UN to allocate $2 million to Uzbekistan for social protection program

Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov and UN Permanent Representative in Uzbekistan Helena Fraser signed an agreement on the implementation of a joint program on social protection. This document defines priority areas for the protection of the most vulnerable groups of the population.

"In recent years, Uzbekistan has annually invested from 6% to 9% of its GDP in the sphere of social protection. Despite this, there are some critical barriers in the system that affect its effectiveness. For example, the functions of social protection are now divided between different ministries and departments. This leads to a lack of common vision and integrated approaches needed to get people and families out of difficult life situations, " the UN statement said.

World experience shows that socio-economic reforms in the country can create temporary shocks for some vulnerable groups of the population, and they should be supported by a strong social protection system.

To this end, the UN and the government agreed to jointly implement a program of reforming the social protection system. The program aims at ensuring the availability of quality social protection services for all citizens of Uzbekistan throughout life. The programme will focus on the following three priority areas:

 (1) promoting institutional reform to address the fragmentation of social protection functions in different ministries and departments by establishing a single state body for social protection;

 (2) development of a comprehensive national social protection strategy in accordance with international standards. This process is aimed at changing the perception of social protection as a charity for a narrow circle of people in need to the basic right available to every citizen if necessary;

 (3) piloting an integrated “benefits + services” approach to provide social protection to persons with disabilities. 

This joint program with a budget of $2 million is one of 24 projects funded by the UN. The joint program will be implemented over the next two years.