Poverty in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan mountains © Vyacheslav Oseledko

The standard baseline year of 1990 for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) becomes inappropriate in a country where GDP slumped 50% between 1990 and 1995 following the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Poverty reduction in Kyrgyzstan, one of the poorest former Soviet republics, is instead normally quoted from its level of 52% in 2000. By 2006 40% of the population lived below the poverty line, rising to 65% in rural areas. Large and continually growing inequality has been a worrying trend over this period, with rural-urban internal migration exacerbating the picture. Agriculture has undergone an upheaval since the Soviet communal model which was dominated by wool production. Now there is a pattern of small privately-owned subsistence livestock farms which struggle to make ends meet.

A Kyrgyz woman © Eurasianet (Open Society Institute)

The government is committed to pro-poor economic growth and has been known as the "darling" of Central Asia amongst donors. Significant success in macro-economic stability in recent years has been achieved by a reduction in state expenditures, including cuts in education, the public health sector and social services, which have been detrimental to the fight against poverty. School enrolment rates and literacy are believed to be falling from previously high levels. Gender inequality is entrenched in the country's culture. These two issues are viewed as the greatest problems in achieving the MDGs.

Health in Kyrgyzstan

Young boy, Kyrgyzstan © Angelina Karavaeva

Kyrgyzstan experienced a sharp decline in health status indicators in the early 1990s; since 1995 there has been slow but gradual improvement. In 1996, with the support of the aid community, the government has undertaken a major health reform program Manas aimed at re-orienting the health system towards primary family care and away from its previous specialised, hospital care basis. Despite some progress being made, child and maternal mortality rates relevant to the MDGs are not on target. Health workers and doctors are poorly paid, leading to a drain of human resources overseas and a culture of low-level bribery by those remaining.

Intravenous drug use is increasing and is the major form of HIV transmission in Kyrgyzstan. There are also concerns about risks associated with migrant workers whose movement is eased by the porous borders of this region. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic is given as 4,000, though unofficial estimates put the number many times higher. More than half of officially reported cases occur in southern Kyrgyzstan – Osh and Kara Suu – the region on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border which is on the route for drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Tuberculosis cases have also dramatically increased, with 40% of the overcrowded prison population believed to be infected, of which about a third have the multi-drug-resistant form of the disease.
The Economy in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has been at the forefront amongst the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in implementing macro-economic reforms, as advised by international financial institutions. Public investment has been cut continuously, leaving minimum safety nets for the population. However, this deference to the neoliberal economic model ground to a halt in February 2007 when the government surprisingly rejected the IMF's offer to join the HIPC debt initiative. An active campaign by civil society successfully argued that the loss of sovereignty inherent in the conditions for membership was too high a price for Kyrgyzstan to pay for the opportunity to cancel up to 70% of the $2 billion debt.

Aid accounts for nearly 17% of GDP and overseas remittances make a similar contribution. The country's small base for agricultural and industrial production, its dependency on gold production, unfavourable geographic location and neighbouring Uzbekistan's economic isolationism combine to make the Kyrgyzstan economy highly vulnerable to external shocks such as rising food and energy prices. Excessive government regulation of small and medium enterprises does not allow for sustainable private business development. Recent uncertainty over redistribution of assets together with murders of high-profile businessmen has worsened conditions for the country's business community. In addition, political instability and uncertainties have negatively affected the economy, adding to the sense of public disenchantment with the political classes.

Climate Change in Kyrgyzstan

© Vyacheslav Oseledko

The most acute environmental problem for Kyrgyzstan is the Soviet-era legacy of uranium exploration. As of 1999, there were 36 uranium tailings sites and 25 uranium mining dump sites in the country. Many of these are located in areas highly prone to earthquakes and landslides; some of them at close proximity to river basins which are the sources of potable and irrigation water both for Kyrgyzstan and the wider Central Asian region.

As these rivers in turn are fed by the thousands of glaciers in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the potential impact of climate change looms large. As the glaciers begin to disappear, implications for sharing the vital resource for agriculture, hydropower, and household consumption may raise tension within the region, with Kyrgyzstan at the epicentre of this potential geo-strategic minefield.



The OneWorld Kyrgyzstan Guide was first published in 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Angelina Karavaeva

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