Currently, there are more than 5,000 NGOs in Uzbekistan operating in different spheres, including economics, culture, humanitarian and social spheres. Public Youth Movement "Kamolot", Women’s Committee, "Mahalla" and "Nuroniy" foundations, as well as the National Electronic Media Association, the Public Fund for Independent Print Media and News Agencies Support are among the institutions that enjoy a broad public support.

Uzbekistan has a thoroughly developed legal and regulatory framework providing free development of NGOs. Laws "On public funds", "On charity activities", "On public associations", "On strengthening the role of political parties in the renewal and democratization of state governance and modernization of the country", "On mass media", as well as a number of decrees of the President and the government were issued.

The Law "On guarantees of activity of non-governmental non-commercial organizations" established a system of legal, economic, organizational and technical measures to support the activities of the NGOs.

At the present stage of political reform, public support for NGOs and other civil society institutions is an important prerequisite to ensure their real independence. Only free and independent NGOs, which have sufficient financial resources, can fulfill their tasks effectively.

In this regard, the joint resolution of the two chambers of the parliament of Uzbekistan is another important step towards ensuring a coherent independent development of NGOs and civil society institutions, as well as strengthening their role in the process of democratic renewal of the country.

The resolution establishes an independent system of forming the sources of financing the activities of NGOs and other civil society institutions.

From now on, issues related to definition, distribution and monitoring of the use of funds from the state budget to support the activities of NGOs are transferred from the executive authorities, including the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet of Ministers, to the country’s highest legislative body – the Oliy Majlis (parliament).

To implement these functions, the Oliy Majlis is setting up a Public Fund to support NGOs and other civil society institutions. The fund’s money will be managed by a specially created Parliamentary Commission consisting of deputies of the Legislative Chamber, members of the Senate, as well as experts from relevant ministries and departments, representatives of NGOs and the media.

The activities of the Public Fund and the Parliamentary Commission is set to be based on the highest democratic requirements, principles of transparency, accessibility and objectivity.

The fund will allocate funds directly to NGOs based on their applications and the decision of the Parliamentary Commission, without the participation of intermediate bodies.

The volume of funds allocated to NGOs will be defined by the Oliy Majlis on the proposal of the Parliamentary Commission during the discussion and adoption of the state budget. The reports on the use of the allocated funds will be discussed in the same way.

The fund will publish annual activity reports in the media, which should include information on how NGOs and other civil society institutions used the issued funds.

The Joint Resolution clearly defines the goals that the social and public projects proposed by NGOs should address. These are specific socio-economic issues of the country’s regions, increasing the social activity of the citizens and strengthening the material base of NGOs and other institutions of civil society.