“The course provides an exceptional opportunity to UWED students in viewing human development from various aspects of development along with tracking its further direct impact on people”, said Elena Danilova-Cross, UNDP Human Development Coordinator.

Lasted for five month and structured both in theoretical and practical format, the course lectures were delivered by experts from UWED, Tashkent Medical Pediatric Institute, the National University of Uzbekistan and UNDP projects.

According to the course requirements, upon commencement of lectures and seminars, the students are required to develop a research paper by linking selected topics with human development principles and present findings to the panel members.

Students receiving the highest course’s scores and successfully presenting their research papers will be awarded with special course graduation certificates. While assessing a quality and usefulness of the human development course, the majority of students expressed their overall satisfaction and wished the course would be enriched with new topics and continued in future as integral part academic curricula.

In 2008, the UWED became a pioneer among higher educational institutions in Uzbekistan after introducing the human development course for graduate level students into academic curricula of the University. In the second half of 2009, following successful completion of training for trainers, a group of academicians of the Tashkent State Institute of Culture initiated a new human development course for bachelors at two faculties of the Institute.

The Human Development concept is about enlarging people’s choices and enhancing human capabilities and freedoms, enabling them to live a long and healthy life, have access to knowledge and a decent standard of living, and participate in the life of their community and decisions affecting their lives.