Today, the issue of clean water and sanitation is increasingly moving beyond the realm of environmental concern to become an important factor in economic stability, public health, and national security. Climate change, drought, population growth, and urbanization are intensifying the demand for water resources.
As a practical reflection of these global processes, a public discussion titled “The Sustainable Development Goals and the Role of the Mahalla in Achieving Clean Water and Sanitation” was held within the framework of the Sustainable Development Month by the Tashkent Region Division of the Sustainable Development Center in cooperation with the Ohangaron District Administration of Tashkent Region.
It brought together staff of state institutions and activists of citizens’ self-government bodies, including 31 mahalla chairpersons. Held in both in-person and online formats, the discussion gathered nearly 80 participants, who examined issues related to water supply, sanitation, wastewater disposal, and the environmental culture of the population.
Speaking at the public discussion, Abdumannop Toʻlaganov, head of the Tashkent Region Division of the Sustainable Development Center, emphasized that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), supplying the population with quality water, and strengthening public oversight of this process are among the important requirements of the present day.
In many countries, the efficient use of every cubic meter of water, the reduction of water losses, the introduction of digital monitoring, and the involvement of the population in water resources management are becoming priority tasks.
Large-scale reforms have also been carried out in Uzbekistan in recent years. A special study titled “Accelerating Country-Level Progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6: Uzbekistan,” published in 2026 by UN-Water, the United Nations (UN) mechanism on water, granted international recognition to the country’s experience in the efficient and rational use of water resources, the broad introduction of water-saving technologies, and the digitalization of water management. The study notes that Uzbekistan is introducing water-saving technologies, “smart” irrigation, and digital water resources management, and is implementing large-scale national reforms.
Uzbekistan is also achieving significant results in improving drinking water and wastewater services. At a presentation on the further development of the sector held on July 20, 2026, it was reported that investment attracted to the water supply and sewerage sector has increased tenfold in recent years, reaching $2.7 billion.
As a result, the share of the population served by centralized drinking water supply rose from 63% in 2017 to almost 83%. During this period, 7.7 million people received centralized drinking water for the first time, water supply improved for 11 million people, and 1.1 million residents were connected to the sewerage system. A total of 39,000 kilometers of drinking water networks and 3,200 kilometers of wastewater networks were built and reconstructed.
Going forward, the goal is to raise the level of centralized drinking water supply to 90% and the coverage of sewerage services in cities to 80%.
Shodiyor Azizov, an expert at the Sustainable Development Center, delivered a presentation titled “The Environmental Culture of the Population in Ensuring the Sanitary Condition of the Mahalla Today.”
The presentation devoted particular attention to the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 6 — “Clean Water and Sanitation” — emphasizing that it is aimed at ensuring access to clean drinking water, hygiene, and sanitation services for every person.
It was also noted that millions of people around the world still lack clean drinking water and essential sanitation facilities, which gives rise to various diseases and hygiene-related problems.
Extensive work is under way in Uzbekistan to provide the population with centralized drinking water supply and to extend water networks to remote mahallas. At the same time, the speaker emphasized that water scarcity and the challenge of using water rationally are pressing issues for the entire world today.
Therefore, each of us must change our attitude toward water, value it, and make its careful use part of our everyday culture.
At the conclusion of the public discussion, mahalla activists put forward a number of practical proposals aimed at resolving existing problems in water supply and sanitation.
In particular, the chairperson of the Ungut mahalla proposed studying the possibility of channeling wastewater from the Uvak, Alisher, Yonariq, Yalpoqtepa, Qarahitoy, and Ungut mahallas through a single system. To that end, it was noted that the question of making effective use of the existing infrastructure on the territory of the Yangiangren hydroelectric power plant should be considered.
In the Choʻldoq mahalla, it was proposed to address as a priority the provision of centralized drinking water to 4,121 residents and to implement the plans set out for the construction of water supply networks in that area.
Activists of the Qorasuyak mahalla stressed the need to improve the district’s wastewater disposal system, to provide the specialized equipment required for this, and to strengthen oversight of the placement of wells and sanitation facilities, as well as of the quality of the water consumed by the population.
In the Yangiobod mahalla, it was proposed to clarify the issues surrounding the transfer of the drinking water networks used by residents onto the balance sheets of the responsible organizations, along with their maintenance and repair.
The discussion also noted the need to make broad use of the existing opportunities offered by grant funding, state social procurement, and support for civil society institutions in order to resolve local problems in the water and sanitation sector.
Activists of the Qarahitoy mahalla raised the question of a comprehensive study of the future environmental consequences of the extensive use of groundwater resources in the Ohangaron River basin, and of conducting regular monitoring of the state of water reserves.
Most importantly, the meeting became not merely a forum for mahalla activists to list existing problems, but also an opportunity to formulate proposals for concrete solutions.
The proposals put forward are significant in that they are aimed at improving water supply and sanitation infrastructure, ensuring environmental safety, raising the environmental culture of the population, and strengthening public oversight.
After all, sustainable development begins not with identifying problems but with finding solutions to them together. In this process, the mahalla expresses the genuine needs of the population, state agencies set in motion the mechanisms for meeting them, and civil society institutions ensure public participation and oversight.
In this sense, this public discussion, organized in Ohangaron District within the framework of the Sustainable Development Month, became a vivid example of a social and practical bridge between the state, the mahalla, and civil society.
Where a problem is spoken about openly, the path to a solution opens up. And where proposals are heard, public participation turns into practical results. This very process is one of the most important factors in bringing the Sustainable Development Goals closer to the life of every mahalla, every household, and every person.