranks 52nd out of the 162 states.

Among the achievements of Uzbekistan on the national Sustainable Development Goals, the following were mentioned:

·       the number of people in poverty decreased from 12.8% in 2015 to 11.4% in 2018;

·       Preschool education coverage education has grown from 27.7% in 2017 to 52% in 2019;

·       According to the WJP Rule of Law Index compiled by the international organization World Justice Project, Uzbekistan took 92nd place among 128 countries in 2020. The country has risen four positions in a year;

·       gender-oriented laws of the Republic such as “On guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for men and women” and “On the protection of women from oppression and violence” were adopted.

·       the share of women has reached 33% in leadership positions

and 45% of the total working-age population;

·       access to electricity in rural areas has increased from 74% to 78%, to natural gas - from 62 to 67%, to drinking water from 62.6% to 64.1%;

·       Uzbekistan has improved its position in the global ranking "Doing business" from 141st place in 2015 to 76 in 2019, and to 69 in 2020;

·       the country has risen from 100 place in 2014 to 81 in 2018 (out of 193 countries) in the UN E-Government Development Index;

·       increase in the average annual rate of gross investment for 2017-2018 reached 12.0%.

All participants in the Political Forum were united in the opinion that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to slow down the progress of all countries in achieving the SDGs.

In order to mitigate the consequences of the crisis, the Government of Uzbekistan announced a number of major anti-crisis measures, including financial, economic and regulatory measures to support business entities, the most vulnerable segments of the population and employees of social institutions. An anti-crisis fund has been established in the amount of 1 billion US $.

It was also noted that Uzbekistan faces the following strategic goals and objectives:

·       further reduction of poverty and inequality (SDGs 1 and 10);

·       improving the quality and equal access to social services, in particular in the field of health (SDG 3) and education (SDG 4), with a focus on remote regions and vulnerable groups of the population;

·       ensuring sustainable employment, especially among youth and women (SDGs 5 and 8);

·       achieving a more rational use of water

(SDG 6), energy (SDG 7), land (SDG 2 and 15) and other natural resources (SDG 11, 12, 13) for more sustainable socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change;

·       further strengthening the rule of law, freedom of speech

and the press, increasing transparency and quality of public services, reducing corruption (SDG 16) and ensuring greater gender equality (SDG 5) on the principle of “Leave no one behind”.

Following the presentation, an active discussion of the progress of the SDG implementation took place. The Uzbek delegation gave detailed explanations and answers to questions from the participating countries.

Implementation of National Sustainable Development goals and voluntary national review of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Information Service of the Ministry of Economic Development

and Poverty Reduction of the Republic of Uzbekistan