Uzbekistan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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First Uzbek to Receive Doctoral Degree from Harvard Business School

Economist Botir Kobilov has become the first Uzbek to receive a doctoral degree from Harvard Business School (part of Harvard University) reported Gazeta.uz. The topic of his doctoral dissertation was "The Role of Information and Data in the Financial Market and Economy". According to an earlier report, Kobilov worked as a doctoral student and researcher in empirical law and finance in the corporate governance program of Harvard Law School. Prior to enrolling at Harvard, he attained a master's degree in economics from Duke University in the United States and a bachelor's degree from the Singapore Institute of Management Development in Tashkent. In his early career, he worked as a leading economist at the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. His key areas of interest include the impact of new technologies and new sources of information on financial reporting, law enforcement, compliance, investor communication and decision-making. Botir Kobilov now plans to pursue a faculty position at Texas State University.

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World Bank Helps Improve Social Services for Vulnerable People in Uzbekistan

On 24 May, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $100 million concessional loan for an Innovative Social Protection System for Inclusion of Vulnerable People Project to improve access to, and the quality of social services for vulnerable people in Uzbekistan. The project is co-financed by a $2 million grant from the Early Learning Partnership; a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank to support vulnerable children’s development and learning. The grant will be used to evaluate and improve social services’ provision for the well-being of vulnerable children in Uzbekistan’s local communities or ‘mahallas.’ Welcoming the government’s commitment to broadening the nation’s social protection system and provide more inclusive and effective support to vulnerable people, Marco Mantovanelli, World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan, commented: “This project will help build the legal and institutional foundations of the care economy. It will also expand access to quality on-demand social services that are currently underprovided to thousands of vulnerable people across the country, including older people, persons with disabilities, survivors of gender-based violence, and vulnerable children.” The project will be implemented by the National Social Protection Agency through the Office of the President of Uzbekistan, in close collaboration with various government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and Uzbekistan’s international development partners. Over 50 community-based territorial social service centers (TSSCs) will be established across the country to improve access to enhanced social care and rehabilitation facilities for over 50,000 vulnerable citizens, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and vulnerable children. The project will also create a platform for a regulated and accredited provision of social services from the private sector and by encouraging external investment, reduce the strain on the state’s institutional-based care and welfare system. Once in operation, the project will equip 1,200 people with disabilities, at least half whom are aged 15-24, with professional skills and employment opportunities. Women will also benefit from legal, health and psychological services offered by the establishment of 29 Women Adaptation and Rehabilitation Centers. Last but not least, the initiative will lay the foundations for shock-responsive social protection in Uzbekistan, including the development of policies, emergency procedures and the piloting of a new climate adaptation program. Serving 100,000 impoverished people living in rural communities, the program is designed to increase awareness of climate-related risks and improve communities’ resilience through the provision of seeds for climate-resistant crops, tools, and training in climate-smart agriculture and climate adaptation practices.

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The Power of Kindness: Psychologist Kamilla Turakhodjaeva Promotes the Value of Volunteering in Tashkent

In an ever-challenging world, volunteering is becoming a powerful tool to help and support people facing difficulties. In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, this activity has become increasingly important, uniting people who care about making the world a better place. Kamilla Turakhodjaeva, a psychologist at the first children's hospice in Uzbekistan and head of the volunteer initiative, Power of Kindness, shares her experience of the challenges faced by volunteers, the qualities required for such work, and how the state supports their noble efforts. TCA: How long have you been volunteering in Tashkent, and what prompted you to engage in this activity? Working as a psychologist at the first children's oncology hospice in Tashkent since it opened in August 2022, I have long been attracted to the activities of various hospices elsewhere and realized that volunteers play a key role in the life of such institutions. These people give their time and energy to make the patients' stay more comfortable and enjoyable. They provide a variety of recreational and educational activities, help celebrate holidays, and provide support to both the patients and their families. Thanks to volunteers, a hospice provides not only medical care, but also mental support and a place where patients can safely voice their concerns. However, because many of us are intimidated by words such as hospice and cancer, it is not always clear how best to support and communicate with people facing such difficult situations. The importance of good practice at a time when people are afraid and in need of attention spurred the organization of ‘Training in Hospice and Hospital Care.’ To date, four streams of volunteers who participated in the course have either stayed with the hospice or are offering their help to cancer hospitals and societies for people with disabilities. The course covers important topics including skills in communicating with patients, the organization of workshops and how volunteers can take care of themselves to avoid ‘burning out.’ "The Power of Good" came about by chance, out of a desire to help improve our country’s treatment of those less fortunate than ourselves. All volunteers engaged in this initiative have completed a training course and are ready to offer their support in a way that will harm neither themselves nor others. TCA: What areas or issues in the community have you chosen to volunteer in, and why are they important to you? Our first task was offering help to medical facilities, but over time, we realized that we have the resources to help in other areas as well. We hold various educational workshops at the Millennium Society for people with disabilities. Many of the adult members are unfortunately, unable to secure official employment and earn a decent living. All the Millennium children are very talented and hardworking, and our task is to channel their abilities in the right direction. The girls knit toys, make jewelry and handmade soap, which we sell at Teplomarket fairs. Volunteers have now developed a course especially for them, aimed...

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Another Uzbek Citizen Convicted of Insulting Mirziyoyev

A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced a 28-year-old Almalyk resident to correctional labor for insulting the country's president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The man said he wrote insulting comments on the internet during a fit of anger because he had received several fines from the tax office. According to the case, the married father of two, an owner of a pharmacy, left insulting comments under four videos and photographs of Mirziyoyev between May 2 and August 31 last year, The defendant pleaded guilty and expressed regret for his actions. He said that while running his pharmacy, in the Tashkent region, tax inspection officers had fined him several times, and when he saw the photos and videos on Instagram he left derogatory comments in a fit of anger. Local media has reported that "The court took into account the man's admission of guilt and sentenced him to correctional work for two years and six months with the recovery of 20% of his salary to be given to the state. Also, the court imposed on the Ministry of Digital Technologies to restrict access to the account of the man on Instagram, and also decided to recover the phone Samsung Galaxy A53 in favor of the state". In March 2021 an article was added to Uzbekistan's Criminal Code establishing liability for public insult or slander against Mirziyoyev using telecommunications networks or the internet. This crime is punishable by corrective labor of up to three years, restriction of freedom from two to five years, or imprisonment of up to five years. In October 2023 a court sentenced a 19-year-old resident of Kattakurgan district (Samarkand region) to two years and six months in prison for insulting comments about Mirziyoyev on Instagram. In March this year a court sentenced a 27-year-old resident of Namangan, who had recently returned from Iran, to five years in prison for insulting and defamatory comments about Mirziyoyev on Facebook.

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Higher Education in Central Asia: Leaders and Outsiders

In June, it will be three years since the signing of a declaration at a forum held in the city of Turkestan between the heads of the Ministries of Education of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. According to the document, the Central Asian states agreed to expand cooperation and unite the scientific, intellectual, and creative potential of higher education institutions throughout the region. However, only Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have made progress in terms of synergy during this time. The reason for this is the serious gaps between the Central Asian states in the level of provision of higher education for their citizens. The pace of reform In the 1990s, the reform of education in Central Asia occurred at different rates. Although the Central Asian republics had similar problems at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, they began to address them depending on the degree of influence of global trends. For example, Kazakhstan signed the Bologna Declaration and joined the European Higher Education Area in 2010, while Turkmenistan switched to two-stage higher education under the "Bachelor's - Master's" system only in 2013. Some started organizing English-language curricula at their universities as soon as the early 1990s, such as Kazakhstan's KIMEP University or the University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan, on the other hand, only came around to the idea of the need for English-language education in the noughties. In the 2000s, universities established jointly with foreign partners, such as the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University and the Kazakh-British Technical University, began to open in the region. Uzbekistan was again somewhat late to the trend, first opening the International Westminster University (a branch of the University of London) and a branch of Turin Polytechnic University. In 2014, the first university established jointly with foreign partners from South Korea - Inha University, specializing in the training of IT specialists - appeared. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are currently implementing reforms in the recognition of diplomas and attracting foreign employees and students, while Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are experiencing problems of a different nature related to low levels of enrollment in higher education. Kazakhstan Kazakhstan has been the most successful nation in reforming higher education. Degrees have been reduced to four years, and the Unified National Testing (UNT) and credit system of education appeared, creating favorable conditions for accession to the Bologna Process in 2010. By 2016, almost every second Kazakhstani was studying at a higher education institution. Now, Kazakhstan has more than 120 universities. There are more than 600,000 students, and about 40% of Kazakhstanis are certified specialists. Kazakhstan's supremacy in this arena is confirmed by international rankings. For example, the international organization, Times Higher Education included four Kazakhstani universities in its rating for 2024: the Eurasian National University named after L.N. Gumilev; Satpayev University; the Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi; Nazarbayev University (NU). Participating in these rankings for the first time, the latter was recognized as the best in Central Asia. NU is the first university of its...

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Uzbekistan to Build Central Asia’s First Solar Plant with Battery Energy Storage System

On 21 May, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) signed off a $46.5 million loan for the construction of greenfield solar power plant and battery energy storage system (BESS) in Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region. The Nur Bukhara plant will be Central Asia's first renewable power facility with utility-scale battery storage. ADB reported that a further $26.5 million has been secured from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Loans for the realization of the project have also been agreed by the International Finance Corporation, the Canada–IFC Blended Climate Finance Program and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank. The new facility, with a capacity to generate 250 megawatts and store 126 megawatt-hours of energy, will include the construction of a 20-kilovolt substation and a 3.1-kilometer transmission line to connect to the grid. Set to deliver 555 gigawatt-hours of clean energy per annum, the plant will provide power for some 55,000 households. By enabling electricity to be stored and delivered on demand, BESS will reduce grid instability, and provide the flexibility to integrate intermittent solar resources. Generated power will be sold exclusively to the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan. Commending the project, Masdar Director of Corporate Finance and Treasury Bruce Johnson commented: "Masdar is proud to be a key partner in Uzbekistan's clean energy journey. We are strong supporters of the country’s ambitious renewable energy targets, alongside key partners including ADB. Projects like Nur Bukhara will enhance the affordability and accessibility of reliable, clean energy for all Uzbek citizens and drive private sector growth." To meet the increasing demand for energy from Uzbekistan’s economy and growing population, the government aims to increase renewable energy generation by up to 25 GW, equivalent to 40 percent of the country’s overall electricity consumption, by 2030.