UN Report: Uzbekistan Recognized Among Countries with Accelerated Progress in Water Sector

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan has been recognized among the nations achieving accelerated progress toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): Clean Water and Sanitation. This conclusion was published in a special study by the UN inter-agency coordination mechanism UN-Water, titled "SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Study: Uzbekistan," which analyzes the country's comprehensive reforms in water resource management.

The report notes that in recent years, Uzbekistan has substantially improved water-use efficiency through large-scale institutional reforms, digitalization, deployment of modern irrigation technologies, expanded international cooperation, and the mobilization of public and private investment. According to the authors, these measures have allowed the country to achieve measurable progress despite facing a high level of water stress.

Special attention in the UN-Water report is dedicated to the development of water-saving technologies. Experts highlight that expanding the use of drip irrigation and other modern irrigation methods has become a primary driver behind the reduction of agricultural water consumption. Uzbekistan's experience is presented as a practical blueprint for other countries managing water scarcity.

The study provides specific data demonstrating the effectiveness of the ongoing policies. Freshwater withdrawals in Uzbekistan declined from 58.9 billion cubic meters in 2017 to 42.5 billion cubic meters in 2021. During the same period, the national water stress indicator dropped from 169% to 122%, which the report recognizes as a major improvement in water resource management globally under SDG 6.

As a successful example of digital transformation, UN-Water points to the "Tomchi" mobile application, which provides farmers with real-time data on water-saving technologies, irrigation schedules, government subsidies, preferential credits, and equipment suppliers. The project was implemented with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The report also details achievements in digital monitoring systems, including the deployment of a network of smart sensors across major reservoirs to track water levels and hydraulic infrastructure in real time. Additionally, the national space agency, Uzbekcosmos, conducts satellite monitoring of all national reservoirs to improve drought and flood forecasting.

UN-Water explicitly highlights the work of the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (SIC ICWC), based in Tashkent. Since 2007, the center has published analytical assessments twice a year for the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, providing data on river flows, reservoir volumes, and water withdrawals. UN experts note that this system strengthens regional trust and advances transboundary water cooperation.

The Aral Sea restoration program was also named a critical component of the country's ecological reforms. The report emphasizes that Uzbekistan’s large-scale afforestation project on the dried bed of the Aral Sea—primarily through planting drought-resistant saxaul—stands as one of the world's largest nature restoration initiatives, helping mitigate dust storms and restore local ecosystems.

The UN-Water experts also praised the country's growing academic and scientific capacity, pointing to the International Innovation Center for the Aral Sea Basin and the National Research University "Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers" as leading centers of innovation.

The case study underscores that these results were achieved by applying the five core pillars of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework: governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. High-level political support and consistent institutional changes were cited as foundational to this success.

However, the report notes that challenges remain. Uzbekistan must continue working to reduce water withdrawals to ecologically sustainable levels, strengthen the protection of groundwater resources, implement technologies to minimize water loss, and deepen cooperative transboundary water management with neighboring states.

According to UN-Water, Uzbekistan's strategic approach can serve as a reference for other Central Asian countries and water-stressed states globally. The country's reform outcomes are scheduled to be presented to the international community at the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi in December 2026, as well as during the World Water Forum planned to be held in Samarkand.