Achieving development targets in Uzbekistan very much depends on capacities of communities, authorities and other actors to do so. To be able to see the whole picture and effectively plan, implement and monitor national and local development strategies, it is important to know what capacities are available and how to strengthen them.

Since 2005 the Enhancement of living Standards a project funded by the European Union and the Area Based Development a project of UNDP have been conducting training for representatives of local government departments in 5 of the 12 region of the countries, with a focus on increasing understanding of human development and local development planning to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and national development priorities.

This year the projects have been taking a more systematic approach to designing the content of future training, in order to ensure that it is of more direct relevance to the daily work of local government staff, especially those working in departments responsible for the delivery of social services for the population (health, education, as well as communal services).

For this reason, together with the State Academy of the State and Social Construction under the President of Uzbekistan (the State Academy for civil servants) , they have carried out a brief review of the needs and capacity of staff members, and plan to use the results as a basis for designing training courses in the next project cycle. These training courses would be targeted to the needs of local government, and if considered successful, could at a future stage be incorporated into the training programmes/ curricula for government officials.

“In a nutshell, the ultimate objective of these two projects is   to help local authorities and communities to work together for the improvement of living standards in rural areas, an important priority of the Government as underscored by the Year of Rural Development” said Laura Rio ELS-ABD Programme Coordinator at the UNDP 2nd Annual Meeting for Capacity Development Practitioners in Europe and CIS in October 2009.

The Academy of the State and Social Construction (ASSC) is the national institution where local leaders and government specialists at all level undergo a mandatory refresher training and professional development program.  Along with the capacity building training activities, the Academy plays a strategic role in shaping up programme approaches that are relevant to the local context as being the institution with insider knowledge of government policies, politics for issues related to government priorities and strategies.  The ASSC has a great potential to bring regional planning methodologies in the political agenda at the higher and middle level of the government administration.

Capacity Development in Europe and CIS 2009 - annual report