Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A representative office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Uzbekistan has published an annual report for 2019 on the situation and situation of children in our country, Dunyo reported.

It says that Uzbekistan has achieved positive results on the most important indicators of child survival and development.

Large-scale reforms carried out since 2017 in the sectors of the education system are noted. A key place in them is given to the quality of education and the level of knowledge received by children, as well as to an increase in the number of preschool institutions in order to ensure 100% coverage of preschool education by 2021.

It is emphasized that in order to achieve optimal learning outcomes, social inclusion and civic responsibility, Uzbekistan needs to further strengthen the education system.

The report states that Uzbekistan has taken serious steps to bring its legal framework and practice in the field of child protection in line with international standards. In particular, the age of marriage for girls was raised to 18 years, the issue of establishing the post of Deputy Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child is being decided.

Among the main achievements of the health sector reform in 2019, in which UNICEF participated together with WHO, are the revision of the plan for separating sanitary and epidemiological services (including immunization) from the Ministry of Health, the creation of a new logistics and procurement department to ensure the uninterrupted supply of safe vaccines for children Agency for Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-Being, revising the planning and budgeting mechanism for vaccine procurement, building refrigerated warehouses for them in 12 regions of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Karakalpakstan, as well as introducing a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) among girls aged 9, reaching 96%.

It was noted that the government supported the recommendations of UNICEF on the introduction of an electronic birth and death registration system since 2020, which will provide a more complete exchange of information between the involved state ministries and departments, and will also allow for an effective analysis of the indicators recommended by WHO.

In order to reduce preventable mortality among newborns, the Ministry of Health, with the support of UNICEF, adopted and implemented perinatal audit practice, revised four standards and training programs for newborn care for medical practitioners, and revised the training of teachers in medical educational institutions.

With the support of UNICEF, the Ministry of Health has introduced a universally progressive model of patronage services in eight primary health care facilities located in the three most disadvantaged regions. This approach, namely patronage visits, allows nurses to effectively identify symptoms that are dangerous for children, increase parental awareness of these symptoms, provide counseling, and refer families with serious problems to higher-level health services.

The Ministry of Health, with the support of UNICEF, conducted a nationwide nutrition study that identified progress in reducing child growth retardation in Uzbekistan.

With support from UNICEF, the Government of Uzbekistan has adopted a Sales Code for breast-milk substitutes and food products for infants and young children.

In 2019, UNICEF played an important role in mobilizing resources to expand pre-school education in Uzbekistan, supporting the development of the second Education Sector Development Plan (PRSP) of Uzbekistan for 2019-2023.

In December 2019, Parliament approved a law on preschool education. The law was developed by the Ministry of Preschool Education with broad technical support from UNICEF.

In 2019, UNICEF also assisted the Ministry of Education in developing the first national educational program, as well as supporting the government in developing a new qualification system and professional standards for teachers, developing an education management information system, long-term action plan and de-institutionalization program, which September 2019 were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the country.

In addition, last year, as part of the reform of the justice system, the government paid great attention to justice for children. Along with the preparation of amendments to the Criminal Code in April 2019, UNICEF supported the Attorney General’s Office in launching the innovative project “Piloting Alternative Measures and Restorative Justice” in a district of Tashkent. At the project implementation stage, alternative measures were applied in 50% of the cases considered in the area.

In order to raise awareness of the importance of youth participation, as well as strengthen the capacity of national partners to involve youth in the development and implementation of youth policies, UNICEF facilitated the first official participation of the chairman of the Youth and Young People Union in the UN ECOSOC youth forum. These efforts have contributed to a change in approaches to attracting young people and the recognition of the importance of the opinions and participation of the most vulnerable young people.

Following the recommendations of UNICEF, in April 2019, the country submitted the 5th national report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, opening a dialogue for constructive discussions regarding the implementation of the rights of the child in Uzbekistan.

The UNICEF strategy in Uzbekistan in addressing gender inequality is being implemented through the integration of gender aspects in UNICEF programs. In this regard, in order to implement programs more efficiently, in all studies conducted in 2019, special attention was paid to differences due to gender characteristics.

Within the framework of the current country program, UNICEF actively collaborated with the government of Uzbekistan in creating favorable conditions for the realization and promotion of children’s rights. With the support of UNICEF, a significant number of laws, strategic documents and programs have been revised or developed.

The report states that the state allocates more than 55% of the national budget to social sector spending, which is more than 10% of the country’s GDP. Investing directly in children makes up 78% of these costs.

At the same time, it was noted that the main difficulties associated with government investment in the area of child welfare include: low government spending per child, the unexplored direct impact of investments on children and the allocation of small funds to policies based on the principles of inclusiveness.