DM Monitoring
TASHKENT: A two-day National Workshop within the context of the “Skills development for employability in rural areas of Uzbekistan” project was launched with the participation of national experts from across the country, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan reported. The workshop is hosted by the European Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of Uzbekistan (MHSSE) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of Uzbekistan.
In July 2020, the European Union (EU) provided a 9.6 million EUR contribution to the “Skills development for employability in rural areas of Uzbekistan” project, which will be implemented by UNESCO within the period of 2020-2024. The project will contribute to improving the quality, relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the skills development system in the agriculture and irrigation sectors in four selected regions of Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan, Khorazm, Bukhara and Surkhondaryo). The project is aligned with the Uzbekistan Agriculture Modernization Project that was launched in December 2019 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Uzbekistan Agroindustry and Food Security Agency (UZAIFSA).
Through this project, UNESCO continues providing assistance in developing, testing and piloting new initiatives and approaches, including the training of teachers and trainers in the agriculture and irrigation sectors. The provided assistance is expected to contribute to scaling up transversal methods, high-technology agriculture and food processing, and innovative approaches throughout the country. The purpose of the workshop is to share and discuss the preliminary findings on needs assessment and analysis of the status of skills development in agriculture and irrigation in the four selected regions in Uzbekistan; the latest developments in agricultural education and training implied by Presidential decrees; and the draft structure of the Project Inception Report.
Due to the limitations and restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the workshop is being held through the use of an online platform and features representatives both from UNESCO Headquarters and the UNESCO Tashkent Office, the European Union, ministries concerned and other relevant stakeholders, embassies, international organizations and development partners, relevant universities, as well as representatives of the media.
Speaking at the beginning of the workshop, both the EU representative Mr François Begeot, Head of Cooperation Unit, and the UNESCO representative Mr Jan Hladík, Head of the UNESCO Tashkent Office and the UNESCO Representative to Uzbekistan, underscored the importance of the project for the well-being of the population of Uzbekistan and the modernization of agriculture.
