Gender and Development

Tajikistan

Social Sector Rehabilitation Project, 1999

Background:

Civil war and conflicts have disastrous economic and social costs. Slow economic growth and problems associated with economic transition only exacerbate such costs and make them more difficult to bear. The women and children of Tajikistan know this better than most; their lives have been adversely shaped by the effects of civil conflict and the continuing paralysis of slow economic growth.

After five years of civil conflict and nearly a decade of economic transition following Independence after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Tajikistan's social sector is limping badly. In rural areas it has utterly collapsed. Unfortunately, poverty and social displacement work against its quick recovery. With 80 percent of the population below the poverty line, Tajikistan is among the world's 20 poorest nations. The average monthly salary is around nine dollars, and households spend up to 86 percent of their income on food for subsistence. Tajikistan's five-year conflict (1992-1997) left a legacy of 50,000 deaths, 600,000 displaced persons, 60,000 refugees, 55,000 orphans and 20,000 widows in a population of 5.8 million. In addition, destruction of physical infrastructure created a critical loss of shelter, hospitals, schools, water and sanitation systems, and roads. Industry and agriculture suffered near total collapse. The postconflict period has not brough the expected prosperity. The country is increasingly suffering from shortages, and diseases such as typhoid and malaria are spreading. Paradoxically, life expectancy is decreasing after the war is finished.

Those most affected by this situation are women and children, and women and children from female-headed households are particularly vulnerable. To cover costs, the remaining schools, medical clinics, hospitals and child care centers charge for what were previously free or heavily subsidized services. In general, those in the community with the greatest need of health and medical services are women of childbearing age and children. The increasing costs of health care mean that more women and children are susceptible to sickness and death from easily preventable diseases. Add to this the increasing levels of malnutrition and anemia amongst women, and the result is higher maternal morbidity and mortality rates amongst women.

Schools and the education system have also been hard hit. A recent government resolution stipulated that the public budget could no longer be used for the free distribution of textbooks. The free meal at schools has also been canceled. In 1996, compulsory education was reduced from 11 years to 9 years. According to government data, 20 percent of boys and 25 percent of girls dropped out of school in 1996. Furthermore, sexual violence against women and girls during the conflict has left a lingering fear that women and girls should not wander from home. This, together with the cost of education and educational materials like textbooks, contributes to falling rates of female enrolment in school and higher education.

The growing problem of orphaned and abandoned children has severe socioeconomic consequences. Tragically, boarding institutions for orphans, handicapped people and the aged have been devastated by lack of funds, staff absenteeism and the collapse of infrastructure including heating, water and sanitation facilities. There is an urgent need to invest in community-based care to provide adequate protection.

Female-headed households - many the result of wartime conflict - are particularly vulnerable given the simultaneous economic decline. Despite being responsible for meeting their household's economic needs, such women are increasingly disadvantaged as the labor market tightens against women. This is the result of a number of factors, including the rapid decline of jobs in sectors of the economy dominated by women, such as education and health. In addition, many women face discrimination in the workplace due to the revival of traditional values that emphasize women's role as homemaker and mother.

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Project Design:

The ADB-funded Tajikistan Social Sector Rehabilitation Project aims to restore essential social services, while strengthening the capacity of local governments and community-based organizations to offer longer-term solutions to the provision of adequate social services.¹

The primary goal of this project is to promote social recovery after Tajikistan's civil conflict and slow, painful economic transition. In particular, the objective is to reactivate the delivery of essential social services, that is, education, health and social protection. The project focuses on the Leninabad and Khalton regions, providing rehabilitation of social facilities; training for health education and social protection workers; and small-scale grant funds for women and local government. The project will focus on rural districts in these regions where poverty and lack of social services are most pronounced. Additionally, the project will bring nation-wide benefits through the distribution of textbooks, medical equipment and supplies, and public information campaigns.

The project consists of two components:

1. the restoration of essential social services in the areas of health, education and social protection
2. strengthening local governments and community-based organizations

In terms of education, the project will physically rehabilitate 200 schools in the project areas and provide basic teaching material kits. Teacher training will also be provided in special education to reintegrate dropouts and street children. As for health, the project will physically rehabilitate 300 basic health posts and rural polyclinics in the project areas. In addition, 12,000 medical staff (one third being doctors and the rest nursing staff) will be trained in the concepts of preventive medicine and family health practice. The social protection aspect essentially involves training for 800 staff - including managers, social workers, etc. - in basic principles of welfare delivery and how to establish community self-help support networks.

The second component, the strengthening of local governments and community-based organizations, is directed at administrators and administrative staff in education, health and social protection. These administrator will receive training in new methodologies associated with integrated local development, decentralized financial management and community self-help approaches. Sustainable mechanisms, such as revolving funds for replenishing textbooks and medical supplies, as well as incentives for medical, education and social protection staff to supplement their incomes and avoid absenteeism will also considered. To support this component, two discretionary funds have been earmarked for small-scale grants. The Community Development Fund will assist local governments in the rehabilitation of social infrastructure, such as water supply, sanitation, roads, etc., and the Women's Development Fund is available for small community initiatives to improve women's livelihood.

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Gender Inclusive Design:

Particular project components have been designed to include women and girls as major project beneficiaries. Women's specific gender needs are also addressed in recognition of the acute vulnerabilities women and girls face as a result of the general deterioration of social and economic structures in Tajikistan.

Education

With respect to education, the special needs of girls will be addressed in a nationwide public campaign designed to show the benefits of education of girls.

Health

The project includes special measures to support maternal and child health:

• Primary health care facilities and maternity wards are to be rehabilitated in 20 central district hospitals
• Laboratories, x-rays, and operating theaters are to be upgraded in these hospitals in order to accommodate more difficult maternity cases
• Three public information campaigns will be run nationwide on
1. water, sanitation and hygiene
2. safe motherhood
3. preventive medicine and healthy lifestyles

Capacity Building

In terms of training and capacity building:

• Women will predominantly benefit as they form the majority of employees in the fields of health, education and social protection
• Women will predominate in training provided to local government and community-based administrators and administrative staff for the same reason

Small-Scale Grants

One of the two discretionary funds included in the project is exclusively reserved for women. The Women's Development Fund will be available to poor and socially disadvantage women at the grassroots level, such as female heads of households, for small community initiatives which aim to improve their livelihood. This fund will be developed in cooperation with the government's central WID Bureau.