With the Interim-Welfare Improvement Strategy (WIS) calling for more emphasis on regional development and a Presidential Decree supporting regional development policies, the work on regional development strategies has continued throughout 2006 and 2007 and continues to complement and feed into the formulation of the national WIS.

The EU-UNDP ‘Enhancement of Living Standards in Fergana region project elaborated a training course, aimed at supporting regional and local authorities to play a meaningful role in the socio-economic development of the region, while strengthening the participatory discussion process in regional development strategy formulation. The course served to increase low to medium government officials’ awareness of human development and the MDGs, and their policy relevance in the Fergana region. The training drew on the experience of the ELS projects in Karakalpakstan and Namangan, implemented during 2005 and 2006.

One of the lessons learned from the projects was that in the absence of meaningful fiscal and administrative decentralization, there are practically no tools available for regional and local authorities to effectively engage in local development and little scope for setting priorities, influencing resource allocation, and taking charge of the implementation of regional strategies.

In the current context it is therefore important to concentrate training efforts on understanding the potential tools of regional development planning, to ensure that there is a better understanding of, and capacity to, formulate local plans in a participatory manner, to understand the link of regional plans with national and global poverty reduction efforts, and to understand what aspects of poverty reduction can be addressed at the regional level and which require changes at the national level. By strengthening the participatory discussion process in the assessment of the development problems of the region, facilitating strategy formulation, the training course provides a contribution to local capacity building while at the same time contributing in a tangible way to the ongoing national level efforts to formulate goals and strategies in the context of the national development strategy (WIS) and using the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This course, organized by the ELS, increased the trainees’ awareness of human development and the MDGs, and their policy relevance in the Fergana region. The training course has been structured to reflect the specific requirements of middle level government officials operating in the region and the four project districts. It was organized around four specialized modules: 1) human development, 2) result based management, 3) monitoring and evaluation, 4) MDG localization training and a number of training events on specific aspects of regional development of interest . The training was conducted between January and August 2007.

The training activities were linked and built synergies with the three ELS project components. For example, the knowledge acquired through this training found practical application in preparing the regional and local assessments, and contributed to better use of the information collected through parallel activities under Components I and II, namely the regional household survey, the living standards assessment and mapping poverty through the production of 100 maps illustrating and localising different dimensions of poverty and living standards; and the assessment of the role and capacity of Mahallas in Component II.

The training initiative has illustrated a new pilot approach of interagency cooperation in promoting regional development planning, in particular through the close collaboration with UNDP Economic Governance Unit and synergy with UNICEF’s parallel training programme on result based management (the project used the training material and trainers trained by UNICEF). Collaboration with UNICEF also ensured that the work carried out under Component II of the project, involving the rehabilitation of local health centres, was accompanied by concrete training for staff on how to improve the efficiency of work at the centres, through for example introducing community based low-cost practices for reducing infant mortality and improving child and maternal health, water and sanitation, and HIV/AIDS.

The primary sources of information on the impact of the training were the attendance sheets, the individual reports and the training questionnaires filled in by the trainers following each module. The ELS designated a focal point whose main task was to monitor the participants’ involvement and reactions, as well as to promote discussion, prompt feedback and solicit recommendations.

National and international trainers involved participants to ascertain whether on the basis of this experience there is an interest in supporting the development of a specific training programme on regional development planning that could be proposed to the Academy of State and Social Construction under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for future training of government officials in the regions so that it can be offered to the students and civil servants on the regular basis.