Tashkent, Nov. 12 -- Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov and UN Permanent Representative in Uzbekistan Helena Fraser signed an agreement on the implementation of a joint program on social protection. This document defines priority areas for the protection of the most vulnerable groups of the population.

"In recent years, Uzbekistan has annually invested from 6% to 9% of its GDP in the sphere of social protection. Despite this, there are some critical barriers in the system that affect its effectiveness. For example, the functions of social protection are now divided between different ministries and departments. This leads to a lack of common vision and integrated approaches needed to get people and families out of diffi...