To see project achievements on the ground Ms. Anita Nirody UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Uzbekistan visited Namangan and Andijan regions where the EU-UNDP Enhancement of Living Standards (ELS) programme has been helping communities come closer to development.

“These achievements are real examples of good partnership between EU, UNDP and people of Uzbekistan”, - said Anita Nirody, “The ELS has become a flagship project, and now UNDP is taking the ELS experience to other regions of Uzbekistan”.
 
Ms. Nirody opened two water community projects in Uchkurgan district in Namangan and Oltinkul district in Andijan. Through these two community projects, 11 communities reduced water borne diseases by 80%, improved access to drinking water by 98 % and improved maternal and child health by 5 %.

Since 2005 ELS has been contributing to achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals through concrete results that have empowered communities to take development into their own hands. By end of 2010 it is expected that an additional 500,000 people will benefit from the programme.