December 3, 2021, Karakalpakstan. Almost two years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still no sign of an end in sight and the threat to the economy and health is still growing. In this context, we need to adapt to new lifestyles and build more resilience.

Within its Joint Programme with UNFPA "Building the resilience of local communities against health, environmental and economic insecurities in the Aral Sea region", funded by the Government of Japan, UNDP attracted Mr. Hiroshi Kaneko, UN Volunteer - an International Specialist from Japan on Income Generation issues, to hold series of workshops on digitalization and a local revitalization project called One Village One Product (OVOP).

Over the last 9 months, five digitization workshops focusing on the use of e-commerce, FinTech and social media, attended by nearly 60 local entrepreneurs in the target districts including Boztau, Karauzyak and Chimbay were held. 58% of the participants were women who work as craftswomen, resellers, or others. The workshop received positive feedback from 97% of the participants and encouraged those enthusiastic businessmen and businesswomen, and indeed, some of them created a social media account and an e-commerce account to advertise and sell their products online. Now they know how to make an attractive advertisement and sell remotely on digital platforms. Furthermore, the 60 local participants received digitalization brochures that cover the entire workshop with the information of benefits of digital solutions, a success model and application manuals.

In addition to the digitalization workshop, local entrepreneurs learned the One Village One Product (OVOP) method, which is a local revitalization project originally developed in Japan. It aims at enhancement of quality of products and adding values to make local products more unique and competitive in international markets. 45 local entrepreneurs attended the training and most of them were in their 20s or 30s working as craftsmen or craftswomen. Today, the participants discussed potential local products and shared sample items such as melon jam, sesame biscuit, liquorice tea and others. In the Chimbay district, Gulnar Akilbekova who participated in both the digitalization workshop and the OVOP training decided to produce sesame cookies because they are healthier than chocolate or butter cookies and make them available to more people. The workshops provided practical solutions to the participants who want to expand their business and increase income.

- The digitalization workshop and the OVOP training allowed me to broaden my horizons abroad. I am constantly striving to improve the quality of my products and create new ideas so that I can sell sesame cookies in different countries, - says Gulnar hoping to enter the Japanese market with her products.

UNDP has been discussing with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) that provides an online market specializing in OVOP products. It includes future collaboration and is hoped that a wide variety of products from the Aral Sea region will enter the Japanese market.