United Nations Development Programme affirms its commitment to further support Uzbekistan

During her two-day visit to Uzbekistan over 15-16 June 2021, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to support the country’s people-centred, green and resilient development, particularly in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. Ms. Spoljaric Egger has said UNDP will continue working with the government and people of Uzbekistan to develop and deliver sustainable solutions to human development challenges, without incurring environmental costs. 

"I commend Uzbekistan’s swift and comprehensive COVID19 response, the urge to look beyond recovery, and how response efforts have been linked to medium and longer-term sustainable development needs,” she said. “Right now, there is great momentum as Uzbekistan forms its next development strategy for 2022-2026 and determines future directions of growth.”

During her visit Ms. Spoljaric Egger renewed UNDP’s collaboration with national partners in strengthening good governance, creating green economic growth which benefits all citizens and promoting clean energy and better means of environmental protection. She also reiterated UNDP’s continued dedication to helping find innovative solutions to perennial challenges, including those faced in the Aral Sea region.

“UNDP advocates for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) integration and will support a combination of policy and investments in governance, social protection, green economy, and digitalization – the four areas where we call for an ‘SDG Push’.” - Ms. Spoljaric Egger highlighted.

On 15 June Ms Spoljaric Egger attended an International Business Forum on enhancing women’s economic empowerment in Uzbekistan and throughout Central Asia. There she reiterated UNDP’s goal to mainstream gender within Uzbekistan’s critical entrepreneurship sector and address legal and regulatory barriers that prevent women’s participation in the economy.

In addition, on 16 June Ms. Spoljaric Egger handed over special equipment to Tashkent’s ‘Ishga Marhamat’ jobs center, whose job training programmes will increase youth employment as Uzbekistan enters the ‘Year of Supporting Youth and Improving Public Health’.

While in Uzbekistan Ms. Spoljaric Egger reasserted UNDP’s commitment to some of the most important national directions of continued growth. These include improving parliamentary oversight of SDGs, driving forward Uzbekistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy with a focus on vulnerable population groups, advancing Uzbekistan’s green recovery and transition from COVID-19, and supporting the National Gender Strategy.  

As Regional Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS since October 2018, Ms. Spoljaric Egger has led projects and teams in 17 countries and one territory. This has become Ms. Spoljaric Egger’s first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.