UNDP Uzbekistan CO Case Study Sub-regional UNDP workshop June 22, 2016 ALMATY, Kazakhstan PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMMING IN CENTRAL ASIA:

Uzbekistan: Some Country Facts Population: 31,2 million Youth (0-14) – 29%, Working Age (15-64) – 67%, Elderly (65+) – 4% Pension age: 60 for men, 55 for women Per capita GNI (Current US$, Atlas method, 2014) - $2090 (PPP - $5830) National Poverty Rate (Kcal 2100/day, 2014) – 14 per cent (2001 – 28 per cent) Gini (2013) – 0.29 (2003 – 0.39)

Uzbekistan: Social Protection Spending (% of GDP) Unemployment and Poor relief schemes (0.11%) Child benefits and Family allowances (1.55%) Disability payments (2.15%) Survivors payments (0.73%) Old age pension payments (6.75%)

THE BENEFITS OF THE CURRENT SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEM IN UZBEKISTAN Other likely positive impacts: Improved school attendance and performance Improved health and nutrition Economic stimulus through consumption Dignity of the elderly and people with disabilities Social cohesion

Social Protection: Issues and Challenges Decreasing coverage by child and family allowances Move towards targeting and stricter/formal means testing => Growing exclusion errors and vulnerabilities (UNICEF) Decreasing coverage by disability payments III Category PWDs excluded from disability allowances schemes Too few people with disabilities engage in labour market Sustainability of the State Pension fund under question Emerging gap in coverage by old age pension due to sizeable informal employment Delivery mechanisms are in need of modernization Overburdened Mahallas (local community committees) serving as a front-office for service delivery Need for professional services and introduction of IT-based services

Frequent Arguments (by National Partners) in Support of the Current Policies NP: Because the economy is growing and poverty rates are falling, there is less need for social protection spending UN(DP): The experience of both developed and developing countries suggests otherwise NP: Traditional social allowances are resulting in dependency and fraud (inclusion errors) UN(DP): The dependency argument cannot be tested in the conditions where there are few employment opportunities, while fraud can be minimized through other means, rather than formalizing the means testing. Besides, growing exclusion errors may pose much higher human development risks than perceived fraud. NP: Child benefits encourage higher birth rates UN(DP): empirical evidence from other countries suggests that other factors play much greater role in determining fertility rates and family planning decisions, while generous child/maternity benefits have generally failed to result in significant increase in birth rates in countries where ageing is a problem (eg, Russia, Japan etc.)

UNDP Support Comprehensive assessment of the national SP system under Uzbekistan Vision 2030 process (with recommendations and goals) A series of studies of the sustainability of the State Pension Fund Dedicated projects with the Ministry of Labour (and Social Protection) in support of disability policies - Extended food package support to lonely elderly people - Targeted case management and standards for social care and social services for lonely elderly and PWDs Support to Disabled People Organizations on promotion of UNCRPD ratification Active role in UNICEF-led Social Protection Interagency Group (until 2014) and recently under the UNDAF thematic group on Social Protection Support to SDG nationalization/localization under the corresponding thematic group involving national partners Advocacy on introduction of International Classification on Functioning to the social protection system Business process re-engineering of public services on assistive devices to PWDs

UNDP support: Impact on lives of people New Government resolution, drafted with support of UNDP, has allowed 17,000 lonely elderly people to apply for 7-days home care services, which will avoid unnecessary placement in residential care homes. 20,000 elderly and persons with disabilities living alone will receive an individual plan of intervention in five spheres: health, home care, living conditions, social and legal protection, and social contacts, communication and leisure. Domestic manufacturers have started producing new types of assistive devices. The Ministry of Labour procured user-friendly 3,000 wheelchairs, allocating more funds from the State budget. 7,000 (previously it covered 4,500 people) elderly people and persons with disabilities living alone will enjoy a monthly basket of food and hygiene products, which has increased from 9 to 15 items.

UNDAF Biennial ( ) Joint Work Plan on Social Protection (UNICEF-LED GROUP) Total Budget - USD 2,123,000; UNDP contribution - USD460,000 Major activities/results: Dedicated studies and advocacy for and with national partners on SP for select vulnerable groups (female-headed households, children, PWDs) Support in improving modelling at the State Pension Fund in forecasting expenditures and revenues of the Fund Introducing standards (accompanied by necessary training) in SP service delivery (ie, case management) and social model of rehabilitation programmes for PWDs Capacity development of national partners on ratification and implementation of UN CRPD Joint UN Programme on Disability: One UN approach

Lessons Learned Maintain trusted relationship with the national partners by supporting them in areas where there is mutual understanding and government needs are clear (eg, sustainability of the pension system, improving the service delivery for PWDs and elderly, introduction of IT-based MIS, international standards) Continue and strengthen advocacy in areas where there are conceptual differences in approaches (ie, targeting mechanisms for certain types of allowances which prioritize minimization or inclusion errors, rather than exclusion errors) Joint pilot initiatives with impact on concrete categories of socially vulnerable groups (social services procedures, inter-agency data exchanges, awareness raising events)

Support Needed (from IRH) Exchange of country experiences and lessons learned from the region (success stories and failures) Advisory/consultancy support both at policy level and service delivery level Support in resource mobilization and donor coordination at the regional level Joint knowledge products on social protection and social inclusion