Governance, human rights and service delivery
© SDC
Switzerland's engagement
Governance and human rights
The Government of Switzerland supports reform processes aimed at enhancing the resilience of the population and institutions, social cohesion and civic engagement. Switzerland will address reform-implementation gaps by continuing to work to improve access to basic public services and strengthen the transparency as well as the performance of state institutions. It will also strengthen checks and balances, and combat corruption. An active civil society, together with stronger, more responsive public institutions, will form the cornerstone of Switzerland's efforts to promote better governance.
Arts and culture
Switzerland considers arts and culture as an important component and tool of good governance. Supporting cultural activities is an integral and indispensable part of the Swiss engagement in Uzbekistan as "Culture is not one of life's luxuries – it is life itself". The Central Asia Arts and Culture Programme (CAACP), which covers both regional and national projects, is implemented together with our colleagues in Dushanbe and Bishkek. It aims to support and enlarge safe spaces where artists, as "actors of change", address societal issues through free expression and diverse creations. The programme also contributes to the development of a public debate and exposes people to a diversity of views and opinions.
Swiss achievements in governance, arts and culture
Switzerland supported local government institutions in participative planning and budgeting for a youth and child-friendly environment in local communities. In selected pilot cities, young people learned to advocate for their needs and raise their voices while the authorities learned to engage in meaningful participation and to listen to the youth. With the new legal provision criminalizing domestic violence as a landmark development for gender equality in Uzbekistan, Switzerland contributed to its implementation by supporting local civil society and authorities to provide specialized services for women victims of gender-based violence. With the Swiss support to OHCHR and UNESCO human rights, access to information and free media are strengthened.
Also, Switzerland has made significant contributions to the diversity of arts and culture, primarily through independent arts and culture organizations, in order to provide the societies with alternative views of and approaches to cultural expression. The support allowed greater freedom of expression and helped to enlarge open spaces for intercultural dialogue and regional exchanges.
