"Main reference point for Uzbekistan is to bring the level of income above the world average by 2030"

Speaking at the recent UN Summit on Sustainable Development, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov presented attention of the international community the successes of our country to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Particular emphasis in the report has been made on the progress in the socio-economic sphere.

The foreign minister stressed that the independence of Uzbekistan embarked on a phased development. However, during this period in the country were carried out significant changes in the economy, which contributed to its comprehensive strengthening. Today the republic’s economy shows sustained high growth.

It should be noted that our country has devoted considerable efforts to achieve sustainable social and economic development, in close cooperation with the United Nations and other international institutions.

So, at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September 2000, Uzbekistan along with 192 member states of the Organization and 23 international organizations agreed to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), set the benchmark for the development of humanity in 2015. In fact, they are obligations of states to improve human well-being, improving education, promoting gender equality, improving health, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

In turn, our country for the successful and timely implementation of the goals and objectives included them in a number of government policies and programs. For example, through the development of strategies to improve the standard of living, the UN Development Programme jointly conducted joint work on the nationalization of the MDGs, taking into account peculiarities of the republic. These measures have contributed to the definition of specific national goals and objectives, which were used in their implementation.

As a result of these efforts in the framework of achieving the MDGs for the period 2000-2015 Uzbekistan demonstrated significant progress in the planned targets. During this period the republic’s economy has grown by 4.5 times.

Given that the second goal - universal access to primary and secondary education has been achieved in the 90 years of the last century, the last 15 years been the focus of the reform of the entire education system. The country was built and capitally reconstructed more than 4100 schools, the system is fully implemented the three-year compulsory free secondary special vocational education. Currently, there are about 1600 newly built and equipped with the most modern teaching and industrial equipment of professional colleges and academic lyceums.

Great importance was attached to gender equality. Currently, women make up half of total employment in the economy. Increased participation in political decision-making: the percentage of women in parliament is 16%, and the number of representatives of the fair half in the executive branch over the past 15 years has increased by almost 5 times.

The reforms in the health system within provided program have led to a decline by one-third of the mortality rate of children under 5 years old in 2009 and halving the proportion of underweight children in this age group - in 2011. In turn, the task is to reduce maternal mortality by one-third in Uzbekistan has been achieved in 2013.

Logical and natural continuation of the MDGs 2000-2015 completes the program’s updated agenda is the future of humanity - Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), designed for 2016-2030. At the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, the Uzbek delegation stated that our country supports this initiative which has been put forward by the UN Secretary-General.

Now for the world community a new program of planetary scale is very important. Thus, SDG include 17 areas for the implementation of which requires cooperation of all UN member countries.

These goals address issues of human well-being and economic growth, food security and sustainable agriculture, health, education, gender equality, sustainable use of water resources, energy, industrialization and innovation, safety and comfort of cities and towns, climate change and its effects, as well as the environment in general.

SDG have a number of differences from the MDGs. In particular, the list of targets has expanded

from 8 (MDG) to 17 (SDG), including through such areas as economic growth, food security, water resources management, industrialization, and others.

To achieve its goals, all countries need to adapt their national priorities in line with them. So, by the time of the approval of the MDGs in most of the Member States of the United Nations human development was quite high. Consequently, many goals have already been achieved by them by 2000 or could be realized before 2015 under the already existing national programs for social and economic development.

The goals of sustainable development are characterized by complex cross-sectoral approach, universally applicable, aimed at the transformation. For example, the private sector in the context of the SDG is regarded as one of the sources of funding to achieve them, along with bank notes from national budgets and donor assistance.

As for Uzbekistan, it is customary in the country at the beginning of the current year program of deepening the reform of structural reforms and modernization of the economy, the expansion of private property and entrepreneurship, designed for 2016-2020 will be a good basis for the realization of sustainable development goals.

Along with the main SDG our country puts as target joining the ranks of developed democratic countries with steadily developing a diversified economy, a high level and quality of life of the population. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, "basic guide for Uzbekistan is to bring the level of income above the world average by 2030".

Jahon Information Agency