Gender Assessment, USAID/Central Asian Republics

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Gender Assessment, USAID/Central Asian Republics GENDER ASSESSMENT USAID/Central Asian Republics Kazakhstan KyrgyzstanGENDER ASSESSMENT TajikistanUSAID/Central Asian Republics Turkmenistan GENDERUzbekistan ASSESSMENT USAID/Central Asian Republics GENDERMarch 2010 ASSESSMENT This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by DevTech Systems, Inc., for the Short-Term Technical Assistance & Training Task Order, under Contract No. GEW-I-01-02-00019. GENDER ASSESSMENT USAID/Central Asian Republics Authored by: Susan Somach of DevTech Systems, Inc. and Deborah Rubin of Cultural Practice, LLC DISCLAIMER: The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................................ i Acronyms and Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... ii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... iv A. Kazakhstan Recommendations ................................................................................................vii B. Kyrgyzstan Recommendations ................................................................................................viii C. Tajikistan Recommendations ..................................................................................................... x D. Turkmenistan Recommendations .............................................................................................xii E. Uzbekistan Recommendations .................................................................................................xiv I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 II. Background on the Central Asia Region .............................................................................................. 1 III. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................ 3 IV. Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................................................ 5 V. CAR Regional Overview ..................................................................................................................... 6 A. Gender Trends and Conditions ................................................................................................... 6 B. Regional Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 7 C. Conceptual Issues: USAID ........................................................................................................ 9 D. Operational Recommendations ................................................................................................ 10 VI. Kazakhstan Country Report ............................................................................................................... 13 A. Gender Trends and Conditions in Kazakhstan ......................................................................... 13 B. Conceptual Issues on Gender ................................................................................................... 17 C. Sectoral Findings, Risks, and Opportunities ............................................................................ 18 D. Sectoral Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 25 VII. Kyrgyzstan Gender Assessment ......................................................................................................... 26 A. Gender Trends and Conditions ................................................................................................. 26 B. Conceptual Issues about Gender .............................................................................................. 29 C. Sectoral Findings, Risks and Opportunities ............................................................................. 30 D. Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 35 VIII. Tajikistan Gender Assessment ........................................................................................................... 37 A. Gender Trends and Conditions ................................................................................................. 37 B. Conceptual Issues about Gender .............................................................................................. 40 C. Sectoral Findings, Risks and Opportunities ............................................................................. 41 D. Recommendations by Sector .................................................................................................... 46 E. Recommendations for the Tajikistan Country Office ............................................................... 48 IX. Turkmenistan Gender Assessment ..................................................................................................... 49 A. Gender Trends and Conditions ................................................................................................. 49 B. Conceptual Issues ..................................................................................................................... 51 C. Sectoral Findings, Risks and Opportunities ............................................................................. 51 D. Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 56 X. Uzbekistan Gender Assessment ......................................................................................................... 58 A. Gender Trends and Conditions ................................................................................................. 58 B. Conceptual Issues about Gender .............................................................................................. 59 C. Sectoral Findings, Risks and Opportunities ............................................................................. 60 D. Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 65 Annexes Annex A Scope of Work ........................................................................................................................ 68 Annex B: Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 73 Annex C: Kazakhstan & USAID/CAR (Regional) Contact List ............................................................. 81 Annex D: Kyrgyzstan Contact List .......................................................................................................... 83 Annex E: Tajikistan Contact List ............................................................................................................ 85 Annex F: Turkmenistan Contact List ...................................................................................................... 87 Annex G: Uzbekistan Contact List.......................................................................................................... 89 Annex H: Sample Assessment Questions ................................................................................................ 91 Annex I: Training Roster ....................................................................................................................... 93 Annex J: Training Materials ................................................................................................................... 95 Acknowledgements We are grateful to the many people who contributed to this five-country gender assessment. This assessment was initiated by the USAID Mission in the Central Asian Republics (USAID/CAR) and produced in collaboration with the Office of Women in Development, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/EGAT/WID). Many thanks to Kelley Strickland, who initiated the assessment, served as our primary contact with USAID/CAR and provided guidance for the workplan and country schedules. Thanks also to Edward Lijewski who shepherded the assessment through the USAID/EGAT/WID IQC process. Thanks also to DevTech Systems Inc. which manages the WID IQC and which commissioned the authors to undertake the assessment. In particular, our thanks to Nicholas Griffin and Leah M. Carey of DevTech Systems Inc. for their assistance with the complicated logistics required by this assignment. We would also like to acknowledge the many individuals from a wide range of organizations who generously gave their valuable time to be interviewed for this study, providing valuable insight based on their work. A full list of the individuals and respondents interviewed for the assessment appears in Annexes C through G (country-specific lists). We recognize that USAID staff work a busy schedule under difficult conditions and we appreciate that so many of them were willing to meet with us and share their views
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