UNICEF Launches Situation Analysis on Uzbekistan Children and warns that COVID 19 pandemic can erode gains made on Children’s Rights

On World Children's Day, UNICEF has launched a new Situational Analysis of Children in Uzbekistan report and warned that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to unravel gains made and worsen outcomes for the most vulnerable children across the country.

Conducted with the engagement of key stakeholders, including representatives of line ministries, CSOs, academia, donors and the private sector, the analysis showed encouraging trends in the areas of child survival, eradication of child labour and improvements in early child education. However, the report also showed worrying trends in reaching the poorest children and children with disabilities with social protection measures, nutrition of pregnant women and mental health of teenagers.

“The launch of the report is timely. As the world at large and Uzbekistan grapples with a COVID-19 pandemic - with missed education, worsening malnutrition, limited water and sanitation facilities and rapidly rising child poverty, we need information, data and evidence to make sound decisions, interventions and arrest potentially catastrophic outcomes for children,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan.

The findings of the analysis have confirmed that structural barriers should be examined and removed. These are inefficiencies in budget allocation, hidden costs such as out-of-pocket expenditures in health care, unbalanced investments for different age groups in social protection and education and often insufficient budgets to meet standards.

These findings come against a backdrop of increased child poverty due to the economic impact by COVID-19. The report underlines the importance of covering youth, children living in poor families and institutions.  It also recommends for the establishment of a multidimensional measure of child poverty to assess the combination of various deprivations experienced by children in their daily lives – such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, disempowerment, the threat of violence, and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others. Hence, will help to develop better informed and target policies for poverty reduction.

Further, the report identifies critical priorities, as well as the new emerging issues to further advance children rights in Uzbekistan and will aid UNICEF, the Government of Uzbekistan and partners to ensure the progressive realization of the rights of children in Uzbekistan to survival, development, education, social security, child protection and participation.