Countries and Regions

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p. 4 of 20 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment A. Economic Performance Assessment B. Poverty Assessment C. Assessment of Socio-Environmental Performance D. Governance: Sound Development Management E. Implementation Assessment II. Country Operational Strategy III. Sector Strategies IV. Regional Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work Program IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Tajikistan : I. Country Performance Assessment

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C. Assessment of Socio-Environmental Performance

1. Human Development

13. The civil war was devastating. Among the country's 6 million, 60,000 lives were claimed, and 700,000 refugees and 55,000 orphans were created. Much of the country's infrastructure as well as private homes and other property were destroyed. With the high human cost of economic transition, which was exacerbated by the civil conflict and natural disasters, Tajikistan's human development index ⁵ (HDI), as estimated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), declined from 0.62 to 0.528 between 1992 and 1997⁶. With progress in the peace process and the return of positive economic growth, the HDI improved to 0.54 in 1998.

14. Tajikistan's education system was developed under the former Soviet Union when education services were provided virtually free to all citizens and financed by the Government. Prior to independence the system achieved a high adult literacy rate of 99 percent (1990) and an adult upper secondary education completion rate of 71 percent (1989). However, Tajikistan's educational indicators have deteriorated since independence with the severe budgetary constraints and the civil war. School enrollment declined and a large number of children quit school because of damaged buildings, lack of heating and transport facilities, and security problems. In addition, widespread poverty has begun to result in the exclusion from education of children from poor families. Although child labor (before age 15) was banned by the Labor Code in 1997 and currently there is no evidence of widespread abuses, concern is growing since children are being withdrawn from school to contribute to the household income.

15. Tajikistan's health care system was largely inherited from the Soviet era, when almost all health services were provided free. After independence, the Government was unable to mobilize adequate fiscal resources to maintain the same scope of health services, and the health status of the population worsened. Major factors contributing to the decline in health status include malnutrition, deteriorated living conditions, a reduction in Government expenditure on health, migration of health workers due to low wages and poor conditions, lower levels of immunization, destruction of hospitals during the civil war, and lack of safe drinking water. Incidence of infectious and poverty-related diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, and tuberculosis has increased.

2. Gender Issues

16. ADB's country briefing paper "Women in Tajikistan" (April 2000) provides basic information and analysis on gender issues in the country. Like the other Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, Tajikistan's legal and administrative systems do not discriminate against women. During the Soviet period, women's participation in the labor market was high, and their political participation was higher than in most European countries. However, the transition has severely affected industries that employed a high proportion of women (e.g., textiles, manufacturing, and agriculture), causing them to disproportionately lose their jobs. Other sectors in which women predominate, such as education and health care, have experienced high wage arrears. Women have also almost disappeared from the political scene--they represent just 3 percent of parliamentary deputies and 7 percent of senior posts within government ministries.

17. Social services, including education, health care, and social protection, have been severely strained since independence, and women have suffered most from the decline. The discontinuation of many of the state benefits that supported women, such as child allowances and child care, have made it more difficult for women to balance their roles in public and private spheres. There is also evidence that women's health status has declined resulting from their reduced access to medical assistance during pregnancy and childbirth. Furthermore, the five-year civil war took a great toll on Tajik society. While the vast majority of deaths resulting from the war were men, women were also subjected to violence. Twenty six thousand widows were created by the war, resulting in a significant increase in female-headed households.

18. There is a small gap in enrollment rates in compulsory education between boys (90 percent) and girls (78 percent), but this gap increases dramatically for postcompulsory education. There are only 63 girls for every 100 boys in secondary schools, compared to 104 girls per 100 boys in 1990. This gap increases further to 34 girls for every 100 boys in higher education, compared to 58 girls per 100 boys in 1990. The May 1999 Tajikistan Living Standards Survey did not find any significant difference in poverty rates for men and women in Tajikistan, but this survey cannot capture the long-term effects of the disproportionately lower school enrollment and health status of women.

3. Environment

19. There is a variety of serious environmental problems in Tajikistan, including natural resource degradation and ecological disturbance (particularly increasing levels of soil salinity and soil erosion), water-related calamities (e.g., mud flows and floods), and deforestation and desertification. These problems are closely related to inappropriate agricultural activities. While industrial and urban pollution problems are less pressing due to the relatively slow process of urbanization and declining industrial production, inappropriate disposal of industrial and urban solid and hazardous wastes has generated notable adverse impacts on land use and human health. In addition, a considerable amount of untreated industrial and urban wastewater as well as agricultural wastewater has discharged into rivers and reservoirs. As a result, the quality of a major part of water sources does not meet sanitary and ambient water quality standards, causing outbreaks of infectious illnesses in rural areas with no access to safe drinking water.

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