Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

and Sanitation Services (Decree of Cabinet of Ministers 306, 30 October 2015).
tashkent.
86 
adB. 2014. 
GAP Progress Report: Uzbekistan Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Loans 3275, 3064, and 3457). 
tashkent; 
adB. 2015. 
GAP Progress Report: Uzbekistan Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Loans 3275, 3064, and 3457). 
tashkent; 
adB. 2016. 
GAP Progress Report: Uzbekistan Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Loans 3275, 3064, and 3457). 
tashkent; 
and adB. 2017. 
GAP Progress Report: Uzbekistan Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Loans 3275, 3064, and 3457). 
tashkent.”

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28
Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
Uzkommunhizmat staff were female (footnote 88).
data from the State Committee of 
Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan differ slightly from adB data, but they still reflect 
significant gender disparity in both general staff and sector management. table 5 shows the sex-
disaggregated dynamics of WSS staff in 2014–2016.
Table 5: Sex-Disaggregation of Water Supply Sector Staff, 2014–2016
(%)
year
Total
Management
Technical 
Maintenance
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
2014
16.3
83.7
19.1
80.9
26.9
73.1
15.1
84.9
2015
15.4
84.6
18.1
81.9
23
77
14.4
85.6
2016
15.2
84.8
18.4
81.6
17.6
82.4
14.3
85.7
Source: Cabinet of Ministers. 2015. 
On Measures to Implement the Main Directions of Development of Water Supply 
Organizations and Sanitation Services (Decree of Cabinet of Ministers 306, 30 October 2015).
tashkent. 
However, field data from Fergana Valley, where heads of departments, laboratories, and human 
resources, and the chief accountant are female, present a more positive picture of gender 
balance in local branches of Suvokava.
87 
the local Suvokava corporation supports female staff 
in their reproductive rights.
88
Women who study at institutions of higher education have the 
possibility of working a half-day schedule. the corporation pays bonuses in the form of catering 
and food products.
4. ADB Interventions
adB remains the country’s largest international development partner for WSS. the sector now 
accounts for 14% of an active portfolio totaling $570.9 million. adB projects are focused on 
improving access to safe water and sanitation, and relate directly to poverty reduction, better 
health, decreased burden of unpaid work, and reduction in unproductive labor costs.
WSS projects include the completed Urban Water Supply project, the Western Uzbekistan 
Rural Water Supply project, the Kashkadarya and Navoi Rural Water Supply and Sanitation 
Sector project, the Surkhandarya Water Supply and Sanitation project, and the ongoing four-
tranche, multi financed, $300 million facility for the Water Supply and Sanitation Services 
Investment program and the djizzakh Sanitation System development project. the sector 
portfolio also includes a $69 million Solid Waste Management Improvement project, which was 
approved in 2013. Of 11 projects, four have been closed, two were completed by 31 december 
2016, and five are ongoing.
89
87 
adB field survey in 2017 for this CGa update.
88 
See footnote 89. prenatal leave has been prolonged from the 7th month to the 5th month of pregnancy with paid 
maternity leave (two minimal state-established salaries) up to 2 years.
89 
adB. 2017. 
Uzbekistan: Country Portfolio Review Mission
. Uzbekistan.

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Mainstreaming Gender in ADB Operations, by Sector
29
the updated Country Operations Business plan for 2017–2019 includes two loans related to 
WSS: the Western Uzbekistan Water Supply System development project and the tashkent 
Region Sanitation System development project on the adB site.
90
Currently, there are five 
ongoing WSS projects, all categorized under as effective gender mainstreaming (eGM).
5. Achievements and Lessons Learned
the design phase for WSS projects includes a social and gender analysis to ensure women’s 
access to project-related services, participation in capacity building, hygiene promotion 
activities, safe water consumption strategies, and collection of sex-disaggregated data. 
the economic effect of rehabilitated and new infrastructure is measured by savings (e.g., about 
30% savings on water for basic needs in the Surkhandarya region). For a woman, this means at 
least 3 working days less per month.
91
Safe water consumption and observance of the rules of sanitation and hygiene depend on basic 
knowledge of sanitation and hygiene. therefore, water supply projects have significant sanitary 
and hygiene components.
adB’s WSS and water resource management (WRM) projects in Uzbekistan present positive 
examples of Gap implementation. Box 4 outlines some of the key achievements.
Box 5 presents some examples of WSS project impact, based on field observations and 
discussions with project beneficiaries, as well as on Gap reports.
92
6. Water resource Management Project
the Water Resource Management project relates to irrigated agriculture, a key economic area 
in Uzbekistan that accounts for 90% of agricultural production and employs about 27% of the 
country’s total labor force.
93
In 2017, almost half (49.3%) of the country’s population resided in 
the rural areas.
94
Irrigated agriculture is the main source of livelihood in rural communities, with 
livestock and farming as major sources of income.
95
Water is an essential asset, and access to irrigation is as significant as access to land. When 
households have a garden plot and market their own agricultural products, sustainable irrigation 
is crucial.
Most rural women participate in several activities apart from housekeeping. In WRM project 
regions, women’s income accounts for about 15% of households’ total. Over 10% of household 
heads are women. Major sources of income include farm crops and livestock on home plots 
(10–50 hectares) and employment in nonagricultural sectors (18%). almost 15% of women 
engage in farming as part-time seasonal workers; of these, 49% are employed by private farms 
90 
adB. 2016.