The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr. Islam Karimov in his address at the meeting dedicated to the 16th anniversary of adoption of Constitution of Uzbekistan mentioned that the basic task is provision of progressive and sustainable development of the Republic with the aim of building a democratic state, free market economy and developing civil society, the highest value of which is human being, his/her interests, rights and freedoms.

Among the wide range of state initiatives directed towards realization of measures on rural/regional development, it is very important to emphasize the role and place of local Kengashes of people’s deputies in the system of good governance, enhancement of professional skills of local authorities and the legal framework to provide more comprehensive observance of interest of rural population, reconsidering the current legislative acts from the position of today’s requirements, improvement quality of provided services and rural infrastructure, increasing human factor magnitude in socio-economic development.

To discuss their role and place in the implementation of widespread programme of reforms in Uzbekistan, on 16-17 June the UNDP in collaboration with the Committee of Senate of Oliy Majlis on international issues, the Academy of State and Social Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan, organized a two-day seminar in Navoi city targeting Navoiy, Bukhara and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan.

As a result of trainings and group discussions conducted and facilitated in interactive mode, participants of this seminar were synthesized about the core of the Concept of Human Development, problems of globalization nowadays, main tasks, roles and responsibilities of local government in the light of initiatives for regional development. The Government actively implements the Welfare Improvement Strategy for 2008 -2010 in the context of the Year 2009 declared by the President of Uzbekistan as a “Year of Development and Improvement of Countryside”.

Uzbekistan Human Development Report 2009 on Socio-economic Peculiarities and Disparities of Regional Development in Uzbekistan (NHDR 2009) will look at the role of regional identity in human development perspective which is the most significant factors that determine the differences of people’s life-activity opportunities in the regions. These differences are notable in regional development and engendered policies, health, education, employment patterns, factors that determine economic capability of the region, historically developed traditions of entrepreneurship, the legacy of the planned economy, the geopolitical situation, infrastructure, demographic situation, man-made environmental damages and landscape destruction, utilization of natural resources for agriculture and industry problems in the context of development and improvement of rural areas.

In the context of the Concept of Human Development the priority at the seminar-training was given to health, education, employment and entrepreneurship and local infrastructure issues, improvement of environment, effectiveness of the usage of natural and land resources. The participants also highlighted the importance of legal and economic knowledge improvement at regional level.

The comprehensive Anti-crisis programme 2009-2012 is being released in order to overcome negative effects of global financial and economic crisis. Its measures address issues of sustainable pace of economic growth, provision of macroeconomic balance, stable functioning of the sector of economy, employment, effective social protection of the population, direct support of importers, major production industries, small businesses and other dimensions. Energy-saving and ecological issues also became the subject of thorough consideration during the seminar.

This seminar brought together Senators, Kengashes of people’s deputies, regional and local governors, representatives of the Academy of State and Social Construction, UN Development Programme, different Non governmental organizations, research institutions and mass media.