Building a Strong Social State
How Uzbekistan created its social policy concept and social protection system — from independence in 1991 to today
Presented by Abdulloxonov Ismoilxon · MR-950
Five stops on our journey
Foundations
What social policy is, the 1990s and key milestones
The new concept
The 2023 Constitution, four pillars and the 2022–2026 Strategy
Building the system
One agency, Inson centres, digital registry, support for groups in need
Results
Poverty falls; help starts in the mahalla
Challenges and the road ahead
What still needs work — then a quick quiz
What is social policy?
Everything the state does to protect people’s well-being: income, work, health, education and help in hard times.
Social insurance
Pensions, sick-leave and maternity benefits, paid from contributions people make while working.
Social assistance
Allowances for low-income families, children and people with disabilities, paid from the state budget.
Social services
Care, rehabilitation, counselling and practical help for people who cannot manage alone.
Five principles of the “Uzbek model”
After independence in 1991, Uzbekistan chose gradual reform instead of “shock therapy”. A strong social policy was built into the foundation from day one.
Protecting people in the 1990s
The move from a planned to a market economy brought rising prices and job losses. The state stepped in to soften the shock.
Compensation payments
Extra payments helped families cope as prices were freed.
Pensions kept
Pensions for the elderly and disabled were preserved and indexed.
Family allowances
Benefits for families with children and for low-income households.
The mahalla’s role
Neighbourhood committees decided who needed help most.
Milestones, 1991–2024
Independence: social protection becomes a state priority
First Constitution (8 Dec) guarantees social security
Mahallas start targeting aid to low-income families
Action Strategy 2017–2021 opens a new reform era
Poverty officially recognised; a ministry for poverty reduction is created
Single Social Protection Registry; child benefits assigned automatically
New Constitution: a “social state”; National Agency for Social Protection
“From Poverty to Prosperity” programme (23 Sept decree)
Uzbekistan is a sovereign, democratic, legal, social and secular state…
— Article 1, Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2023)
National referendum adopts the renewed Constitution (≈90% voted “yes”)
more articles on the state’s social obligations: poverty, jobs, unemployment
articles in total; about 65% of the text was renewed
Four pillars of the new social policy
Targeted assistance
Help goes to families by verified need, identified through one digital registry.
Services, not only cash
Care, rehabilitation, legal and psychological support for people in hardship.
Work, not dependency
Jobs, skills, small business and land plots help families earn their own income.
Inclusion and dignity
Equal rights for persons with disabilities; the UN Convention (CRPD) ratified in 2021.
A plan with clear targets
Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan 2022–2026
7 priority areas and 100 goals. Social protection and poverty reduction are among its central aims.
priority areas and concrete goals, each with a deadline
“Uzbekistan–2030”
The 2023 strategy continues this course to the end of the decade
One agency instead of many
National Agency for Social Protection under the President
Before, social functions were spread across several ministries. Now one body shapes a single state policy on social protection and services.
The region’s only consolidated, ministerial-level social protection body.
- 15 June 2023
Rehabilitation centres, homes for the elderly and disabled, medical-social expertise join the Agency
- 1 January 2024
Baby homes, orphanages and family-support services are transferred
- 1 August 2024
Specialised schools and vocational institutions complete the merger
“Inson” centres: one window for help
centres in every district and city
types of assistance in a single window
types of social services (2023–24)
applications in one quarter (Q2 2025)
From paper lists to a digital registry
Paper and queues
- Lists of needy families compiled by hand (e.g. the “Iron notebook”)
- Many documents, applied for in person
- Errors: help missed some families
Single Social Protection Registry
- Real-time data from 50 ministries and agencies
- Child benefits assigned automatically since Sept 2021
- 1.6M+ families with children supported in 3 years
Support for persons with disabilities
In 2021 Uzbekistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Results in 2023 alone:
people received prosthetics and aids
prosthetic and orthopaedic devices
wheelchairs and other rehabilitation aids
hearing aids for children
Support for women and families
women studying for a master’s degree
had their tuition paid by the state: 85.1 billion soums, out of 200 billion set aside for women’s education.
Proactive maternity benefits
Women working in the private sector receive maternity benefits automatically, without collecting papers.
families receive social support
The scale of social assistance has grown about five times in recent years.
Poverty fell by two-thirds in four years
Share of population below the national poverty line · official figures
people still below the national poverty line in 2025
families lifted out of poverty during 2025 alone
Help starts in the mahalla
The “mahallabay” approach: every neighbourhood gets its own plan, and every family in need gets an individual one.
Identify
Local teams and the registry find families in need, house by house
Plan
Each family gets an individual plan for leaving poverty
Empower
Jobs, vocational training, subsidies, land plots, small loans
Exit poverty
Income grows; no more need for aid
What still needs work
A modest poverty line
669,000 soum (≈$51) a month in 2025, raised to 715,000 soum in 2026. Critics say real living costs are higher.
Regional and rural gaps
Poverty is still higher in rural areas (6.4%) than in cities (5.2%), and differs between regions.
Informal jobs and migration
Many people work without formal contracts or abroad, so pensions and insurance can miss them.
Quality of services
New centres need trained social workers, stable funding and honest monitoring of results.
The road ahead
Halve poverty by 2026
Goal of the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan 2022–2026: 17% → 5.8% by 2025.
No absolute poverty by 2030
Focus on permanent jobs, not temporary aid, under “From Poverty to Prosperity”.
Better services for everyone
More services in Inson centres and vouchers such as “Step into an active life” for older people and people with disabilities.
Were you listening?
In which year was Uzbekistan declared a “social state” in its Constitution?
What are the one-window social service centres called?
What share of people lived below the poverty line at the end of 2025?
A strong state is one that protects its people
How could your own mahalla help a family in need?
The pomegranate (anor): an Uzbek symbol of abundance — from poverty to prosperity
Thank you! Questions?