TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 23. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will allocate $3.5 million through a new local governance program to strengthen regional and local governments in Uzbekistan, Trend reports.
The news followed a meeting between President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and a US delegation headed by Administrator of USAID Samantha Power in Tashkent on October 23, 2023.
This program will work with national and local governments, civil society, and the private sector to ensure greater transparency of local government budgets and expenditures, train civil servants to fulfill new responsibilities, and provide citizens and communities with the tools, skills, and resources needed to monitor local government activities and obtain improved public services that meet their needs.
USAID will also support the government in developing data-based national policies and legislation in the fields of decentralization and local governance.
Meanwhile, Samantha Power is currently on a working visit to Uzbekistan to hold the first ministerial meeting on regional cooperation in the C5+1 format.
Since 2015, the C5+1 format has been the US government's primary diplomatic platform for engagement with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Overall, USAID has been implementing a number of projects in Uzbekistan, including projects in the fields of healthcare, education, green energy, and agribusiness.