The aim of the Component is to support the authorities and local communities to develop and implement regional-local development strategies. At the end of the project it is expected that the Khokimiyat of Fergana region will have a strengthened capacity to formulate and implement a development strategy, which takes into account all the development peculiarities facing the region and, importantly, takes into consideration a new set of socio-economic and ecological conditions. The project also strengthens capacity to advance regional needs even further to ensure that resources are available for development and used efficiently with long-term objectives in mind through establishing links with similar national initiatives.

The project encourages the involvement of public administration in the private sector development through a series of training activities and pilot demonstrations to build up rural development management skills. Regional and local NGOs, business associations and other organizations area also involved, and their capacity is developed as professional service providers for entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs.

The region, however, lacks the availability of regionally disaggregated data and information that is necessary for generating regional strategies. In this connection one of the important outputs of the Component is an enhanced knowledge of the living standards and human development situation in the region. The project supports the preparation of regional and community Millennium Development Goals (MDG) maps as well as community MDG baselines.

The MDG maps will be shared and discussed widely among authorities, donor community, civil society organizations and general public in order to establish their use and implications for economic development, planning and MDG-development strategy monitoring. This will also be solid basis for developing the regional and local development strategies, as well as local MDG baseline reports.

Local rural development plans are prepared in selected districts and two enclaves applying a highly participatory and interactive approach and using the methodology that has been elaborated by the ELS project in Namangan region.

At the end of the project, the following results are expected: