Non-governmental, non-profit organizations operating in Uzbekistan, as well as recipients of foreign grants, will not face financial difficulties, director of the Public Fund for Supporting Civil Society Institutions under the Oliy Majlis Otabek Khusanov stated.
His interview with Sevimli TV came amid reports that the new US administration had frozen foreign aid, putting numerous projects worldwide at risk of suspension. The US provided assistance to foreign countries through various agencies, including the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Pentagon, the Department of Agriculture and others.
“In the past, today and in the future, we are fully prepared to support and create all necessary conditions and opportunities for the continuation of projects. Additionally, we want to emphasize that if problems related to foreign grants arise in 2025, we are ready to develop additional projects to support them. I urge all NGOs to actively participate in competitions for government grants and state social orders announced by the fund,” Khusanov said.
The fund budget amounts to about $100 million annually, with approximately 70% allocated to funding the management system of mahallas (neighborhoods).
On the first day of his second presidential term, Donald Trump signed an executive order among dozens of other documents, freezing foreign aid for 90 days and initiating a review of its allocation principles. Shortly after, the USAID website was shut down, and a statement appeared on the White House website accusing USAID of “waste and abuse”. The “evidence” cited included multiple references to a single Daily Mail article, known for unreliable content, and the ultra-right website Breitbart, which frequently publishes false information. These claims were immediately questioned by reputable media outlets. USAID staff was reduced, and its future remains uncertain.
Gazeta.uz previously published an interview with a former senior USAID official in Uzbekistan. The organization’s partnership with the country began in 1993. Over these years, USAID invested around $600 million in programs and projects in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, education, governance, environmental protection and economic development, with annual funding of approximately $30 million.
