On May 31 at the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, First Deputy Minister Ilkhom Norkulov met with representatives of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The main topic of the meeting was a discussion of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the well-being of families and children in Uzbekistan, where experts from UNICEF presented their primary research on this topic.

The discussion was also attended by the Director of the Institute of Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research Umid Abidkhodjaev, and from UNICEF - the head of the social policy department of the Fund's representative office in Uzbekistan Tinatin Baum, adviser to the representative office Umid Aliyev and others.

A number of effective steps were noted in the field of social security of the country's population in the context of a pandemic. In particular, the coverage of benefits has been expanded by revising the criteria for their appointment, since September 2020, the basic amount of social benefits for old age and disability has increased, a one-time financial aid was paid to families receiving benefits for the poor, for disability, for the loss of a breadwinner or pension

UNICEF representatives noted that there has been a decline in average incomes since the start of the pandemic and that social protection measures taken by the government have helped to mitigate some of the impact on the beneficiary population.

At the end of the meeting, the sides noted satisfaction with the results of the negotiations. An agreement was reached to continue joint work on the following studies together with representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction and the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan