Delivery Unit was set up at the Agency for Strategic Reforms under the President of Uzbekistan in May 2023.
The Delivery Unit model emerged first back in 2001 in the United Kingdom. The scheme has proved highly effective in delivering results because it is based on a small number of priorities, data collection, and analysis, and it helps to eliminate the usual bureaucratic forms, ensuring swift problemsolving and accountability in the interaction among government agencies. Many countries followed suit, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Chile, Tanzania, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Costa Rica, Australia, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, and Uganda.
The delivery unit model emerged first back in 2001 in the United Kingdom. the scheme has proved highly effective in delivering results. Our office is an experimental ground where we refine approaches to public service provision, introduce social innovations, and develop new effective mechanisms.
The Delivery Unit focuses on three key areas in Uzbekistan: public education infrastructure, public health, and water supply. The Presidential Administration has approved 12 social indicators of grave significance for the wellbeing of citizens. For example, in the field of social healthcare, the objective is the provision of 8 million youths between the ages of 3 and 15 with iodine medicines. Or reduction of premature deaths from breast and cervical cancer among women. Or the centralized drinking water supply to 5.2 million people in remote areas. They are monitoring industrial wastewater in 10 major industrial cities or ensuring growth in the percentage of the urban population covered by centralized sewage systems. In the field of education, the main focus is on infrastructure. The number of new schools across the nation accessible for the disabled, furnished with water, Internet, and other relevant equipment. In addition, energy efficiency of social facilities and access to water and sanitation. All indicators are important for our citizens.
What does the Delivery Unit give us? Historically, emphasis has been placed in Uzbekistan on developing regulatory and normative documents during the execution of state programs. Still, much less importance is attached to the implementation of the tasks set forth nor to the evaluation of effectiveness in the application of programs. As a Delivery Unit, we aim to correct these shortcomings by focusing on tangible results instead. We ask questions like: How exactly are state programs implemented? Are citizens a part of monitoring results? Is growth data collected for goal progress analysis? Do all state agencies work together to achieve the goals set by the government? Do we need to change any moral norms and customs in society?
IT IS VITAL TO DELIVER CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLE MESSAGES FOR THE TARGET AUDIENCE ON TV, RADIO, SOCIAL NETWORKS.
For example, if local water supply infrastructure projects are financed from the budget or loans from international financial institutions, it is possible to launch a feedback bot and place banners in settlements showing the amount of construction costs. The people need to know when exactly the water will reach their village via the pipe. They need to know the color and parameters of the tube, how far it will go, and whether it will reach their homes or the main street where water will have to be brought in buckets. I would like to note that the current portfolio of international financial institutions in the field of water supply includes 22 projects worth more than 2.2 billion US dollars. It is almost impossible to monitor the implementation of projects without engaging the public on the ground. Citizens must become active participants in infrastructure projects.
In short, we ought to look for effective solutions to problems; one should not be afraid to be nonstandard, and it is compulsory to evaluate the effectiveness and justify everything with statistics. However, in the meantime, you would wish to bring together all stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of any government program. And, of course, strategic communication should not be forgotten to ensure serious effectiveness.
Until the end of the year, citizens can monitor the progress in implementing the goal based on GIS. In addition, we post a quarterly online report and hold press conferences to communicate the outcomes secured.
Delivery Unit operates at the Strategic Reforms Agency under the President.
Here are 12 priority areas we help government agencies achieve. They can be accomplished exclusively through cooperation and communication. It implies immense data analytics, social innovation, and community-based work.
I would like to note that in all state bodies, we meet progressive leaders and enthusiastic professionals.
1. Improving children's physical and mental development in all regions of the country by providing them with micronutrients, iodine pills, and anthelmintic drugs.
2. Reducing the number of premature deaths from cardiovascular and diabetes diseases among the population aged 3069 owing to the early detection of the disease and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
3. Cutting early mortality among women by detecting breast and cervical cancer early and sending them for treatment.
4. Delivering a cancer registry information system (international standards) that will serve as a basis for planning and evaluating measures to study cancer, prevent it, and combat it.
5. Creating an additional 2.5 million student places in schools by 2026.
6. Ensuring improved toilets for every school that meets drinking water, handwashing water, and sanitation standards by 2026.
7. Providing one in three schools with solar energy (panels, household appliances) by 2026 to support the learning process in the event of power outages.
8. Supplying an additional 5.5 million people with a centralized water network by late 2026.
9. Reducing risk to public health by cutting industrial wastewater in 8 industrial cities.
10. Increasing the current period of drinking water supply by 50% (in hours) in 6 regions outside the capital city.
11. Ensuring the population’s access to information on drinking water quality.
12. Improving the provision of centralized sewerage
