More than 250 academic staff and students attended launching presentations hosted at the Westminster International University in Tashkent, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Academy for State and Social Construction under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent State University of Economics, and Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute.

In her opening remarks, to the management, academic staff and students of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED), Anita Nirody, UNDP Resident Representative in Uzbekistan noted that Uzbekistan is among the countries which have made significant progress over the years in terms of Human Development Index. Its HDI has increased from 0.59 in 2005 to 0.62 in 2010, a 5% increase over the same period.

Welcoming academic staff and students of the Tashkent State University of Economics, Nato Alhazishvili, a UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, noted that according to a human development concept people should be viewed as the main goal of development. “Development cannot be measured solely by income or economic growth,” she said.

Responding to questions raised by both academic staff and students on Uzbekistan’s position, Mikhail Peleah, a Human Development Officer from UNDP’s regional office in Bratislava mentioned that Uzbekistan’s HDI for 2010 is 0.617- in the medium human development category - positioning the country at 102 out of 169 countries and areas.

He also stated that between 2005 and 2010, Uzbekistan’s life expectancy at birth increased by almost 1 year. Uzbekistan’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased by 43 percent during the same period.

The 2010 report introduces the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in education, health and standard of living.

“In Uzbekistan only 2 per cent of the population suffers from multiple deprivations while an additional 8 per cent is vulnerable to multiple deprivations”, said Mihail Peleah. Filled with vivid interest and enriched by discussions, all launching events received a positive response and support of attendants, yet leaving a further room for discussion and prospective ideas to promote the human development concept in Uzbekistan.

“We believe new measurements, information, and data obtained as a result of these presentations will be widely shared, new ideas generated, as the human development is an evolving concept”, said Elena Danilova-Cross, a UNDP Human Development Coordinator in Uzbekistan.

The Human Development Reports, commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990, are editorially independent from UNDP. The Human Development Reports and the HDI challenged purely economic measures of national achievement and helped lay the conceptual foundation for the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, calling for consistent global tracking of progress in health, education and overall living standards.

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working collaboratively on their own solutions to national and global development challenges.