Uzbekistan set a goal to change the principle of "state-society-person" to
the new "man-society-state" principle and enshrine it in constitutional
legislation and constitutional practice, and above all to put human interests
above anything else.
On December 7, 2021, President Sh. Mirziyoev, in his speech dedicated to
the 29th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, said: “Nowadays, Uzbekistan is boldly moving towards building a
social state and a just society. Therefore, it is time to enshrine the principle
“The New Uzbekistan is a social state” as a constitutional provision”.
It should be noted that a social state is a model of a state that is aimed to
provide quality education, qualified medical care, comprehensive support for
families, children, women, older people, and persons with disabilities, provide
housing for people in need, ensure employment, create safe working conditions,
and reduce poverty.
Importantly, in the last five to six years, the main requirements of the
social welfare state have been put into practice in the country, including:
Firstly, In the Strategy of Action for 2017-2021 and the Development
Strategy for 2022-2026, the issues of developing the social sphere, conducting a
fair social policy, and developing human capital were identified as priority
tasks.
Secondly, the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Employment was
established, the activities of “Monocentres” were launched, “Iron Notebook”,
“Women’s Notebook” and “Youth Notebook” were established, payment of
hundred-per cent pension has been started to working pensioners, the year 2022
was designated as “The Year of Glorification of Human Dignity and Active
Mahalla (neighbourhood)”. The population’s social protection strategy has been
approved, and the problem of poverty in the country has been acknowledged.
The position of assistant governor, responsible for reducing poverty, developing
entrepreneurship, creating jobs, and increasing the population’s income, was
introduced in each settlement (mahalla). Most importantly, a new system of
care for the population has been established.
Thirdly, special attention was paid to education and medicine compatible
to the social welfare state. Unprecedented reforms were carried out in the
progressive improvement of the continuous education system, quality education
and training of qualified personnel under the motto “Investment in Education
– investment in the great future”. As a result, the coverage rate of preschool
education increased from 27.7% to 67%, the share of qualified teachers with
higher education in schools increased from 81.8% to 87.8%, the compulsory
11-year school education was restored, the workload of school teachers was
optimized and forced labour was abolished, the level of coverage of youth with
higher education was increased from 9% to 38%.
Funds allocated from the budget in the health sector has been increased
from 7.3 trillion soums to 24.7 trillion soums, the average monthly salary of
doctors from 1131.2 thousand soums to 3282.7 thousand soums, the salary
of nurses from 692.1 thousand soums to 2008.6 thousand soums, the funds
allocated from the budget for medicines and medical supplies from 0.4 trillion
soums to 1.8 trillion soums, the number of HEIs in the field of medicine
increased from 7 to 9, and the number of private medical organizations
increased from 4,000 to 7,049. In short, it has created the foundation for
establishing a social state in Uzbekistan.
In the updated Constitution, Uzbekistan is declared a social state. Norms
regarding the social obligations of the state are increasing almost threefold.
The principle “New Uzbekistan is a social state” is being enshrined as a
constitutional norm; the additions, such as preventing child labour, ensuring
reliable protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and representatives
of the elderly generation, providing housing for socially needy categories of
citizens, determining the minimum amount of remuneration for work, the right
to receive the guaranteed amount of medical care at the expense of the state, are
being incorporated in the draft constitution.
As a result, the socio-economic rights and freedoms of people and citizens
guaranteed by the Constitutional norms, in turn, are strengthened by the
corresponding obligation of the state.
This, in turn, ensures strong constitutional protection for the results
achieved in recent years within the framework of the Strategy of Action and the
implementation of the tasks defined within the Development Strategy. They are
being enshrined in the Constitution so that our future generations can safely
enjoy their rights and freedoms.
Jamshid Sharipov,
Expert of the “Development Strategy” Center