European Union and UNESCO presented a roadmap for 2021 to develop agriculture in Uzbekistan

The event was organized by the Delegation of the European Union in Uzbekistan, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources.

The project's activities are aimed to improving the system of advanced training in the agricultural and irrigation sectors in four regions of Uzbekistan (Republic of Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, Bukhara and Surkhandaryo regions).

Mr. Jan Hladik, Head of the UNESCO Tashkent Office, in his welcoming speech noted that the steering committee is the high-level governing authority of the project, providing fundamental policy and strategy guidance and ensuring strong commitment and engagement of all national stakeholders. The steering committee is a key success factor for the project and the primary mechanism of national ownership.

Participants of the  steering committee, touched upon the followings: 

• Reconciliation of the budget in order to effectively allocate and use resources in accordance with the plan;
• Reviewing regular progress reports as well as any other evaluation reports and issuing instructions to the Secretariat;
• Key role in national political dialogue and open commitment to strategic and political changes identified and proposed by the project;
• Discussion of the project implementation policy;
• Ensuring stakeholder participation and promoting project coordination and synergy with other initiatives.

Reforming the vocational education and training system in agriculture is an important dimension for which the experience and technical assistance of donor organizations are very useful. This joint programme is aligned with the priority areas of the Development Strategy of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021 in terms of skills development, as well as with the Sustainable Development Goals, such as "Quality Education", "Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls" as well as Decent Work and Economic Growth.

I believe that this new programme, which brings together the strengths of the EU and UNESCO in the area of ​​skills development, will contribute to the implementation of reforms, especially in these difficult times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that the programme will also contribute to improving the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the vocational education and training system in the modernized agricultural sector and reforms initiated by Uzbekistan in the field of education,” said François Bejo, Head of the Cooperation Department of the Delegation of the European Union in Uzbekistan.

About the Project

“Skills Development in Rural Areas of Uzbekistan” is aimed to enhance the living standards in rural areas through better employability. The specific objective is to equip women and men in Uzbekistan with relevant skills for a sustainable, diversified and modernized agriculture. The expected outputs are: 1) TVET (Vocational Education and Training) policy implementation supported and governance arrangements modernised, strengthened and adapted to the evolution of the agriculture and irrigation sectors; 2) TVET qualifications and methodology modernized to serve the needs of the labor market and women and men learners and workers in the agriculture sector; 3) Efficient TVET colleges with competent management and teaching staff able to use modern equipment, technologies and learning methods.