Uzbekistan Allocates More Than $100 Million to Fight Poverty

Uzbekistan is going to allocate an additional $104 million to fight poverty. This decision was announced after President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on poverty issues.

All these funds will be committed to the social support of the 235,000 needy families of Uzbekistan. In general, the country tallies 155,000 families that lost their breadwinners; 81,000 needy families with five or more children and 16,000 older persons who live alone.

Due to the pandemic there are now many more unemployed people in the country and preliminary research reveals that COVID-19 might impact the income of about 450,000 families.

In this situation, the government gives priority to the issues of employment and an increase in income. According to Mirziyoyev, the main goal of the government is to provide a job for at least one member of those needy families to help whole families avoid poverty.

All local authorities have to create lists of all needy families in the regions they control. Then the plan to get these people out of poverty will be prepared. To solve this problem, all ministries, agencies, and commercial banks should participate.

Roughly $3.5 million will be provided for 18,000 needy families in terms of subsidies to develop their homestead properties. Also, the government plans to involve almost 300,000 people in public works and to allocate an additional $98.2 million for «Each Family is an Entrepreneur» state program implementation.  

It’s expected that 145,000 needy persons will be able to find work at the 7,500 industrial projects in the country’s regions. About 20,000 hectares that will be given away for needy families should also help them change their lives for the better.

According to the president’s order, the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction has to prepare a regulatory framework for the calculation of the poverty level and minimal consumption basket no later than October 1.