Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Representatives of ministries, UN agencies, the European Union and other interested organizations discussed the results of the activities of the UN Joint Program "Creating an Integrated National Financing Facility for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan" in 2021, and also approved plans for the current year.

The main goal of the UN Joint Program is to help the government of Uzbekistan to strengthen mechanisms for financing national development strategies and public financial management. The activities of the program are aimed at promoting the creation of an Integrated National Financing Facility with financing solutions to increase the impact on the development of social (with a special focus on the social assistance and health sectors) and environmental reforms.

As part of this activity, “The SDG Financing Strategy will be developed and it is expected that it will help the Government in implementing the New Uzbekistan Development Program by providing a solid financial basis,” said Matilda Dimovska, UNDP Resident Representative in Uzbekistan, in her opening remarks. According to her, the Strategy will propose ways to use available resources more efficiently, as well as new approaches to mobilize additional domestic and international funds.

In 2021, work began on the creation of a Comprehensive National Strategy for Financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To date, a number of consultations have been held with national partners and international institutions involved in development projects. The results of these discussions will be reflected in the first draft of the Comprehensive Funding Strategy.

In his opening speech, Ahadbek Khaydarov, Deputy Minister of Finance, noted the importance and timeliness of the Integrated SDG Financing Strategy at the stage of adoption by the government of a new Development Strategy of Uzbekistan for the next 5 years. "The Funding Strategy will help provide a comprehensive assessment of the resources needed to meet national priorities, as well as determine what additional, alternative resources can be attracted."

Another significant area of the program is the development and piloting of innovative financial instruments and mechanisms. An important result was the development of the Framework Regulations for the issuance of SDG bonds, on the basis of which the government of Uzbekistan issued the first SDG bonds in July 2021.

During the presentation, Christopher Fitzpatrick, WHO Adviser noted that the work of WHO to introduce fundamentally new financing mechanisms for the work of medical institutions allowed the Ministry of Health to introduce the first state social package focused on medical services. A mixed payment model was tested, in line with international standards.

As part of its activities in 2021, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime carried out a comprehensive analysis and prepared a set of recommendations to further improve the national system for controlling illicit financial flows and managing frozen, seized and confiscated assets.

UNICEF and the Ministry of Finance, under the program, have begun negotiations on the implementation of the best approach that will allow for the formation of the budget taking into account the interests of children, the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of relevant sectoral strategies for social protection, education and health.

At the end of the presentations on the results of the program, the meeting participants discussed plans for 2022. The SDG Financing Strategy is expected to be finalized this year. At the same time, the Joint Program will continue to support the government in preparing reports on the distribution of proceeds from the issuance of SDG bonds in accordance with international standards.

In the health sector, priority activities will be to develop and implement the information systems needed to fully implement the new health financing model.

The joint program will continue to work on the management of stolen/confiscated assets in order to implement a functioning asset management system.

With regard to social protection, the joint program will focus on capacity building in child-friendly planning, implementation and monitoring of social spending, as well as on the implementation of tools to be used to analyze budget requests.