24 September 2021, - Tashkent hosted international conference on New Uzbekistan’s National SDGs: Milestones and Perspectives. The conference is a joint initiative between The Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Youth Affairs Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, UNDP in Uzbekistan, the World Bank in Uzbekistan, Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) and the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED). The conference was organized at WIUT, Uzbekistan, in a hybrid mode bringing in-person and virtual participants together.

The conference aims to discuss ongoing socio-economic reforms in Uzbekistan, their importance in achieving national SDGs, to exchange knowledge, share ongoing research and policy efforts, and identify gaps for improvement and future strategies. World-renowned scholars, representatives of the government and private sector, representatives of international agencies and think tanks took part in the event. Among them, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

“One of the keys to successful transformation for Uzbekistan indeed will be close cooperation with neighboring countries and active participation in regional programs, such as The Belt and Road Initiative led by China, that will help to ensure that Uzbekistan can play its role as a transport, commercial and financial hub for Central Asia and a bridge between East Asia and the European Union.

I think there are very exciting and positive ways to sustainable development - the energy transformation, the transformation in agriculture with highly efficient water use, the transformation to a digital society in which fiber connects Uzbekistan with all of the world and enables Uzbekistan to play an increasing role in the global economy online, as well as the economy that will be an important hub for transport and services”, — said Prof. Jeffrey Sachs.

The implementation of the National SDGs in Uzbekistan has coincided with the National Action Strategy 2017-2021. Despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in achieving the National SDGs, Uzbekistan has continued its reforms implementing number of anti-crisis measures, including financial, economic and regulatory measures to support private sector and the most socially vulnerable groups of the population.

“The issues covered in the Sustainable Development Goals, without exaggeration, include areas that determine the development of our country and its fate. It is important that the results of this process are regularly monitored by parliament, scientists and experts, non-governmental organizations and the general public. Therefore, one of the most important areas of parliamentary control in this regard is to ensure the implementation of the commitments made by our country. Constant scientific analysis of the tasks set by the Sustainable Development Goals, development of recommendations of practical importance for the Government and Parliament is a very important task of the expert community.

Indeed, the main idea of the Strategy implemented in our country is to strengthen the role of civil society institutions, protect human rights, reduce poverty, provide everyone with a guaranteed source of income and achieve sustainable environmental development. The main goal is to become one of the "above-average countries" in terms of per capita income by 2030”, — said Mr. Sodyq Safoev, First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The conference outputs include:

• Identification of international best practices in the process of achieving the SDGs and associations of socio-economic reforms with the achievement of the SDGs;
• International experts` observations and assessment of achieving the National Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Uzbekistan;
• Results from studying and reviewing the research carried out by international research community, including research with implications to Central Asia / Uzbekistan;
• Announcement of the start of work by the academic community on writing a new book in English, which will be devoted to the ongoing socio-economic reforms in Uzbekistan and their empirical analysis;
• Proposal on the youth initiative "SDG Youth Ambassadors", which is planned to be implemented at the national level;
• The conference participants have defined further roadmaps of collaboration to achieve the National SDGs.

“UNDP has been very honored to be part of this conference to discuss the progress of Uzbekistan in terms of achieving the SDGs and the prospects for accelerating it in the future as the next phase of the country's reforms. Remarkable progress has been achieved so far. The results of the achievements have been reported in the last year's voluntary national report that Uzbekistan made. There is a new parliamentary commission dedicated to the SDGs. We have heard a strong commitment to sustainable development in the recent statement of Uzbekistan at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. As the country gets out of COVID-19 crisis and many investment and policy choices are being made, now is the time to use it as an opportunity to accelerate the sustainability of the development. UNDP is fully committed to support this implementation”, — said Ms. Matilda Dimovska, UNDP Resident Representative in Uzbekistan.

The conference organizers produced the Almanac – an images report that aims to summarize New Uzbekistan reforms in action and their importance in achieving National SDGs. The images present individual, family, and community stories – stories of impact and experience that provoke images of a sustainable future. The Almanac also aims to increase awareness of people about the achievement of the SDGs in the course of socio-economic reforms in Uzbekistan. Involvement of people, in particular youth, is important in achieving the National SDGs.

“This conference is an important strategic initiative for WIUT and New Uzbekistan. Education, research and innovation play a key role in sustainable development. Universities and youth are key to achieving the country's goals in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda”, — said Mr. Bakhrom Mirkasimov, Rector of Westminster International University in Tashkent.

The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is continuing to extend its far-reaching socio-economic reforms, which are designed to further improve the well-being of its people and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.