Protecting vulnerable families in Central Asia: Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of the economic crisis
Franziska Gassmann
#2011-042
Since the end of 2007, countries in Central Asia have been struck by two
major consecutive shocks: the food and fuel price increase in 2007-08,
and the global economic and financial crisis that began at the end of
2008. Households, both poor and not poor, are directly and adversely
affected by the crisis. The multi-dimensionality of the crises and the
volatile economic environment challenge the ability of vulnerable
households to cope and to maintain their living standards. Social
protection programmes play an important role in the response to a
crisis. This paper provides an overview of the social and economic
vulnerabilities of households with children in the five Central Asian
countries, and assesses the ability of national social protection
systems to address these, with the main focus on the role of
non-contributory cash transfers financed from general government
revenues. The paper concludes that the existing social cash transfer
systems are not effective in addressing the needs of poor and vulnerable
children and families in Central Asia. Limited coverage together with
limited funding reduces the potential poverty reduction impact of the
programmes. The paper discusses potential strategies for improving
existing systems by consolidating and protecting government spending,
streamlining existing benefits and transfers, improving the
identification of beneficiaries and strengthening administration,
monitoring and evaluation systems.
Keywords: social protection, social assistance, economic crisis, poverty
reduction, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.