It is time to link the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with human dignity, the well-being of the mahalla (a traditional neighborhood community and the grassroots level of self-government in Uzbekistan), and quality of life.
When the Sustainable Development Goals come up for discussion, the conversation most often turns to international rankings, national indicators, strategies, and reports. All of this is undoubtedly important, because every state assesses its own development path through precise figures, comparative data, and international criteria.
For an ordinary person, however, the concept of sustainable development carries an entirely different meaning. For that person it means having clean drinking water at home, a child studying in a good school, not waiting in line at the clinic for hours, young people finding jobs, better roads and lighting in the mahalla, clean air, an entrepreneur able to work without excessive barriers, and a matter resolved fairly at a government office.
In this sense, the SDGs are not merely a United Nations (UN) agenda or an international obligation. They are, above all, a vital benchmark that secures human dignity, family well-being, the prosperity of the mahalla, and the country's future.
In recent years, Uzbekistan has built an important institutional foundation for aligning the SDGs with national development policy. The "Uzbekistan — 2030" strategy encompasses 100 goals across 5 priority areas and links the country's next stage of development with human potential, social justice, economic growth, environmental sustainability, and public administration in the service of the people.
At the present stage, however, the most important question should be framed as follows: to what extent are these goals felt in the life of an ordinary person?
For the true measure of development is not gauged solely by growth in gross domestic product, a position in a ranking, or the number of programs adopted. It is assessed by the changes in people's daily lives.
The Figures Exist; Now They Must Reach Deeper Into People's Lives
In his Address to the Oliy Majlis and the people of Uzbekistan on December 26, 2025, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted important results related to the country's economic growth, infrastructure development, and living conditions. In particular, it was emphasized that electricity generation had reached 85 billion kilowatt-hours, that 715,000 households had received clean drinking water for the first time, and that water supply had improved for another 2.3 million people. It was also reported that the poverty rate had fallen from 8.9% at the start of the year to 5.8%.
These figures undoubtedly attest to major positive changes. But from the standpoint of the SDGs, another question matters: are these results felt equally in all regions, in all mahallas, and among all social groups?
If the national average is good yet water shortages persist in a remote mahalla; if new housing is built in the city while young people in another region struggle to find stable work; if overall educational coverage rises yet quality problems remain in certain schools — then the next stage of implementing the SDGs still lies ahead.
Put differently, today's task for Uzbekistan is to bring its major strategies deeper into the life of the mahalla, the family, and the individual.
What Does Comparative Analysis With Neighboring Countries Show?
Comparative analysis with neighboring states is important in assessing Uzbekistan's results on the SDGs, because the countries of Central Asia face closely related challenges: water scarcity, climate change, energy security, labor migration, disparities between regions, youth employment, and environmental risks.
According to the 2025 international report on sustainable development, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan posted relatively high results among the countries of Central Asia. Specifically, Kyrgyzstan was assessed at 74.50 points, Uzbekistan at 73.08 points, Kazakhstan at 71.52 points, Tajikistan at 68.27 points, and Turkmenistan at 67.25 points.
This indicates positive momentum on the SDGs in Uzbekistan, while also showing that the next stage calls for far more serious attention to questions of quality, regional equity, and environmental sustainability.
A position in a ranking or an overall score does not, however, mean that problems have been resolved in every area. For example, although Kyrgyzstan scored higher on the SDG index, it ranks below Uzbekistan on the human development index. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, leads the region in human development and income levels, yet recorded a lower overall SDG score than Uzbekistan. This offers an important lesson: sustainable development is not economic growth alone, but the alignment of social equity, environmental balance, and effective governance.
In the 2025 Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, Kazakhstan was placed 60th, Turkmenistan 95th, Uzbekistan 107th, Kyrgyzstan 117th, and Tajikistan 128th. Uzbekistan's inclusion in the high human development group is a positive development, yet this comparison shows that considerable reserves remain in the quality of education, health care, household incomes, and labor productivity.
The primary aim for Uzbekistan, therefore, is not simply to climb the rankings. The core task is to link economic growth with human development, social justice, environmental sustainability, and regional equity.
International Indexes Are Not the Goal but a Mirror
International indexes serve as an important mirror for a country. They show where progress is being made and in which areas additional effort is required.
For example, in the Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Uzbekistan ranked 79th among 139 economies in 2025. According to these data, the country was placed 7th in the lower-middle-income group of economies and 3rd in the Central and Southern Asia region.
This is a significant opportunity. Yet innovation must not remain confined to IT parks, startups, or university laboratories. It must enter the life of the ordinary person: accurate assessment of learning outcomes at school, digital queue management at the clinic, reduced water losses in the mahalla, more affordable water-saving technology for farmers, easier access to public services for people with disabilities — this is where genuine innovation becomes visible.
The Environmental Performance Index also sends Uzbekistan an important signal. According to the 2024 edition of this international index, Uzbekistan was ranked 107th with an overall score of 42.6. This points to the need to further strengthen practical measures in air quality, water resources, waste management, biodiversity, climate change, and the urban environment.
The Corruption Perceptions Index likewise carries considerable weight from an SDG perspective, because sustainable development is not limited to economic growth or social programs; above all, it requires openness, fairness, and an atmosphere of trust in public administration.
According to Transparency International, the organization that conducts international monitoring in the field of anti-corruption efforts, although Uzbekistan has made positive progress in this area in recent years, transparency must be further strengthened in public services, local budgets, public procurement, construction, subsidies, and the social assistance system. After all, for any good program to produce results in people's lives, funds must be distributed fairly, decisions must be taken openly, and public oversight must work in practice.
The central lesson drawn from these indexes is this: funding, strategies, and programs alone are not enough to implement the SDGs. They yield results in people's lives only when complemented by openness, fairness, effective execution, and public oversight.
Poverty Reduction: The Shift From Assistance to Stable Income Is Essential
In recent years, poverty reduction has become one of the most important directions of state policy in Uzbekistan. The foremost condition of sustainable development is that people live with dignity, have a stable income, and are able to realize their potential in life.
According to World Bank data, the growth of household incomes in Uzbekistan in 2024–2025 had a positive effect particularly on low-income groups. As a result, the national poverty rate fell from 8.9% to 5.8%, and the gap between household incomes narrowed somewhat.
This positive result must now be consolidated. Providing a low-income family with a benefit or one-time assistance is necessary, but what matters even more is that the family has a stable source of income. To this end, it would be advisable to develop an "income map" for each low-income family: who will learn a trade, who will find employment, who will start a microbusiness, who needs a social service, who can be linked to a cooperative — all of this must be clearly visible not on paper but at the level of the mahalla.
The next stage of poverty reduction should involve a shift from "social assistance" to "economic activity." In other words, a family receiving assistance should gradually attain independence through its own income, occupation, business, or place in the labor market. This will be the true result of the SDGs.
It Is Time to Move From Coverage to Quality in Education
Education is one of the most important areas of the SDGs, because without quality education it is difficult to reduce poverty, build an innovative economy, or create decent jobs.
Uzbekistan has carried out substantial work to expand coverage in preschool, general secondary, and higher education. At the next stage, however, the main emphasis must shift from coverage to quality. Whether children attend school is the first question. But there is a still more important one: what is the child learning at school?
Can the graduate think independently? Does he or she possess digital skills? Can that graduate find a place in the labor market? Is he or she ready to choose a profession? Is the higher or vocational education system connecting the graduate to the real economy?
For this reason, educational outcomes in every region must be linked to the needs of the local economy. Where agricultural processing is developing, where tourism is growing, where industry is expanding, in which city services and the digital economy are on the rise — education and vocational training programs must adapt to these needs.
The true measure of quality education is not the number of schools or the level of coverage. It is manifested above all in the child's knowledge, the teacher's capacity, the school environment, career guidance, digital opportunities, and the graduate's readiness for independent life.
In Health Care, the Nearest Level of Service Is Decisive
For a citizen, reform in the health sector is felt first of all in his or her own mahalla, at his or her own clinic. Large medical centers, modern equipment, and specialized clinics matter. But for an ordinary person the first question is different: can he or she see a doctor in time? Are medicines available? Is it easy to have tests done? Is preventive care available for the child? Are elderly parents receiving medical services?
The goal of healthy living and well-being is therefore closely tied to strengthening primary health care. Waiting times at the clinic, the workload of doctors, the availability of medicines, maternal and child health, early detection of chronic diseases, and satisfaction with medical services must become indicators that are openly and continuously assessed.
The greatest impact in health care lies in preventing illness rather than treating it. For this reason, the connections among prevention, healthy nutrition, physical activity, environmental risks, and public health should be explained at the mahalla level as well.
The Green Economy Must Reach Every Household
Uzbekistan is among the countries feeling the effects of climate change acutely. Water scarcity, land degradation, air quality, desertification, energy efficiency, and environmental pressure in cities are all directly connected to the SDGs.
The green economy should not be understood as consisting only of large solar or wind power plants. Such projects are, of course, strategically important. But for an ordinary person the green economy means reliable electricity at home, lower heating costs, more trees on the street, waste collected on time, water-saving technology that is affordable and convenient, better public transportation, and improved air quality.
Accordingly, the goals related to clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities, combating climate change, and protecting land resources and ecosystems should be viewed not in isolation from one another but as a single chain sustaining life. Save water, and agriculture becomes more stable. Raise energy efficiency, and enterprise costs fall. Clean the air, and public health improves. Green the cities, and quality of life rises.
The time has come to regard ecology not merely as a matter of "protecting nature" but as a nationwide issue bound up with the economy, health, education, urban planning, and social justice.
An SDG Passport Is Needed at the Mahalla Level
For SDG indicators to be felt in people's lives, they must be brought down to the level of the mahalla. National or regional averages are important, but they do not always reveal the specific problem.
For example, drinking water coverage may have increased across a region, yet a water problem may persist in a particular mahalla. There may be data showing that unemployment has declined in a district, yet young people in a specific mahalla may still struggle to find work. Road repairs in a city may be reported, yet problems with lighting or pedestrian safety may remain on certain streets.
It would therefore be advisable to introduce an "SDG life passport" for each district and mahalla. It should reflect the indicators that matter most to residents: drinking water, electricity supply, road conditions, school and kindergarten facilities, clinic services, waste collection, youth employment, women's incomes, an accessible environment for people with disabilities, air quality, internet access, and public services.
These data should be open and understandable not only to government agencies but also to residents. People should know which indicator has improved in their mahalla, which problem persists, and how much funding has been allocated to which project.
Tying Budgets to Results Increases the Impact of Reform
To turn the SDGs into practical results, local budgets and infrastructure projects must be linked to specific outcomes. When funds are allocated to a region, not only population size or general need but also results should be taken into account.
For example, in which district the drinking water supply improved, in which mahalla the number of unemployed young people declined, in which region preschool coverage increased, in which city air quality improved, and where citizens expressed greater satisfaction with public services — these results should become the principal criteria for assessing the performance of regions.
Put differently, what matters is not that funds were spent but that they produced a result. Not that something was built but that people are using it. Not that a program was adopted but that change is felt in people's lives.
This approach fosters a new culture in both public administration and public oversight.
Openness and Public Oversight Are Among the Core Conditions of the SDGs
Civil society institutions, the media, local councils, research centers, and independent experts must take an active part in implementing the SDGs, because relying solely on agency reports may leave certain problems unseen.
In public procurement, construction, subsidies, social assistance, land allocation, utility services, and local infrastructure projects, the chain of "funds allocated — work completed — citizen assessment" must be open. If information on how much funding was allocated to which project in each mahalla, who carried it out, what the deadlines were, and whether residents are satisfied with the work is published in plain language, openness in public administration and public trust will be strengthened further. Public oversight here does not stand against the state; on the contrary, it is a constructive mechanism that serves to improve the quality of reforms. It is precisely in this process that civil society institutions can act as a bridge of trust between the state and the population.
A Shared Task for Central Asia: Cooperation, Not Competition
Uzbekistan's cooperation with neighboring states holds particular significance in implementing the SDGs, because water, climate, energy, transportation, trade, migration, and environmental risks do not respect national borders.
From Kazakhstan, lessons can be drawn in developing industrial cooperation, digital services, labor productivity, and high-value-added sectors. Joint solutions are needed with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the water-energy balance, climate risks in mountainous areas, cross-border trade, and labor migration. Practical cooperation with Turkmenistan in energy, transportation, and environmental sustainability is important from an SDG perspective.
Uzbekistan's initiatives in recent years to strengthen an atmosphere of good-neighborliness in Central Asia, resolve border issues, expand transport connectivity, and reinforce regional dialogue demonstrate how important partnership and mutual trust are for sustainable development. The President's Address also gave particular emphasis, from the standpoint of regional stability, to the holding of the "Central Asia — European Union" summit and the International Climate Forum in Samarkand in 2025, as well as to the important agreements reached at the meeting of the leaders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in Khujand.
These processes show that for Uzbekistan the SDGs are becoming an important part not only of domestic reform but also of the agenda of regional stability and cooperation.
A New Governance Formula: The Index, the Mahalla, and the Citizen's Assessment
Three criteria must be brought together to advance the SDGs in Uzbekistan to a new stage.
The first criterion is international indexes. They show the country's position in the world along with its strengths and weaknesses.
The second criterion is real indicators at the mahalla level. They help identify which problem exists in which area.
The third criterion is the citizen's assessment, because the fairest judge of a reform is whether an ordinary person does or does not perceive change in his or her own life.
If these three criteria are combined, SDG monitoring will become not merely a means of preparing reports but a practical instrument of public administration and public oversight.
In Place of a Conclusion
Uzbekistan possesses the political will, the strategic foundation, and the experience of reform needed to implement the SDGs. The "Uzbekistan — 2030" strategy, poverty reduction policy, the mahalla-by-mahalla working system, green energy, water conservation, education and health care reforms, digital public services, and regional cooperation initiatives are all directly aligned with the SDGs.
At the next stage, however, the principal criterion must change: the question "how many programs were adopted?" must give way to the question "what has changed in people's lives?"
The Sustainable Development Goals must not remain an obscure international term for the public. They must be manifested in clean water in the mahalla, in quality education for a child, in a mother's access to medical care, in a young person finding work, in an entrepreneur's freedom to operate, in cleaner urban air, and in the citizen's trust in the state.
Only then will the SDGs become, for Uzbekistan, not external reporting but the living substance of New Uzbekistan's development. This is the true aim of sustainable development: to elevate not figures but human dignity.
Jahongir Isayev,
Department Head,
Sustainable Development Center