What is necessary to do to return society to a normal life after a pandemic – this was discussed during the 21 July 2020 at an online forum on “Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Social Development: Effective Recovery from COVID-19.”
During four working sessions of the forum, a wide range of issues of social development, culture, health and labor protection in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were considered.
The event was organized by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis, the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NCHR), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country and the UN Office in Uzbekistan.
This International Forum became the second event of the cycle of global discussions “The 75th anniversary of the UN: a look into the future”, which are organized by Uzbekistan within the framework of the international initiative “UN-75”, proclaimed by the United Nations in the year of its anniversary.
The event was moderated by the First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Director of the NCHR Akmal Saidov and UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan Helena Fraser.
Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis Tanzila Narbaeva, Speaker of the Legislative Chamber Nurdinjon Ismailov made welcoming remarks at the forum.
In a video message to the forum, WHO Director-General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyssus stressed: “The pandemic has reminded us that health is not a luxury. This is the foundation of economic, social and political stability. This means that investing in emergency preparedness and response is an investment in our shared future. Maintaining access to essential health services is critical to countries recovering from COVID-19.”
“Although the share of aid to education has gained momentum again, the COVID-19 pandemic now threatens to take us back several years,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a video message. In this context, she stressed that “Faced with the devastating effects of the pandemic, aid to education will undoubtedly be more important than ever. Countries will need additional funds to tackle the pandemic and education must be prioritized in both aid and national allocations to avoid falling behind in our Global Education Goal, SDG4.”
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is actively working across the region, including Uzbekistan, to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market. Deputy Director General of the ILO Hines Koeller said this in his video message. Welcoming the forum participants on behalf of the ILO Director General Guy Ryder, he noted that “a pandemic is not only a crisis in the health sector, but also a profound shock to the economy and society around the world. This crisis poses a serious risk to alienate us from achieving SDG 8 on decent work and other related SDGs.”
Hines Köller praised Uzbekistan’s progress in eradicating child and forced labor and expressed readiness to support the Government of Uzbekistan in accelerating progress towards the SDGs by developing a new Decent Work Country Program that will focus on achieving SDGs 1 and 8 at the national level.
“The pandemic should not divert attention completely from the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and not undermine the achievements that have been realized over the past decades.”
The attention of the participants was focused on this in his video message by the UN Deputy Secretary General, Special Adviser to the UNDP Administrator Abdoulaye Mar Dieye. He also stressed that “the pressing issues raised by this crisis must be considered, namely inequality and unsustainable growth, interconnected governance issues, climate change, and the developmental implications and opportunities for a fourth industrial revolution.”
During the forum, the Uzbek side provided up-to-date information on the country’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, plans for the implementation of the SDGs in the republic after the pandemic, the role and contribution of cultural heritage in achieving the SDGs, the need to create decent working conditions for all in to ensure sustainable social development. The conclusions and proposals voiced were highly appreciated by the international participants of the meeting.
In addition, the main provisions of the first National Voluntary Review of Uzbekistan were presented, the presentation of which took place on 15 July 2020within the framework of the UN High-level Political Forum, as well as information on the ongoing efforts to nominate Uzbekistan for the UN Human Rights Council for 2021-2023.
The participants in the discussions were informed about the profound transformations carried out in the republic in the field of protecting and promoting human rights, reforms in the health care system and social protection of the population, as well as the implementation of a set of measures to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Special attention was paid to the global crisis caused by COVID-19 and the increased fundamental challenges – the deteriorating health status of the population, disruptions in the healthcare system, and job cuts, especially in the informal sectors of the economy.
Speakers at the event highly appreciated the steps taken to ensure social development in Uzbekistan and stated that the priorities of the Action Strategy for 2017-2021 being implemented in our country are fully consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
