Mainstreaming Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategies: Tajikistan: Country Gender Assessment

Abstract

Women in Tajikistan have borne the brunt of the impacts of the transition period. Women’s workload has intensified because of the increasing need to contribute to the cash income of the family, to supplement family food needs with produce from a garden plot, to care for children and the sick while health and other social services have deteriorated, and all this with an unequal division of labor for household tasks between men and women. Even as income poverty rates start to fall, social indicators for women continue to deteriorate: e.g., more girls are failing to complete 9 years of education and health risks from poor nutrition and stress place pressure on maternal health. This country gender assessment (CGA) provides an overview of the gender dimensions of poverty and the factors that are contributing to differences in benefits from poverty reduction efforts in Tajikistan. In addition to supporting government efforts to promote gender equality and mainstream gender into national poverty reduction strategies, the CGA aims to ensure that Asian Development Bank (ADB) interventions respond to the conditions and priorities of women as well as men. It is also hoped that the report will be useful to the government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and individuals working in the field of gender and development.