Uzbekistan to Train Mayoral Assistants in Project-Based Work and Expand Support for Low-Income Families
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan will strengthen training for assistants to district and city mayors and mahalla bankers while expanding social support for low-income families. A specialised training centre with foreign experts will be established, while the system for assessing social need will be broadened to include additional criteria.
Officials have been instructed to establish the training centre within two months to teach mayoral assistants a project-based approach. By the end of the year, the two best-performing assistants from each district will be sent to China, Japan and Türkiye for professional training. The most exemplary assistants will receive a separate qualification level and an allowance of up to 50%. Mahalla bankers will also undergo similar training and foreign internships.
The General Prosecutor’s Office has been tasked with helping remove factors that prevent bankers and mayoral assistants from making independent decisions.
The system for implementing local business infrastructure projects will also be revised. Districts will become project clients, with funding directed directly to local areas. Heads of district headquarters will be responsible for project development, while design, construction and quality control may be outsourced to the private sector.
New measures will also target social protection. The National Agency for Social Protection has been instructed to review the system for including people in need in the Social Register by the end of the year. In addition to household income, the new multidimensional assessment will consider chronic illness, disability, large family size and whether a family member works abroad.
Although the national poverty rate has fallen to 3.9%, the rate among families with children under three stands at 6.5%. “We will establish a system that enables parents caring for children to work and earn income from home or within the mahalla,” the President said.
This year, UZS 300 billion has been allocated for a social package designed to provide “passive income” to low-income families whose members are unable to work. Of the 11,000 families that have received this assistance, incomes have increased significantly in about half of them.
From next year, families included in the Social Register are expected to receive vouchers covering expenses for public and private kindergartens, training centres, transportation and university dormitories. The voucher will be valid for 12 months and will remain effective even after a family is removed from the Social Register.
The General Prosecutor’s Office has been tasked with helping remove factors that prevent bankers and mayoral assistants from making independent decisions.
The system for implementing local business infrastructure projects will also be revised. Districts will become project clients, with funding directed directly to local areas. Heads of district headquarters will be responsible for project development, while design, construction and quality control may be outsourced to the private sector.
New measures will also target social protection. The National Agency for Social Protection has been instructed to review the system for including people in need in the Social Register by the end of the year. In addition to household income, the new multidimensional assessment will consider chronic illness, disability, large family size and whether a family member works abroad.
Although the national poverty rate has fallen to 3.9%, the rate among families with children under three stands at 6.5%. “We will establish a system that enables parents caring for children to work and earn income from home or within the mahalla,” the President said.
This year, UZS 300 billion has been allocated for a social package designed to provide “passive income” to low-income families whose members are unable to work. Of the 11,000 families that have received this assistance, incomes have increased significantly in about half of them.
From next year, families included in the Social Register are expected to receive vouchers covering expenses for public and private kindergartens, training centres, transportation and university dormitories. The voucher will be valid for 12 months and will remain effective even after a family is removed from the Social Register.
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