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USAID Information:
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Uzbekistan
EXAMPLES OF OUR IMPACT
- USAID laid the foundation for a credit union network that now provides financing for 100,000 small businesses and individuals.
- A USAID-supported “youth power center” network has taught 76,000 youth about the harmful effects of drug use and HIV/AIDS.
- USAID helped teach 400,000 women about better nutrition and health care for their children.
USAID/CENTRAL ASIA SITE
http://centralasia.usaid.gov
CONTACTS
Regional Mission Director
Andrew Sisson
USAID/Central Asia
41 Kazibek bi St,
Almaty, Kazakhstan 050010
Tel: 7-727-250-76-12
James Bonner
Country Program Officer
USAID
3 Moyorqorghon St, 5th Block
Yunusobod District
Tashkent, Uzbekistan 700093
Tel: 998-71-120-63-09
Bob Wallin
Central Asia Team Leader
Tel: 202-712-0141
Email: bowallin@usaid.gov
Today Gairatjon Otajonov, a former flour salesman in the Ferghana Valley, runs his own bakery, thanks to credit from the USAID-supported credit union “Mador.” USAID has helped establish and strengthen a large number of credit unions throughout Uzbekistan to provide affordable financial services and support small business development. (Photo: “Mador” Credit Union)
Overview
Uzbekistan’s large population, strategic location north of Afghanistan, and extensive natural resources (which include gold, uranium, natural gas, and agricultural land) make it a potential force for economic growth and stability in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is also the only Central Asian country that shares borders with all other Central Asian nations, as well as Afghanistan. Development of an independent, stable, prosperous, and democratic Central Asia is vital, and Uzbekistan, as the most populous country and the geographic and strategic center of Central Asia, plays a pivotal role in the region. The Government of Uzbekistan has moved warily toward a market system and has made progress controlling inflation and budget deficits, but economic reforms are still needed. The USAID program in Uzbekistan supports these economic reforms, as well as improvements in public health, agriculture, and civil society.
Programs
Economic Growth
Over the past 17 years, USAID has helped strengthen the country’s central bank, establish the legal environment for the private sector growth, and adopt international accounting standards for greater transparency of business transactions. USAID played a key role in establishing a network of credit unions in the country. Currently, the country has 81 credit unions with $80 million in assets that serve 100,000 small businesses and individuals. Advice that USAID provided to 300 small enterprises increased their productivity and sales by 60 percent on average.
Farmers throughout the country improved their irrigation networks and management of on-farm water in cooperation with USAID. In 2008, these farmers increased their net incomes by 23 percent per hectare on average. Currently, USAID assistance focuses on increasing incomes for farmers by helping agricultural products reach their markets and improving storage, transportation, and packaging of agricultural goods.
Investing In People: Improving Access To Health Care
To improve the quality of primary health care, USAID trains medical staff in evidence-based methods and helps the country adopt per-capita financing, whereby health facilities receive funding based on the number of patients they serve. The new approach rewards those facilities that attract the highest numbers of patients, thus encouraging quality care. The per-capita system now finances 93 percent of rural primary health care facilities and will be extended to the 220 remaining rural facilities by the end of 2009.
Programs train health providers in facility supervision, clinical protocols, antenatal care, management of labor and delivery, and integrated management of childhood illnesses. Eighteen hospitals (about 10 percent of all the country’s maternity hospitals and units) have been certified as “baby friendly.” Health promotion activities have taught 400,000 women to recognize when their child needs qualified medical care, as well as to use better nutrition and health care practices. USAID helps implement the World Health Organization’s “DOTS” strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control, including electronic surveillance and improvement of TB laboratory work. The current treatment success rate in the country is 73 percent, close to Eurasia’s regional average of 75 percent. USAID also supports the Government of Uzbekistan’s efforts to combat avian influenza.
Governing Justly And Democratically
USAID seeks to enhance political participation, the development of civil society, and the application of human rights legislation. USAID teaches political parties and citizen groups to improve communication with constituents. USAID’s efforts to stimulate political participation have increased competition between political parties – a development unheard of since the country’s independence. Activities also include training for public defenders, as well as support for pro bono legal centers, human rights activists, and housing associations. Over 200 judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and investigators were trained to apply the writ of habeas corpus and other protections enshrined in Uzbekistan’s Code of Criminal Procedure.
USAID works to strengthen civil society organizations advocating for disadvantaged or vulnerable groups, including organizations addressing women’s issues and the rights of the disabled. These efforts resulted in Uzbekistan’s signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2009. To reduce trafficking in persons, USAID supports hotlines, organizations working on these issues, shelters for victims, and public information campaigns. Since 2008, the number of calls to the trafficking-in-persons hotline has doubled to over 8,000 per quarter.
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