Democratic reforms in promoting the establishment and development of NGOs in Uzbekistan are carried out systematically, consistently and gradually with an eye to all peculiarities of domestic development and increase of political and legal culture of the population.
For a short period, Uzbekistan has taken scaled measures to build a system of independent and sustainable NGOs that enjoy the trust and support of the general public. The related legal framework of over 200 laws and regulatory acts has been consistently streamlined.
The ‘Concept of enhancing democratic reforms and building civil society in the country’, which was approved by the parliament in November 2010, came as a powerful impetus for strengthening and expanding the scope of activities of NGOs and civil institutions.
The concept has paved the way to adoption of such important laws as ‘On parliamentary control’, ‘On the openness of state authorities and administration’, ‘On social partnership’ and other legal acts that are seen as highly relevant for the dynamic development of NGOs.
In particular, the Law ‘On the openness of state authorities and administration’ has become an important step in strengthening positions of civil institutions, for it provides a broad access for non-governmental organizations and population to the information on the decisions made by state authorities.
The Law ‘On social partnership’ is important in terms of the further development of civil society. The act streamlines the organizational and legal mechanisms of interaction of state bodies with NGOs, strengthens their role in the development and implementation of socio-economic development programs and legislative acts.
The institution of social partnership is called to promote the establishment and effective operation of channels of interaction between the society and the state. When drafting the bill, experts applied the results of more than 200 conferences, panel discussions, workshops and meetings that had been held in all regions of the country, as well as working visits of Uzbek specialists to Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, South Korea, Japan and other countries.
The law stipulates social support and scale up of civic involvement, employment, development of small business and private entrepreneurship, environmental and public health, upbringing of harmoniously developed generation, protection of mother and child health, women’s rights, enhancement of the legal culture of population and other issues as the main directions of social partnership.
In order to facilitate the further development of NGOs, in 2013, Uzbekistan implemented measures to simplify the procedure of their registration and reporting, and streamline organizational and legal mechanisms of their interaction with state authorities.
The Parliamentary Commission has allowed to not just ensure the targeted and equitable distribution of funds that are allocated from the government budget to support the ‘third sector’, but also fruitfully influenced on streamlining of organizational, technical and economic capacity of NGOs, significantly increasing their quantity and quality.
Such a support of initiatives of civil institutions has empowered the implementation of hundreds projects in health, education, environmental protection, development of business and home-based work, enhancement of the legal culture in the society, education of harmoniously developed generation.
Today, the diverse NGOs make up the basis of civil society. They ensure a balance of interests of the state and society, help to identify pressing social economic and humanitarian problems, mobilize the society for their solution, promoting the implementation of citizens’ potential. In the last five years alone, the number of NGOs has grown by 1.6 times, exceeding 8,400.
Source: Uzbekistan Embassy