In the process of building the New Uzbekistan, ensuring citizens' freedom of conscience, strengthening religious tolerance and interfaith harmony, fostering a healthy spiritual environment in society, and preserving and widely promoting the rich scholarly and educational heritage of our great ancestors remain among the priority areas of the State policy.

Accordingly, within the framework of implementing Presidential Decree No. PF–21 of 16 February 2026, "On Additional Measures to Ensure the Consistent Continuation of Reforms and Their Advancement to a New Stage within the Priority Areas of the Country's Development until 2030," as well as Presidential Decree No. PF–22, "On the State Programme for the Implementation of the 'Uzbekistan–2030' Strategy and Reform Programmes in the Priority Areas during the Year of Mahalla Development and Community Well-being," the Committee on Religious Affairs carried out a broad range of activities during the first half of the current year.

During the reporting period, particular attention was paid to ensuring citizens' freedom of conscience, effectively implementing the State policy in the religious sphere, further strengthening the atmosphere of religious tolerance in society, enhancing the effectiveness of educational efforts aimed at countering the ideologies of extremism and terrorism, and expanding digitalization processes within the sector.

Systematic measures were undertaken to ensure the implementation of the documents of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers, and other official assignments.

In particular, the Committee's structural divisions and regional offices ensured the timely and high-quality execution of assignments received through the Ijro.gov.uz electronic execution monitoring system. Continuous monitoring was also carried out to strengthen executive discipline and further improve oversight mechanisms.

During the reporting period, the Committee ensured the timely, and in many cases early, fulfilment of all assignments for which it had been designated as the principal (co-equal) executor or co-executor under 2 Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 67 Presidential Decrees, 112 Presidential Resolutions, 6 Presidential Orders, and 115 Presidential protocol instructions.

To foster a healthy spiritual environment in society, protect young people from the influence of destructive ideologies, and widely promote religious tolerance and national values, large-scale educational and awareness-raising activities were organized throughout the country under the slogan "Enlightenment Against Ignorance."

During the reporting period, more than 223,000 educational and preventive activities were conducted within this framework.

These included 32,873 public awareness events under the theme "Enlightenment Against Ignorance," 35,072 meetings with socially vulnerable families, 22,571 open dialogue sessions with young people, 21,706 discussions with troubled families and families at risk of divorce, as well as 35,295 spiritual and educational events involving labour migrants and their family members.

Systematic measures were also undertaken to support the activities of religious organizations, improve the system of religious education, and train qualified personnel for the religious sector.

At present, the Republic has 2,160 mosques, 14 Islamic educational institutions (including 4 higher education institutions and 10 secondary specialized institutions), as well as 5 research centres.

During the first half of 2026, 12 new mosques were officially registered. In addition, reconstruction works were completed at 41 mosques, while 10 mosques underwent major renovation.

Special attention was also given to the continuous professional development of personnel working in the religious and educational sphere.

The Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining in the Religious and Educational Sphere under the Committee organized professional development courses based on modern training programmes for imams, deputy imams, otin-oyis (female religious instructors), as well as representatives of government agencies and law enforcement bodies.

From January through June of the current year, 3,575 participants successfully completed advanced training programmes.

Measures were also taken to effectively utilize digital technologies in order to enhance the religious, educational and legal awareness of the population and strengthen preventive efforts against the dissemination of destructive ideologies through the Internet.

In particular, in cooperation with the State Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the "Xavfsiz Bot" information platform was launched. The platform serves as a modern digital mechanism for promptly providing citizens with reliable information on religious matters and improving the effectiveness of preventive activities.

During the reporting period, systematic efforts were made to ensure the proper organization of citizens' pilgrimages to holy sites, promote pilgrimage tourism, and improve the quality of services provided in this area.

In cooperation with the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, relevant ministries and agencies, Hajj arrangements were successfully organized for 15,000 citizens, while Umrah pilgrimages were arranged for 10,650 citizens during the January–June period.

For the first time, 100 distinguished compatriots performed the Hajj pilgrimage as "Presidential Pilgrims."

As part of the promotion of pilgrimage tourism, nine promotional albums, booklets, brochures and leaflets were published and distributed to pilgrimage sites, ministries and government agencies.

Special attention was devoted to further strengthening international cooperation in the religious and educational sphere.

The Committee expanded cooperation with counterpart institutions of foreign countries, reputable international organizations, and academic institutions. In particular, 17 Memoranda of Understanding were signed.

To conduct religious and educational outreach among Uzbek citizens temporarily residing and working abroad, as well as students studying overseas, and to raise awareness aimed at preventing the influence of destructive ideologies and other harmful practices, official missions were organized for 35 qualified religious affairs specialists to the United States, Canada, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, and several European countries.

The participation of religious leaders, Islamic studies scholars, and researchers in 192 international religious and educational events, organized jointly with counterpart institutions of foreign countries, was also ensured.

At present, 199 non-Islamic religious organizations are operating in the Republic of Uzbekistan. During the reporting period, they were provided with the necessary organizational and legal assistance to ensure the free exercise of their activities in accordance with national legislation.

Five regional seminars were organized with the participation of leaders of non-Islamic religious organizations to explain the substance and practical application of legal and regulatory documents governing the religious and educational sphere.

During the reporting period, the orderly observance of seven religious holidays of non-Islamic religious organizations was ensured. These included Christmas, Passover, Easter, Buddha's Birthday, and other religious observances, all of which received appropriate media coverage.

In addition, representatives of various religious denominations participated in 13 international and national scientific, practical, and cultural events.

To ensure the timely and objective dissemination of information to the public regarding the activities carried out during the reporting period, effective cooperation was maintained with mass media outlets and social media platforms.

During the first half of the current year, representatives of the sector made 46,750 appearances in the mass media.

In addition, the Committee issued 5 briefings, 12 official statements, 15 official press releases, 14 public announcements, and 5 official responses.

Activities in the religious and educational sphere will continue to be implemented in a systematic manner during the second half of 2026 in accordance with the approved plans.

Thank you for your attention!