Uzbek President Emphasises Human Dignity in Reforms

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has taken part in a forum and award ceremony under the “Quality Public Administration” programme, where he highlighted that human dignity is at the centre of ongoing reforms in the country.

“ As you know, the core of reforms being implemented in our country is the elevation of human dignity, the creation of decent conditions for the population and entrepreneurs,” the president said.

He noted that over the past 10 years, the principle that public institutions should serve the people rather than the other way around has been elevated to the level of state policy.

Without an effective governance system for the population, it is impossible to achieve expected results in any sector, he said, adding that citizens assess the state through tangible improvements in their daily lives.

The president stressed that timely and fair resolution of citizens’ problems increases public trust in the state, while excessive bureaucracy undermines reforms.

He said Uzbekistan is focusing on introducing modern approaches in public administration, including learning from international experience.

“Introducing effective governance systems, modern models, and adopting best practices from the United Arab Emirates has been very beneficial for us,” he said.

He noted that cooperation with the UAE in public administration has reached a new level in recent years, including joint international forums on reducing bureaucracy and artificial intelligence, as well as agreements on knowledge exchange.

The “Quality Public Administration” programme is a practical result of this partnership, the president added.

He expressed gratitude to the leadership of the UAE and Minister of Government Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi for support in implementing the programme.

The president said that performance evaluation of ministries and agencies will remain a key priority.

“From now on, objective assessment of ministries and agencies, as well as increasing their accountability to the population, will remain at the centre of our attention. The principle of working not for process, but for results, will become the main criterion,” he said.

The programme aims to form a new administrative culture, identify strengths and weaknesses of state bodies, promote best practices, and foster healthy competition among institutions.

From January to April this year, 40 republican agencies were evaluated by international and local experts under the programme.

The Ministry of Justice was recognised as the most exemplary ministry in implementing the Uzbekistan 2030 strategy. It provides 380 fully digital services and more than 780 public services online, supported by 208 service centres across the country.

The Ministry of Mining and Geology was recognised for resource management, with improvements in efficiency, reduced water use in exploration by 20%, and increased localisation of equipment to 84%.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was recognised for progress in digital public services, with 95% of around 60 services fully digitalised and 72 databases integrated into a unified system.

Winners in other categories included senior officials and specialists from the Ministry of Mining and Geology, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Uzatom agency, Ministry of Poverty Reduction and Employment, and the Ministry of Justice.

The president proposed promoting all winners by one rank and including them in the leadership reserve, noting their performance and innovative approaches as an example for others.

He also said that from the next edition, institutions at the bottom of the ranking would also be publicly named, and that poorly performing organisations must draw serious conclusions.

The programme will now be held every two years and will also include local administrations in future evaluations.

He emphasised that reforms must be felt at the district and city level, adding that without local improvements, national reforms cannot deliver expected results.

The president concluded that Uzbekistan is entering a new stage of governance reform aimed at building a more efficient, people-centred state system.