Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan Strengthening Social Protection System in Uzbekistan SOCIAL ASSESSMENT AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN Tashkent, Uzbekistan April 2019 Contents Acronyms and abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 1 List of tables ........................................................................................................................................... 2 List of figures ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary................................................................................................................................ 3 I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Project description....................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Purpose of the Social Assessment ............................................................................................... 4 1.3. Rationale for the SA .................................................................................................................... 4 1.4. Approach and Methodology for Preparation of SA and SMP .................................................... 5 1.5. Scope and structure of the report ................................................................................................ 6 1.6. Consultations and Disclosure. ..................................................................................................... 6 II. BASELINE DATA ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Socio-Economic Background ..................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Economic Growth & Setting ....................................................................................................... 9 2.3. Employment and Labor market................................................................................................. 10 2.4. Poverty ...................................................................................................................................... 11 2.5. Uzbekistan’s HDI value and rank ............................................................................................. 13 2.6. Gender Inequality Index (GII) .................................................................................................. 13 2.7. Summary of baseline data ......................................................................................................... 14 III. ADMINISTRATIVE, POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ............................... 15 3.1. Legal, Regulatory and Policy Framework ................................................................................ 15 3.1.1. Relevant National Laws and Regulations ................................................................................. 15 3.1.1.1. The main legislations concerning employment support are: ................................................... 15 3.1.1.2. The main legislation concerning social protection .................................................................. 16 3.2. State Development Programs .................................................................................................... 18 3.3. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 19 IV. RELEVANT WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL STANDARDS (ESS) . 20 4.1. ESS 1 - Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts. ........ 20 4.2. ESS 2 – Labor and Working Conditions. .................................................................................. 20 4.3. ESS 10 – Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure .............................................. 20 V. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 21 5.1. Stakeholder Mapping ................................................................................................................ 21 5.2. Key Results – Employment, Labor Market, Employment Centres and Social Assistance ....... 25 5.2.1. Employment and Labor Market ................................................................................................ 25 5.3. Employment Centers ................................................................................................................. 28 5.4. Targeted Social Assistance- Social Registry............................................................................. 29 5.5. Labor Market Programs ............................................................................................................ 30 5.6. Issues and Challenges – Other Parties ...................................................................................... 31 5.7. ESC – Anecdotal Remarks. ....................................................................................................... 34 ii VI. POTENTIAL SOCIAL RISKS AND IMPACTS ..................................................................... 35 6.1. Positive and Negative Impacts .................................................................................................. 35 VII. SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ........................................................................................... 36 7.1. Major issues/ challenges: .......................................................................................................... 37 7.2. ESC and jobs ............................................................................................................................. 37 7.3. Targeted Social Assistance ....................................................................................................... 37 7.4. Mitigatory Measures- social management plan ........................................................................ 38 VIII. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ............................................................................. 40 8.1. Implementation Arrangements .................................................................................................. 40 8.2. Roles and Responsibilities ........................................................................................................ 41 8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods to be used .......................................................................... 41 8.4. Proposed strategy to incorporate the view of vulnerable groups .............................................. 43 8.5. Information disclosure .............................................................................................................. 43 8.6. Estimated Budget ...................................................................................................................... 43 IX. MONITORING AND EVALUATION .................................................................................... 45 9.1. Social Development Indicators are fully integrated into that of the PDO. ............................... 45 X. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM ................................................................................ 46 10.1. Grievance resolution process .................................................................................................... 46 10.2. Grievance processing ................................................................................................................ 48 10.3. Grievance Logs ......................................................................................................................... 50 10.4. Monitoring and reporting on grievances ................................................................................... 51 10.5. Central point of contact - PIU ................................................................................................... 51 10.6. World Bank Grievance Redress System ................................................................................... 51 ANNEXES ........................................................................................................................................... 52 iii Acronyms and abbreviations CLO - Community liaison officer ESC - Employment Support Center ESS - Environmental and Social Standards GII - Gender Inequality Index GOU - Government of Uzbekistan GRC - Grievance Resolution Committee GRM - Grievance Redress Mechanism HDI - Human Development Index KOICA - Korea International Cooperation Agency MELR - Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations MoF - Ministry of Finance OIPs - Other interested parties PAPs - Project-affected parties PDO - Project Development Objectives PIU - Project Implementation Unit RED - Regional Employment Department SA - Social Assessment SEP - Stakeholder Engagement Plan SMP - Social Management Plan UZS - Uzbek soum 1 List of tables Table title Pages Table 2.1. Administrative-territorial division of Uzbekistan, January 1, 2018 7 Table 2.2. Population of Uzbekistan 8 Table 2.3. Trend of aggregate income of population, wages and pensions, 2000-2016 12 Table 2.4. Uzbekistan HDI and its components 13 Table 2.5. Uzbekistan’s GII for 2017 relative to selected countries and groups 14 Table 5.1. Project affected parties 21 Table 5.2. Other key interested stakeholders in Social protection and employment support system 22 Table 5.3. Economic activity by age group and sex 25 Table 5.4. Job search services in Uzbekistan 28 Table 5.5. Main social protection programs in Uzbekistan 29 Table 5.6. Challenges – Other Parties 31 Table 6.1. Impact assessment and risk management 35 Table 7.1. The amount of unemployment benefits 38 Table 8.1. Responsibilities of key actors/stakeholders in SEP Implementation 41 Table 8.2. Stakeholder Engagement Plan – Estimated Budget (5 years) 43 List of figures Figure title Pages Figure 2.1. Distribution of Labor Force: January – December 2017 10 Figure 2.2. Population distribution by regions 11 Figure 2.3. Trends in Uzbekistan’s HDI component indices 2000-2017 13 Figure 5.1. Activity status among adults aged 25–34 by quintile (percentages) 26 Figure 5.2. Type of main job among adults aged 25–34 by quintile (percentages) 26 Figure 5.3. Issues to be tackled with immediate priority 27 Figure 7.1. Key Issues and Interventions 36 Figure 8.1. Employment Support Center structure 40 Figure 10.1. Feedback and GRM Process 46 Figure 10.2. Typical grievance resolution process. 49 2 Executive Summary 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Project description The World Bank is currently engaged in assisting Government of Uzbekistan for enhancing their capacity to strengthen and roll out a social safety net to protect the poor and vulnerable as well as those temporary affected by the economic reforms. The project has twofold goals of protecting the poor and vulnerable and preventing the near poor to fall into poverty. To achieve these objectives, the operation has been structured in three components to strengthen social protection systems, improve effectiveness of labor market programs and develop a monitoring system. The project recognizes the importance of environ- mental and social issues and the same is being addressed through the Bank’s new approach of Environ- mental and Social Safeguard Standards (ESS). Social Risk is perceived to be ‘substantial’, and towards managing the same, Social Assessment (SA) is to be conducted to inform project design and draw migra- tory measures to manage social risks (especially of exclusion), minimize adverse impacts and enhance positive benefits. Accordingly, Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) has conducted the SA and prepared a Social Management Plan (SMP). As a backdrop, the project’s development objective and the components are presented in the following sections. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve the social and labor market inclusion of the poor and vulnerable people, including those temporarily affected by the economic reforms in Uzbekistan. The Project would support the Government in enhancing capacity to strengthen and roll out a social safety net to protect the poor and vulnerable as well as those temporary affected by the economic reforms. Therefore, the project will have the twofold goal of protecting the poor and vulnerable and preventing the near poor to fall into poverty. To achieve these objectives, the operation would be structured in three components to strengthen social protection systems, improve effectiveness of labor market programs and develop a monitoring system: • Component 1. Modernizing the social safety net in Uzbekistan. The objective of this component is to improve the effectiveness of key social interventions by better identifying the poor and vul- nerable and providing a timely and predictable benefit to address their needs. The component will be implemented through two subcomponents: enhancing and rolling out the single registry and improving the effectiveness of social benefits. • Component 2. Strengthening the effectiveness of labor market programs. The objective of this component is to (i) enhance the capacity of the MELR to implement job intermediation services and to (ii) introduce a new integrated labor market information system, and (iii) Strengthen the effectiveness of selected labor market interventions. • Component 3. Project Monitoring and Management. The objective of this component is support- ing Government to monitor and track labor market interventions and manage the overall IDA project. This component will include, on the one hand, developing and implementing a set of activities and tools to enhance Government’s monitoring capacity of social protection interven- tions, and on the other, financing a fully staffed Project Implementation Unit (PIU). 1.2. Purpose of the Social Assessment Key objective of the Social assessment is to identify the different stakeholders relative to the project objectives and interventions and map out project affected people clearly and exhaustively. Distinguish those who are ‘included’ vis-à-vis ‘excluded’ or likely to be get excluded. Subsequenlty, identify difficulties/ deficiencies encountered by those ‘included’; and draw mitigatory measures to address the difficulties/ deficiencies as well as avoid ‘exclusion’. Broad elements of the SA included beneficiary assessment, stakeholder analysis, social impacts, institutional assessments and risks analysis. 1.3. Rationale for the SA 4 Uzbekistan is a socially diverse state with different social and livelihood conditions as well as employment oppurtunities of the population in rural and urban areas. This fact of diversity makes it challenging to develop a employment service and social protection system which shall respond flexibly to different needs.The beneficiary profile, thus, is not homogeneous, rather, quite diverse comprising a number of sub-groups identifiable on the basis of their differential endowment, gender, ethnicity, different economic groups and other regional features. The challenge therefore lies in addressing the requirements of all social groups, with special attention towards the poor and socially excluded groups. The project’s key element aims at supporting: (i) low income families through strengthening social assistance system; and (ii) unemployed individuals and those who might become unemployed due to the economic reforms by providing them with temporary employment opportunities and job training. The interventions will be in the form of: profiling and intermediation, wage subsidies, public works and skills development as well as the implementation of a one-off cash benefit for individuals who lost their job. A comprehensive knowledge/ data base about the potential beneficiaries are not known. In fact, this will be key objective of the project, profiling activities of beneficiaries. This will take place progressively during project preparation as well as implementation, it is expected that they are disadvantaged and vulnerable, they are currently unemployed (or expected to be unemployed) or inactive (some of them might be under social benefits), living in urban and rural areas, they may be unskilled or with some skills. This may include some vulnerable groups for whom finding a job may be difficult, including women and youth. While reaching out to such a clientele, it is likely that the likelihood of missing out on some deserving individuals viz., ‘risk of exclusion’, cannot be ruled out, at least in the initial stag es, till such time, efficacy of mitigation measures for managing risks, take roots. Exclusion may also happen because of systemic exclusion of some social groups due to their social standing, public perception, ethnicity, etc The exclusion risk is quite significant as denying access, specially, to the poor and vulnerable, will not only result in adverse impacts on inclusion and equity, but also may lead to social conflicts. Lastly, barring risk of exclusion, the project activities are expected to mitigate social risks caused by economic reforms. Also, there are other/ multiple stakeholders to the project, who would have varying degrees of influence and impact on project activities and outcomes. This made it necessary for the conducting social assess- ment and development of social management plan to ensure a framework for participation of all key stakeholder groups and solicit their contributions towards project design and delivery mechanisms for inclusion of all social groups of population including poor and vulnerable people in system of social and employment support. Thus, SA was designed such as to accomplish the following: 1. Mapping of project stakeholders and conducting detailed stakeholder analysis; 2. Assessing the social impacts of the proposed project interventions; 3. Review and suggest, as appropriate, the institutional aspects to enable accomplish the devilment of sustainable social protection system; and 4. Develop measures to enhance positive impacts and mitigate negative impacts, if any. 1.4. Approach and Methodology for Preparation of SA and SMP The SA has drawn information from both primary and secondary sources. The former essentially com- prised consultations with the relevant stakeholders, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. In particular, the following were the focus of attention: • Ministry of employment and labor relations and its departments; • Employment support centers; • Representatives of local authorities (Khokimiyats1) and Mahalla2 committees; and 1 Municipal Administration 2 Neighborhood Community 5 • Beneficiaries of social protection and employment support system. The assessment also draws extensively from the employment and labor studies conducted by the World Bank in the past two years in Uzbekistan. These studies, in turn, are premised upon: the quantitative survey, “Listening to the Citizens of Uzbekistan� (L2CU), which interviewed about 4,000 households across the country between May and August 2018, covering around 200 mahallas across the country in both urban and rural areas and across the 14 regions of Uzbekistan (12 provinces, Karakalpakstan, and Tashkent City). 1.5. Scope and structure of the report The project’s geographic coverage includes the entire country – 14 administrative provinces and 170 dis- tricts. However, the focus of attention will be on/ or around the Employment Centers. The assessments are made with regard to the project’s three major financing interventions: 1) Cash and in-kind assistance to the unemployed poor and near poor; 2) Development of a social registry for enabling targeted social assistance; and 3) Human and institutional development to address the above. This Report has -- chapters. The first chapter is Introduction presenting project background information and main purpose of the report. relevant WB ESS are also discussed in this chapter. The second chapter portrays the baseline data on socio-economic background of the population, labor market and current employment of the economically active population of Uzbekistan. Legal and administrative procedures are briefly described in chapter 3. World Bank ESSs and their relevance is presented in Chapter IV. Chap- ter V discusses in detail results of the stakeholders analysis. Challenges faced by the agencies involved in the social protection service delivery follows in Chapter VI. Potential social risks and risk management of the project implementation are given in chapters VII. Issues of significance and a plan to address the same- social management plan- are described in Chapter VIII. Implementation arrangements, monitoring and evaluation as well as GRM designed for the project are presented in Chapters IX, X and XI respec- tively. 1.6. Consultations and Disclosure. Social Assessment conduction was chiefly based on consultations with a variety of stakeholders. These engagements enabled gauging expectations and the related issues/ concerns emanating from a variety of stakeholders. These have been fed into preparing the draft SMP and thence towards designing of the project. The draft SA/SMP and its findings were consulted with key stakeholders at a workshop in Tashkent on April 19, 2019. For this purpose, the hard copy of the in Uzbek, Russian and English was disseminated among key stakeholders on April 15, 2019. The electronic copy of the document was published at the web-site of the MELR on April 18th, 2019. In the public consultation organized in Tashkent, major stake- holders including Government, civil society, private sector, international donor agencies, and representa- tives of nongovernment organizations participated. Major feedback received from the public consultation was incorporated into the final SMP. The final SA/SMP report is also posted at the websites of MELR and the World Bank. 6 II. BASELINE DATA 2.1. Socio-Economic Background Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country and its 31 million people, over one-third of whom are under the age of 14, comprise nearly half the region's total. With a land area of 447,000 km2, about the size of California or Spain, Uzbekistan is the only Central Asian country to border the other four Central Asian States and is one of only two double landlocked countries in the world. It also shares a short border with Afghanistan to the south and Turkmenistan to the south-west. It is 56th largest country in the world and 42nd by population. Uzbekistan consists of 14 provinces (regions), including one autonomous republic, Tashkent city and 170 districts. The capital of the republic is Tashkent city. Table 2.2. Administrative-territorial division of Uzbekistan, January 1, 2018 Indicator Details 2 Total area, thousand km 448.97 Number of districts, units 170 Number of urban settlements, units 1085 Number of rural settlements, units 11013 Number of rural citizens assembly ( RCA), units 1470 Number of cities, units 119 Number of population, thousand people, January 1, 2018 32 653.9 Rate of urbanization 50.6% (49.4% - rural) 2 Density of population, persons per 1 km , January 1, 2018 72.7 Average age of population, years 28.6 Source: State committee on statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan 7 The total population of Uzbekistan on January 1, 2018 is 32 653.9 thousand people. The share of male population amounts at 50.6% and female population, 49.4% of total. The population in Uzbekistan is mostly concentrated in urban area. The rate of urbanization is 50.6%. The share of rural population is 49.4%. The number of urban population is more than rural population by 413.9 thousand people. As of January 1, 2018, the largest population is in Samarkand region - 11.4% of total population of Uzbekistan, Fergana region – 11%, Kashkadarya region – 10%, Andijan region – 9% and Tashkent region – 9%. Number of people categorized as poor amount to about 12%. Table 2.2. Population of Uzbekistan Yearly Yearly Migrants Median Fertility Density Urban Urban Year Population % Change (net) Age Rate (P/Km²) Pop % Population Change 2019 32,807,368 1.37 % 442,372 -8,863 26.7 2.35 77 35.1 % 11,522,815 2018 32,364,996 1.42 % 454,355 -8,863 26.7 2.35 76 35.0 % 11,334,708 2017 31,910,641 1.48 % 463,846 -8,863 26.7 2.35 75 34.9 % 11,152,328 2016 31,446,795 1.52 % 470,774 -8,863 26.7 2.35 74 34.9 % 10,975,466 2015 30,976,021 1.60 % 473,945 -13,294 26.3 2.38 73 34.9 % 10,804,131 2010 28,606,294 1.53 % 418,822 -28,026 24.5 2.49 67 35.1 % 10,049,933 The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its people are younger than 14. According to offi- cial sources, Uzbeks comprise a majority (80%) of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Rus- sians 5.5%, Tajiks 5%, Kazakhs 3%, Karakalpaks 2.5%, and Tatars 1.5% (1996 estimates). Uzbekistan has an ethnic Korean population that was forcibly relocated to the region from the Soviet Far East in 1937-1938. There are also small groups of Armenians in Uzbekistan, mostly in Tashkent and Samarkand. The nation is 88% Muslim (mostly Sunni, with a 5% Shi'a minority), 9% Eastern Orthodox and 3% other faiths (which include small communities of Korean Christians, other Christian denominations, Buddhists, Baha'is, and more). 8 Uzbekistan is an agrarian nation with large oil, gas, gold and uranium reserves. The Uzbekistan economy is reliant on the production of cotton and raw materials. The largely Soviet-era infrastructure and industry of the country—roads, irrigation networks, chemical plants, machine factories—were all set up to support the cottons industry. Uzbekistan doesn’t produce so many finished goods that anybody wants. The Uzbek economy is in a gradual transition to the market economy, with foreign trade policy being based on import substitution. In September 2017, the country's currency became fully convertible in the market rates. Uz- bekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton. The country also operates the largest open-pit gold mine in the world. With the gigantic power-generation facilities of the Soviet era and an ample supply of natural gas, Uzbekistan has become the largest electricity producer in Central Asia. Renewable energy constitutes more than 23% of the country's energy sector, with hydroelectricity and solar energy having 21.4% and 2% respectively. Uzbekistan has the fourth-largest gold deposits in the world. The country mines 80 tons of gold annually, seventh in the world. Uzbekistan's copper deposits rank tenth in the world and its uranium deposits twelfth. The country's uranium production ranks seventh globally. The Uzbek national gas company, Uzbeknefte- gas, ranks 11th in the world in natural gas production with an annual output of 60 to 70 billion cubic meters (2.1–2.5 trillion cubic feet). The country has significant untapped reserves of oil and gas: there are 194 deposits of hydrocarbons in Uzbekistan, including 98 condensate and natural gas deposits and 96 gas condensate deposits. In 2011, Uzbekistan was the world's seventh-largest producer and fifth-largest ex- porter of cotton as well as the seventh-largest world producer of gold. It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal, copper, oil, silver and uranium. Total unemployment is about 7.5% and under employment 20%. Relativelyt higher unemployment and low wages have resulted in a mass labor migration to Russia and Kazakhstan, while remittances have accounted for about 10- 12 percent of the nation’s GDP between 2010 and 2013. Since 2013, remittances have continuously declined and their share in GDP has been halved. Facing a multitude of economic challenges upon acquiring independence, the government adopted an evolutionary reform strategy, with an emphasis on state control, reduction of imports and self-sufficiency in energy. Since 1994, the state-controlled media have repeatedly proclaimed the success of this "Uzbek- istan Economic Model" and suggested that it is a unique example of a smooth transition to the market economy while avoiding shock, pauperism and stagnation. 2.2. Economic Growth & Setting Over the last decade, Uzbekistan’s economy grew rapidly, was resilient to shocks, and lifted signif- icant parts of the population out of poverty. According to official statistics, Uzbekistan’s 8.2 percent GDP growth rate over the last decade was the highest in the Europe and Central Asia Region (ECA) and one of the eight highest in the world.1 Per capita GNI rose from US$2,020 in 2001 to US$5,840 in 2014.2 According to official statistics, poverty declined from 27 percent to 15 percent between 2003 and 2012, and about --% in 2017. According to statistical data, the GDP of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017 in current prices was 249 136.4 billion UZS and grew by +5.3% relative to the corresponding period of 2016. The average growth rate of gross regional product Uzbekistan makes up + 30 241.4 billion UZS per year. The GRP of the region for the last 5 years has increased by 2.6 times. 89.8% of GDP falls on value of economic sectors. 10.2% are net taxes on products. As a result of 2017, GDP per capita amounted to 7692.4 thousand UZS. The largest share of gross value falls on sector of servicing – 47.3%. The share of production of industrial production including construction is 33.5%. Agricultural and fish products production makes up 19.3% respectively.Among the regions of Uzbekistan the largest share of GRP falls on Tashkent city (19%), Tashkent region (12%), Samarkand and Kashkadarya regions (9% respectively). 9 33.5% of GDP refers to industrial production. For the whole last six years the industrial production increased by 1.9 times. The expansion of the assortment and stimulation of the output of finished products affected the increase in the production of consumer goods. Production of consumer goods for the same period is increased by 3.2 times for last 6 years. The main factor in the growth of the total volume of industrial production was the growth in manufacturing in the processing industry by 6.4% (contribution to the increase in the total volume of industrial production 5.2 points), mining industry by 12.9% (contribution to growth of 1,3 points), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning by 4.9% (contribution to the increase of 0.4 points) and water supply, sewerage, collection and disposal of waste by 13.5% (contribution to the increase of 0.1 points). 2.3. Employment and Labor market In 2017 share of labor resources makes up 58.1% of total population of the region. The average growth rate of labor resources for the last 6 years amounts at +1.2% per year (+221.6 thousand people). 76.9% of labor recourses are economically active population in the region; 23.1% of labor resources are economically inactive respectively. In 2017, 94.1% of economically active population are employed. The unemployment rate makes up 5.9%. The average annual growth rate of unemployment for the period of 2012-2017 is +4.3% per year (27.7 thousand people per year). For the last 6 years the number of employed population annually has grown, on average, by +2.0% per year that is +259.3 thousand people. In terms of economic activities, the largest share in the total number of employed is in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (27.3%), industry (13.5%), trade (11.0%), construction (9.5%) and education (8.2%). Figure 2.1. Distribution of Labor Force: January – December 2017 In 2017, 94.1% of economically active population are employed. The unemployment rate makes up 5.9%. The average annual growth rate of unemployment for the period of 2012-2017 is +4.3% per year (27.7 thousand people per year). For the last 6 years the number of employed population annually has grown, on average, by +2.0% per year that is +259.3 thousand people. The share of the economically active population in the total population was 44,3 percent. However, this varies significantly across the regions. 10 Figure 2.2. Population distribution by regions In terms of economic activities, the largest share in the total number of employed is in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (27.3%), industry (13.5%), trade (11.0%), construction (9.5%) and education (8.2%). Analyzing the number of people employed in the regional context and the types of economic activity it is observed that servicing is the main sector of employment in Uzbekistan. The highest level of employment in the sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries is observed in Djizak (in 41.8% of the total number of employed) and Syrdarya (48.0%) regions; in the industrial sector - in Navoi (26.9%), Tashkent (19.9%) regions and Tashkent city (19.1%); in construction - Bukhara (15.2%) and Kashkadarya (13,9%); as well as services - in Tashkent city (68.8%), Namangan (53.6%), Samarkand (52.2%), Andijan (52.0%) regions. 2.4. Poverty The aggregated income of the population includes cash incomes and incomes in kind as well as receipts, which, as a rule, have the property of recurrence and are received by the household or its individual members on a regular basis, annually or at shorter intervals. The incomes of the population in Uzbekistan grow up due to the implementation of state programs directed on improvements in households living conditions, living level standards as well as strong social addressing policy. As the result the incomes and social benefits are increased. In order to study the standard of living and well-being of the population of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a survey of households3 by the sampling method on an annual basis is carried out.4. 3 The survey of households conducted in 2016 covered more than 50,000 people. as a result of the survey the average size of a household was 5.1 people. Out of the total number of the surveyed population, 48.7% were men and 51.3% women. At the same time, the share of children under 16 was 30.8%, the share of the population aged 16 and over was 69.2%, and the share of the able-bodied population in the republic in relation to the total population was 58.8%. 4 The methodology for the household survey is based on the recommendations of the World Bank and the United Nations European Economic Commission and conducted throughout the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan(10,000 units for the year). The size of this sample survey is 0.2% of the total number of households in the republic. 11 The average income of the population for 2012-2017 has increased by 2.2 times that is +3195.0 thousand UZS. The average growth rate of income of the population for the period of 2012-2017 is +17.5% per year or +639.0 thousand UZS per year. The largest share of income falls on income from labor activity (68.8%). The income from transfer amounts at 24.8%. Incomes from services and production for own consumption as well as income from property5 make up 2.2% and 4.2% respectively. Thus, the average aggregated income in 2017 is 5796.9 thousand UZS. According to preliminary data for 2017, the average monthly nominal salary in the Republic of Uzbekistan amounted to 1453.2 thousand UZS (including allowances to wages, remuneration, incentive payments, compensation payments and payment for unearned time, as well as taxes from individuals, income tax, social insurance contributions and trade union funds). According to the data below in the table, in 2000-2016 calculated per capita, it is possible to observe a trend in the growth of income, wages and pensions. But in recent years, the growth rates of wages and pensions, which are considered one of the main sources in the structure of income, are declining. This phenomenon had effect on reducing the total income of the population. Table 2.3. Trend of aggregate income of population, wages and pensions, 2000-2016 Indicator 2000 2005 2010 2016 Aggregate income of population, thousand UZS 96.4 371.8 1668.1 4565.2 Growth to the previous related period, % 124.7 117.4 120.1 110.0 Average annual nominal wage, thousand UZS 13.5 81.5 504.8 1293.8 Growth to the previous related period, % 146.0 138.7 129.4 110.4 Average rate of pension, thousand UZS 7.4 31.7 171.9 494.2 Growth to the previous related period, % 152.0 143.5 125.9 112.8 Source: State committee on statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan Over the whole period, income per capita was gradually increased. Income per capita actually increased by 11.7 times in 2016 compared to 2000. Also, for this period there was an increase in the average salary and the size of pensions, respectively, by 23.6 and 18.1 times. The structure of consumer’s expenditures of the population is optimized as well. The expenditures on food is becoming more sustainable, and expenditures on non-food products and services are increasing. The population spent the most money on food (44.3%), on other non-food products (22%), on clothing and footwear (10.3%), on communal services (7.7%). In general, number of disable people receiving pensions and social benefits makes up about 2% of total number of population in Uzbekistan. About 30% of all disable people receiving pensions and social benefits falls on persons who recognized as disable again (repeated recognition). Approximately 5% of people are recognized as disable in studied year for the first time. About 65% are people who receive social benefits and pensions based on diseases or other circumstances in which the pensions and social benefits for disable person are established without specifying the period of reassessment. Total number of pensioners and beneficiaries of social benefits is about 10% of total number of population. The largest share of pension is stated as old-age pensions (72%). Pensions for disability make up 12%. 8.0% are loss of breadwinner pensions and beneficiaries of social benefits respectively. 5 Incomes from property consist of percent, dividends, royalties and other property incomes 12 2.5. Uzbekistan’s HDI value and rank Uzbekistan’s HDI value for 2017 is 0.710— which put the country in the high human development cate- gory—positioning it at 105 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 2000 and 2017, Uzbekistan’s HDI value increased from 0.595 to 0.710, an increase of 19.3 percent. Table A reviews Uzbekistan’s progress in each of the HDI indicators. Between 1990 and 2017, Uzbekistan’s life expectancy at birth increased by 4.9 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.4 years and expected years of schooling increased by 0.7 years. Uzbekistan’s GNI per capita increased by about 233.5 percent between 1 990 and 2017. Table 2.4. Uzbekistan HDI and its components Year Life expec- Expected Mean years of GNI per cap- HDI value tancy at birth years of schooling ita (2011 schooling PPP$) 1990 66.5 11.3 1,940 1995 66.4 10.7 2,227 2000 67.2 10.7 9.1 2,453 0.595 2005 68.4 11.5 9.8 3,051 0.628 2010 70.0 11.4 10.7 4,360 0.666 2015 71.2 11.7 11.4 5,811 0.698 2016 71.3 11.8 11.4 6,135 0.703 2017 71.4 12.0 11.5 6,470 0.710 Figure 2.3. Trends in Uzbekistan’s HDI component indices 2000-2017 2.6. Gender Inequality Index (GII) GII, which reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity. Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by women and attainment in secondary and higher education by each gender; and economic activity is measured by the labor market participation rate for women and men. The GII is interpreted as the loss in human development due to inequality be- tween female and male achievements in the three GII dimensions. 13 Uzbekistan has a GII value of 0.274, ranking it 59 out of 160 countries in the 2017 index. In Uzbekistan, 16.4 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 99.9 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 99.9 percent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 36 women die from pregnancy related causes; and the adolescent birth rate is 16.5 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19. Female participation in the labor market is 53.8 percent compared to 77.9 for men. In comparison, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are ranked at 91 and 69 respectively on this index. Table 2.5. Uzbekistan’s GII for 2017 relative to selected countries and groups GII GII Maternal Adolescent Female Population with Labor force par- value Rank mortality birth rate seats in par- at least some sec- ticipation rate ratio liament (%) ondary educa- (%) tion (%) Female Male Female Male Uzbekistan 0.274 59 36 16.5 16.4 99.9 99.9 53.8 77.9 Kyrgyzstan 0.392 91 76 38.1 19.2 98.6 98.3 48.2 75.7 Tajikistan 0.317 69 32 36.4 20.0 98.9 87.0 45.5 73.3 Europe and 0.270 — 24 25.5 20.7 78.4 85.9 45.5 70.3 Central Asia High HDI 0.289 — 38 26.6 22.3 69.5 75.7 55.0 75.5 Maternal mortality ratio is expressed in number of deaths per 100,000 live births and adolescent birth rate is expressed in number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19. 2.7. Summary of baseline data In the recent years, Uzbekistan has taken decisive, bold steps towards openness and reform. Since 2016, the country has witnessed a far-reaching change process both breadth and depth. The general positive reception to the reform process also indicates society’s wide acceptance of the need for fundamental change. The experiences of many countries during the transition process have shown that the switch from a state-controlled economy to a market economy entails painful changes and, at the very least, temporary losses the strategic action plan for 2017–2021 contains key reforms in the areas of politics, administration, case law, the economy and external relations. Reforms are always a process, but the wide-ranging ap- proach adopted is encouraging. Some progress has been made in the areas of human rights and freedom of the media. Many steps have been taken, particularly around the economy. Liberalizing the exchange rate of the coun- try’s currency, the som, in 2016 is one such example. This measure now enables companies to receive via their banks payment for international transactions in Uzbek som without any restrictions. Customs duties and taxes were adjusted for key trade partners as further liberalization measures boosted trade. Two major issues relate to: energy reform and – the most difficult area – the restructuring of state com- panies- are being addressed appropriately. Both areas have a direct impact on the population. The first key steps towards reforming these areas were two decrees intended to push back the influence of the state and increase the transparency of the decision-making process in these companies. All the above developments have boosted the economy of the country and new vistas for livelihoods. Uzbekistan ranks quite high in terms of the overall HDI. However, it slips down when adjusted to gender parameters. Unemployment and under employment, specially among the youth and women, have assumed large proportions. The country’s social protection measures, including unemployment relief, though qu ite good, will assume greater attention in the coming days. 14 III. ADMINISTRATIVE, POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 3.1. Legal, Regulatory and Policy Framework The key legislation for this project can be subdivided into two groups: 1) Legislation directed on employment support 2) Legislation directed on social protection to the vulnerable and unemployed population 3.1.1. Relevant National Laws and Regulations 3.1.1.1. The main legislations concerning employment support are: Decree of the President No. PP-4227 dated 05 March 2019 on state order for employment of the population and creation of new job places in 2019 providing for organization of new job places and seasonal and temporary employment of citizens of Uzbekistan in 2019, as well as allocation of subsidies and grants in 2019 for professional development of employees hired through Employment support centres, employment of vulnerable people, for payment of installation of light greenhouses and corresponding expenses, etc. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.525 dated 4 March 2019 On ratification of Convention of International Labor Organization No.144 on tripartite consultations for assistance in application of international labor standards. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-3777 dated 07 June 2018 On imple- mentation of the Program “Every family is an entrepreneur� providing for support and creation of opportunities for the population to be engaged in domestic business (handicraft, sewing, etc.) and agricul- ture, creation of mini-clusters by successful entrepreneurs and other. Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No.799 dated 5 October 2017 approved the Regulation “On the order of organization of paid public works�. Starting from 1 October 2017, pilot public works were introduced in one district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and in Tashkent city. Since 1 January 2018, the unemployed population should be attracted phase by phase to public works in all district and cities of the Republic. Individuals undertaking public works are exempted from taxes on incomes received from (the following) public works: • Improvement of the territories (planting, cleaning, whitewashing, cleaning of aryks, cemeteries, pilgrimage sites, cultural objects, and other) of cities, districts, settlements, mahallas and other; • Repair of housing, adjacent territory of housing and communal and other infrastructure; • Repair of streets, roads and sidewalks; • Seasonal agricultural works, stocking, storage and processing of agricultural production, repair of irrigation and ameliorative networks; • Taking care of disabled, elderly, sick people and other; • Works at industrial organizations and in the sphere of services; • Construction, reconstruction and repair of facilities. According to the carried-out interviews within the previous projects, it was suggested to add making souvenirs for tourists into the list of public works, considering rapid development of tourism in the country in the last couple of years. Citizens considered the unemployed, as well as registered as persons seeking for job, are attracted to paid public works. Assignment to public works is issued by the Employ- ment Support Center. Labor contract is signed between the initiator of public works, organization, and the assigned unemployed person. Period of participation in public works (from 15 days to 3 months within the fiscal year) is entered to employment book and included in years of work experience. Citizens per- formed public works, are reserved the right for pensions and low-income allowances. 15 Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 97 dated 15 May 2007 On Improvement of registration of the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan leaving abroad for labor activity - for improvement of registration of the persons leaving abroad for implementation of labor and business activity, ensuring protection of citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan during their stay outside the country. 3.1.1.2. The main legislation concerning social protection Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 44 "On approval of the regu- lations on the procedure for the assignment and payment of social benefits and financial assistance for low-income families" as of February 15, 2013 determines the procedure for the assignment and pay- ment of benefits by citizens' self-government bodies to families with children under the age of 14 years, child care allowance for children aged under 2 years old and financial assistance for low-income families. According to the Decree, the benefits / allowances for families with children and financial assistance are assigned for a period of 6 months, and child care allowance -for 12 months, but not more than a month after the child comes the age of 2. If child care is provided for two or more children, adopted or foster children, the childcare allowance is paid in a single rate benefit until the child comes the age of 2. The decision on the assignment and payment of benefits to families with children, childcare allowance and financial assistance is made by the rural citizen’s council of community, village as well as the mahalla of towns, settlements, communities, or by a commission authorized by rural citizen’s council to make such decisions. The allowance for families with children, childcare allowance and financial assistance are assigned to families with an average monthly total income for each family member in the amount not exceeding 1.5 times of the average amount of minimum monthly wage established in the period for which the aggregate income is calculated. The preferential right for benefits to families with children, child care allowances and financial assistance are: • Families who lost both parents, and the bringing up of their children is done by relatives; • Families where one or both parents of children are disabled; • Widows (widowers) raising two or more children under the age of 14, living separately from other relatives; • Families with a disabled child (children); • Mothers (fathers) raising a child (children) in an one-parent family. At the same time, the fact of raising a child by a mother (father) in an one-parent family is established by the self-gov- erning body of citizens; • Families, in which one or both parents are unemployed and registered at employment support centers as job seekers; • Single pensioners. Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 350 as of December 12, 2012 “On measures for further improvements of procedures on assignment and payment of social bene- fits� is directed on strengthening of targeted social protection of low-income families and families with minor children as well as increasing of role and responsibility of self-governmental bodies of citizens in implementation of measure on social protection of population. According to the Decree since January 1, 2013 monthly benefits for families with minor children are paid depending on number of minor children at the following amounts from minimal wage stated at the beginning of the year: • Family with one minor child — 50 per cent; • Family with two minor children — 80 percent; • Family with three and more children — 100 percent. Based on this decree, since January 1, 2013 the united criteria for all types of benefits and financial assis- tances is established to identify the needs of family and simplification the procedures of calculation of 16 total income of the family at the appointment of social benefits and financial assistance for low-income families. Decree on procedures of assignment and payment of allowances to old aged and disabled citizens without records of employment history required for admission of pension (Annex 2 to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministries No. 107 as of April 7, 2011) determines the procedures of assignment and pay- ment of monthly benefits to old aged and disable people without records of employment history required for admission of pension in compliance with the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On state pension system�. According to this Decree the following types of pensions are assigned: • old-age pension / allowance; • disability pension (excluding the disable persons from childhood); • pension / allowance for the loss of a breadwinner. Allowance for the loss of a breadwinner receive the incapacitated family members who were supported by person who has no right on pension in compliance with Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On state pension system�. The amount of the allowance for loss of breadwinner is established as a percentage of the allowance that the deceased citizen received or was entitled to receive, in the following amounts: a) for three or more disabled members of the family - 100 percent of the benefit; b) or two disabled family members - 75 percent of the benefit; c) or one disabled family member - 50 percent of the benefit. Law "On social protection of disabled people in the Republic of Uzbekistan" (No. 422-XII as of November 18, 1991, taking into account amendments and additions as of 11 July 2008 No.162) is aimed at regulation of the relations in the field of social protection of disabled people. The law defines the principle of recognizing a person as a disabled person, including children between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Thelawdefinestherightsandbenefitsforpeoplewithdisabilitiesofvariouscategories. Social as- sistance to disabled people is provided in the following forms: • cash payments (pensions, benefits, lump sum payments); • provision of technical or other means, including cars, wheelchairs, prosthetic and orthopaedic products, printed editions with special typefaces, sound amplifying equipment and signalling de- vices; • services for medical, professional, social rehabilitation and consumer services; • transport services; • provision of medicines. Social assistance to disabled people is provided by local government bodies, labor and social protection agencies, public health services, public education, and other state bodies on the basis of the conclusions of medical and labor expert commissions and medical advisory commissions in accordance with the law. Social assistance to disabled people is provided at the expense of the republican and local budgets, an non-budget Pension Fund under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan, social protection funds for the disabled, as well as voluntary contributions from organizations and citizens in accordance with the procedure established by law. Order of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 4782 “On measures for further improving and the system of social support and medical and social assistance to vulnerable people� as of Feb- ruary 22, 2016 is directed on further improving the system of providing medical and social assistance, increasing of the level and quality of disable persons, war and labor veterans, lonely elderly people and other vulnerable people as well as increasing of efficiency of organization of social protection and support. Regulation No. 102 "On the mechanism of compensatory cash payments for payment of housing and communal services" as of November 30, 2010 defines the mechanism of compensatory cash pay- ments for payment of housing and communal services. The target includes: a) Persons equated to disabled 17 persons and participants in the war of 1941-1945. b) single pensioners in need of nursing care; c) Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Socialist Labor and persons awarded with Orders of Glory of three degrees; d) ex-underage prisoners of fascist concentration camps; e) citizens who worked during the siege of Len- ingrad; e) I category invalids on vision; g) citizens affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe; h) persons of retirement age who have served in radiative firing ranges and other radiative facilities. Paragraph 6 of article 290 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Big families lost the bread- winner are exempted from land tax. For the taxation big families lost the breadwinner, are considered families where one of the parents or both parents have died and where there are five and more children under 16. This benefit is provided on the basis of the Certificate of regional (city) department of the Pension fund at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 3.2. State Development Programs In addition to the legislation, there are four major programs which supports people and especially, women in urban and rural areas. Those are: “Obod Mahalla�, “Obod Kishlak�, “Every family – entrepreneur�, “Youth is our future�. “Obod mahalla� program. The program provides carrying out construction, repair and improvement works in the places of residence of the population in the cities of regions: in 2018 - in 2 mahallas, and in 2019-2022 – not less than in 3 mahallas. “Obod kishlok� program, similar to “Obod mahalla�, but for rural areas. For significant change of the situation with domestic conditions for population in the rural areas and increase in the standard of living of rural people "Obod Kishlak" program ("Improved village") is adopted. Its priorities comprise the fol- lowing: drinking water and drainage; internal rural roads, construction of bus stops, sanitary facilities and irrigation systems; improvement of the condition of power supply networks, modernization of communi- cation system; uninterrupted supply of liquefied gas and coal fuel to the population; and construction, reconstruction and capital repairs of kindergartens, schools, family policlinics. “Every family – entrepreneur�. Full support of entrepreneurial initiatives of the population wishing to be engaged in entrepreneurship, allocation of soft loans and provision of "systematic practical support" at each stage of the organization and implementation of entrepreneurial activity are provided by the program, such as: Creation of mini-clusters — assigning successful businessmen to the families starting new business ac- tivity in mahallas, taking into account specialization of the area (handicraftship, sewing production, cul- tivation of some types of agricultural products, installation of compact greenhouses and others). Expansion of the volumes of services provided to family business with creation of objects of market infrastructure, maintenance and service stations for organization of trade in products made by families entrepreneurs, is provided. New family entrepreneurs are provided free land plots in rural areas and mahallas, thus to create additional jobs and sources of income for the population. Business entities temporarily not carrying out financial and economic activity and not undergone the state registration, are revealed for recovery and legalization of their activity. Special working groups are established to train the population entrepreneurial skills and consulta- tions.Within the program soft loans in amount of up to 150 minimum wages — for development of family business, up to 1000 minimum wages — to the registered entities of small business and over 1000 mini- mum wages — for crediting of investment projects of entrepreneurship entities are allocated by the banks. 18 “Youth is our future� program. It is aimed at employment of youth by assistance and support in imple- mentation of youth business initiatives, startups, ideas and projects, training of unemployed youth in de- manded specialties and business skills, as well as increase in their social and economic activity in general. For financing of the program activities, the "Yoshlar — kelajagimiz" Fund is established under the Youth Union of Uzbekistan. Its funds will be used for allocation, through banks, of soft loans and property in leasing at 7% annual interest for youth business initiatives, issuance of guarantees for credits (up to 50% of the credit amount), participation in the projects of no more than 50% of their cost (with the subsequent sale of the share of fund within five years). Households with the unemployed youth will be able to get out of the fund up to 20 pieces of young poultry and rabbits, 5 heads of small cattle and 2 heads of cattle, with repayment of their cost within the stipulated terms. Assistance in breeding poultry and livestock and their subsequent sale will be rendered to them. Under the conditions of public-private partnership, construction of co-working centers "Yosh tadbirkor- lar" ("Young entrepreneurs") for preferential rent of rooms, office equipment and consumables, Internet access and other assistance, including development of business plans, consulting, legal, accounting and other services, organization of forums, master classes and seminars, are planned. In manpower-surplus areas, "Yoshlar mehnat guzari" complexes for creation of trade and domestic and small production sites, are established. 3.3. Summary The legal and regulatory framework of Uzbekistan provide an adequate and appropriate enabling frame- work for implementing the key activities to be taken up under the program. Social Protection, consumer responsiveness and public accountability are well enshrined in the legal framework at different levels. The constitution of Uzbekistan and several laws highlight the importance of state’s commitment to serv- ing and ensuring protection of the public, in general, and the poor and vulnerable sections. 19 IV. RELEVANT WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL STANDARDS (ESS) The Environmental and Social Standards35 set out the requirements for Borrowers relating to the identi- fication and assessment of environmental and social risks and impacts associated with projects supported by the Bank through Investment Project Financing. There are ten Environmental and Social Standards6 establish the standards that the Borrower and the project will meet through the project life cycle. Given the nature of interventions, out of 10 interventions, three Standards are identified as relevant for this pro- ject. 4.1. ESS 1 - Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts. This Standard sets out the Client’s responsibilities for assessing, managing and monitoring environmental and social risks and impacts associated with each stage of a project supported by the Bank through In- vestment Project Financing, in order to achieve environmental and social outcomes consistent with the Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs). 4.2. ESS 2 – Labor and Working Conditions. This Standard recognizes the importance of employment creation and income generation in the pursuit of poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth. Borrowers can promote sound worker-management relationships and enhance the development benefits of a project by treating workers in the project fairly and providing safe and healthy working conditions. ESS2 applies to project workers including fulltime, part-time, temporary, seasonal and migrant workers. 4.3. ESS 10 – Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure This ESS recognizes the importance of open and transparent engagement between the Borrower and pro- ject stakeholders as an essential element for the success of the project. Effective stakeholder engagement is expected to improve the environmental and social sustainability of projects, enhance project acceptance, and make a significant contribution to successful project design and implementation. The client will engage with stakeholders throughout the project life cycle, commencing such engagement as early as possible in the project development process and in a timeframe that enables meaningful consultations with stakeholders on project design. 6 www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social- standards and http://projects-beta.vsemirnyjbank.org/ru/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-frame- work/brief/environmental-and-social-standards 20 V. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS 5.1. Stakeholder Mapping Stakeholder is defined as an individual/ institution (agency) that can impact upon or get impacted by the project. In order to define a communication process with the stakeholders, several groups that may be interested and/or affected by the project implementation have been identified. There are a number of groups of people and social groups who are interested in the project at different levels. Project recognizes that: stakeholders are not only diverse and heterogeneous but also are housed in both vertical and hori- zontal space. Accordingly, stakeholder mapping is done vertically (across the administrative space) and horizontally (within an individual space). The first step involves in the preparation of an universal map- ping. Each stakeholder / group is rated for the relative importance- starting from rating from High/ Me- dium/ Low. This helped in assigning importance for further analysis. However, for strategic purposes, stakeholders can be envisaged under two broad categories: one, “Project-affected parties� and the Other, Interested parties. The Project Affected Parties includes “those likely to be affected by the project because of actual impacts or potential risks to their physical environment, health, security, cultural practices, well-being, or liveli- hoods. These stakeholders may include individuals or groups, including local communities�. They are the individuals or households most likely to observe changes from environmental and social impacts of the project. The analysis focused on the parties’ expectations and the associated issues and concerns. The term “Other interested parties� (OIPs) refers to “individuals, groups, or organizations with an interest in the project, which may be because of the project location, its characteristics, its impacts, or matters related to public interest. For example, these parties may include regulators, government officials, the private sector, the scientific community, academics, unions, women’s organizations, other civil society organizations, and cultural groups�. The analysis focused on their role and challenges thereof. The Uni- versal mapping and the relative importance are presented below. Project affected parties are described in the table below. Table 5.1. Project affected parties Name of stake- Description Issues Significance level holder Women Women with no skills (school education Women wish to be em- High only). ployed, but either they Women engaged in seasonal agriculture. have no sufficient skills or Women after maternity leave. have nobody to leave their Women with secondary vocational educa- children with, while they tion. are at work. Women with higher education (especially, Permanent job with official those with foreign degrees). employment expected Single mothers/Female headed households. Young people Young people with no skills (school edu- Want to get well-paid job High cation only). and need training, free of Unemployed young people engaged in sea- charge sonal agriculture or construction. Permanent job with official Unemployed young people with secondary employment expected. vocational education. Elderly/disabled Elderly people willing to work with vari- In some organizations/ Medium to high ous skills and certain experience. companies/ enterprises People with disabilities. there are no work condi- tions for disabled people. Ex-prisoners Ex-prisoners face difficulties to get jobs. Require training and spe- Medium cial control in the begin- ning. 21 Employers are afraid or re- fuse to hire ex-prisoners. Retired military People retire from military at the very Require new skill training Medium officers working age (35-40 years old) do not get appropriate jobs. Return migrants Migrants returning from either seasonal or Require well-paid job Medium long-term migration. Wish to work in Uz- bekistan, but cannot find job with similar payment. Laid off workers People fired for various reasons, including Subject to unemployment High for the reason of staff reduction, especially benefits or other allow- in SOE ances. Require urgent employ- ment. About to be laid People losing jobs for various reasons, in- Subject to unemployment High off cluding for the reason of staff reduction, benefits or other allow- especially in SOE. ances. Require urgent employ- ment. Unskilled people Do not have full secondary education Require skill training Medium Graduates Graduates of colleges and higher educa- Placement services re- High tional institutions. Educational institutions quired have plan to place them to jobs. People without Have limited rights. Are considered citi- Have to pay high fees Low citizenship with zens of the world. Can travel. Can work passport People without Difficult to register with the Employment Need documents Low citizenship with- support center out documents Rural unem- Lack of awareness, accessibility to ser- Far distance from house to Medium ployed vices. Have no appropriate skills. Remu- ESC nerative jobs are not offered to them. Other key interested stakeholders in Social protection system and employment are described in the Ta- ble below. Table 5.2. Other key interested stakeholders in Social protection and employment support system Name of stake- Key role in social pro- Significance Level Description holder tection system level Ministry of Fi- National The Ministry of Finance is Department of financing high nance of the Re- state body engaged in elabo- the social protection of public of Uzbeki- ration of state policy in the the population at Ministry stan budgetary, tax and customs of finance and regional fi- and tariff spheres, as well as nance departments carries in the sphere of financial out coordination and de- market, insurance, provision velopment of normative of pensions to citizens, ac- documents for the regula- counting and financial state- tion the sector of social ments, financing of state or- protection of the popula- ganizations and state funded tion. This department as- organizations, pricing on sign the budget for the so- goods and services of the en- cial allowances and pen- terprises - monopolists, en- sions through the Pension suring achievement of strate- Fund and mahalla com- gic macroeconomic indica- mittees. tors and parameters of the State budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Republican Pen- National According to the Law of the Pension Fund is responsi- high sion Fund Republic of Uzbekistan «On ble for consideration the 22 the state provision of pen- application for the social sions of citizens» and with a allowances and the ap- view of the further perfec- pointment the social al- tion of organizational struc- lowances. Functions of ture of the system of a provi- Pension Fund are based sion of pensions, timely fi- on the Order of the Presi- nancing and realization in dent of the Republic of full payments of pensions Uzbekistan #41 dated De- and social benefits from an cember 30, 2009 and De- off-budget Pension fund un- cree of the Cabinet of der the Ministry of Finance Ministers of the Republic of the Republic of Uzbeki- of Uzbekistan # 30 dated stan, and also increase in February 19, 2010. control over targeted use of the assets directed to a pro- vision of pensions of citizens of republic, assignment, fi- nancing, accounting and monitoring of payment of pensions, and also social al- lowances, compensatory and other payments are carried out by corresponding territo- rial divisions of the Pension fund. Ministry of Em- National Ministry of Labor of the Re- Department on monitor- high ployment and La- public of Uzbekistan is the ing of payments of the al- bor Relations of main state institution respon- lowances at Ministry of the Republic of sible for labor, employment, labor or regional labor Uzbekistan and social protection policy departments is engaged in making. The ministry is analysis of the current sit- tasked with the development uation on allowances, and regulation of labor mar- number and size of allow- ket and ensuring employ- ances provided to the ment of population, regula- population, number of tion of labor relations and la- people who applied for bor protection, provision of allowances etc. social services for popula- tion and medical-social reha- bilitation of persons with disabilities. Agency for for- National Improvement of organiza- participation in develop- high eign labor migra- tion of labor activity of citi- ment and implementation tion zens of the Republic of Uz- of projects of the interna- bekistan abroad and preven- tional cooperation in la- tion of illegal labor migra- bor migration; tion. cooperation with rele- vant authorities of the foreign states; assistance to citizens of the Republic of Uzbeki- stan in implementation of their right for work abroad; coordination of work of citizens of the Repub- lic of Uzbekistan abroad and foreign citizens in the Republic of Uzbekistan; development of coop- eration with foreign firms (enterprises, institutions, 23 companies) employing foreign labor; issuance (extension) of permissions to citizens of the Republic of Uzbeki- stan to work abroad; issuance (extension) of permissions to legal enti- ties for involvement of foreign labor, and accred- itations for work to for- eign citizens in the terri- tory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Enterprises (State- Countrywide Employment of people ei- Medium owned/ private) ther permanently, or for public works, profes- sional development Employment sup- City/district Engaged in support to the Inspectors of ESC and High port center population who are unem- representatives of Pen- ployed due to various rea- sion Fund informs resi- sons, including social vul- dents of mahallas on any nerability (disability, changes and amendments women-head household, on legislation through the poor, unskilled people etc.). regular visiting the areas, All the districts are divided organization discussions into the sectors – mahallas. and meetings as well as The inspector of district Em- fairs of vacant jobson the ployment support center designed schedule. (ESC) is assigned for several Specialist of ESC who is mahallas (3 or more). They appointed as a member of usually visit the mahallas at- commission (for assess- tached to them and gather ment the households’ information on required sup- conditions applied for so- port from the ESC as well as cial allowances) visits the provide information on va- household who applied cant job places available for for social allowance. All the unemployed population. members of the commis- ESC organize training sion assess the real condi- courses for professional de- tions of the household velopment and retraining of livelihood and oppor- people for further employ- tunity to increase the in- ment come and improve their living conditions. ESC’ specialist assesses the op- portunity to employ household’s members, develop recommendation for them how to use their existing resources to im- prove the well-being. Department of District/city/ Support on employment the This department provide Medium public works mahalla population the information on orga- (temporary em- nized public works and ployment) at Min- support the population istry of labor who have no permanent employment, in particu- lar, unemployed or un- skilled workers. Khokimiyat District/city Determination of scope of High public works. 24 Consideration and ap- proval of applications for public works in the dis- trict/city Territory im- District/city/ Provision of the scope for Low provement depart- mahalla public works ment Mahalla commit- Mahalla Responsible for collection The representatives of High tee the detailed information on mahalla committee (usu- households who need social ally, mahalla adviser protection / social allow- (maslakhatchi) or assis- ances, employment and mi- tant of the mahalla chair- gration. men) list all the house- holds on their area. They inform all the households, who need social support, on the opportunity to ob- tain the social allowance, order established for ap- plication, types of the al- lowances, documents re- quired for the application etc. The allowances are assigned to all households who meet the require- ments of the legislation. Assessment of the need of social allowances is carried out in compliance with the Decree № 44. Farms Countrywide Employment of people ei- Low ther permanently, or for public works 5.2. Key Results – Employment, Labor Market, Employment Centres and Social Assistance 5.2.1. Employment and Labor Market Labor market outcomes in Uzbekistan have registered significant progress over the last two decades. This positive record has been partly driven by high and continued economic growth rates of around 8 percent per year. Employment rates have grown outpacing population growth, and output per worker too has increased. However, and despite these commendable achievements, there are some critical gaps. Looking at the working-age population (15–64) and people’s activity status, very significant differences emerge by age and sex. While about 70 percent of early youth (aged 15–19) are in education, the per- centage drops when considering the group aged 20–24, which also has the highest percentage of people not working. The percentage of people in employment then increases up to the age of 54, whereas be- tween age 55 and 64, over one-half of people are already retired. Looking at differences by sex, the percentage of women employed is much smaller than that of men. Instead, women are more likely to be either “full-time homemakers� or simply not in employment (Table 5.3). Table 5.3. Economic activity by age group and sex 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-54 55-64 M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T Employee 6 4 5 31 15 23 47 24 36 49 32 40 28 5 16 25 Other type of job 5 3 4 16 5 11 21 6 13 22 10 16 14 5 10 Not working 16 12 14 37 25 31 27 22 24 20 14 17 13 3 8 In school/ training 69 70 70 10 7 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Retired 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 32 74 55 Full time homemaker 2 9 6 5 46 25 2 45 24 2 36 19 4 7 5 Disease / disability 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 5 6 6 9 5 7 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Source: Analysis of L2CU 2018. Note: M = men; F = women; T = total. Numbers refers to percentages Focusing on the group aged 25–34, Figure 7 shows the main activity status by quintile. In the bottom quintile the percentage of people in work is significantly less than in the top quintile. Furthermore, looking at indirect measures of job quality, not only are people in the bottom quintile less likely to be working, but their jobs are also more precarious (i.e., seasonal, occasional, or temporary), increasing the chance that they will lose their job and income source (Figure 8). Similar results are also obtained for the group aged 35–54. Figure 5.1. Activity status among adults aged 25–34 by quintile (percentages) Figure 5.2. Type of main job among adults aged 25–34 by quintile (percentages) While unemployment rates are relatively low (since they require an active search of work), many adults are inactive and discouraged about finding a job, so they simply give up looking for work 26 A large share of the active population is discouraged1 from looking for employment, in particular men in the 20-24- and 55-59-years old ranges (10 percent and over 9 percent respectively), and women in the 16-24 years old range (over 11 percent). Not only lack of jobs and low salaries figure high on the agenda, the quality of jobs is questionable, especially given the high prevalence of informality – the informal sector employs over half of the Uzbek labor force. Most jobs in the country entail physical work and repetitive tasks, and only half of all workers seem to learn new things. Further, although lack of business opportunities and entrepreneurship is less important among the overall population, it is again of highest priority among social assistance beneficiar- ies. Women remain largely and disproportionately underrepresented in the labor market, despite accounting for over half of the labor force. Figure 5.3. Issues to be tackled with immediate priority Information asymmetries are widespread. Many express ¨that they do not feel they have ready access to vacancy announcements¨ and that they faced difficulties to signal their skills to employers. On the other hand, a majority of employers indicate that finding adequately skilled workers is one of the main obstacles for doing business in the country, in particular with regards to cognitive skills such as Russian language and non-cognitive skills including accepting responsibility for one’s actions, self -motivation, and creativ- ity. Employment related issues particularly affect young people in their crucial transition from school into the labor market. Youth in Uzbekistan is faced with particular difficulties with regards to their adequate integration into the labor market. Labor force participation increase significantly with age in Uzbekistan. Unemployment rates are also particularly high for young people, especially those in the 20-24 age group. Women remain largely and disproportionately underrepresented in the labor market, despite ac- counting for over half of the labor force. Female employment rates are substantially lower for females across all age groups, consumption quintiles (although women in the highest quintile register better out- comes), across all educational levels (with female employment rates being significantly higher for those with tertiary education) and both in rural and urban areas. Nevertheless, people do speak about the positive effects of the recent reforms and the opportunities pro- vided through microloans given at preferential rates. This came out quite strongly in Fergana, where many felt that the new climate of openness favored more opportunities for trade and, in particular, the development of horticulture. 27 The role of public works has indeed helped as people are directly benefited from them, and reported that they had been of help for a few months. However, it was also felt that public works faced more chal- lenges in rural areas, where opportunities are relatively few and only seasonal. 5.3. Employment Centers Job Aspirants’ Perspectives 1) There are many aspirants who have registered at ESC. 2) Relative to the number of job seekers, number of vacancies are quire low. 3) There are very few technical jobs or those works requiring ‘skills’. 4) Training and re-training programs offered by ESC do not match with candidates’ qualifications and expectations. 5) Often Trainees have to pay a fee for undergoing training- this keeps away the poor people. 6) There are huge delays at ESC in processing of applications. 7) ESC documentation demands are many and processes are cumbersome, and facilitation is not as expected. 8) Internet connection is slow rendering E transactions difficult. 9) There are very few vacancies for disabled people. 10) The jobs available do not match with the previous work experience and/ or skills. Previously worked as a cook at construction. Lost job – now (engaged in) agriculture – works are seasonal, and requiring huge manual exertion. 11) Rural people, especially women, find it difficult to reach ESC, as they are located in district cen- ters. 12) Women find it extremely difficult to get the desired jobs. 13) In many cases, jobs offered may not exists or already filled. 14) Those without proper title find it difficult to register themselves at the ESCs. 15) Out reach programs are not highly effective, with the result, inadequate awareness persists spe- cially among the rural poor. The above findings are corroborated by the country wide data for 2018 (Table- ). While most job aspirants are from the rural areas, women constitute half the total. Rural residents registering for jobs is as high as 78%; and women, 52%. Interestingly, those who would have lost the jobs (either quit or laid off) rural residents are maximum. And sizeable women too are laid off. As against this, over all success rate, people getting jobs, is just 40%. And only 20% of women are able to secure the jobs Instructively, women who lose jobs find it very difficult to secure jobs again. Table 5.4. Job search services in Uzbekistan 2018 (Jan – Dec) # Indicators Categories Registered as unemployed Successful placements Total Including Total Including Women Rural Women Rural resi- residents dents 1 Total number of beneficiaries 626480 327386 494404 255539 127272 183415 Distribution of the unemployed in line 1 by different characteristics a) The reasons of unemployment 2 Quit job 105613 50377 89137 42456 27766 31927 3 Dismissed due to poor discipline 318 191 269 260 145 159 4 Laid-off due to liquidation 7911 3389 4780 2318 941 1952 5 Discharged from military service 4780 3609 1861 1465 6 Released from jail 3877 834 2365 2594 558 1172 7 Graduated from school, second- 83139 41653 56451 18956 10407 16435 ary general 28 8 Graduated from college, voca- 108312 56431 84375 35851 25024 28430 tional 9 Graduated from university 38103 28196 34940 8421 5036 7613 10 Other reasons 274427 146315 218478 142822 57395 94322 5.4. Targeted Social Assistance- Social Registry The Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan intends to introduce an electronic register of citizens who are entitled to the payment of social benefits and material assistance.This innovation is aimed at managing inclusion/ exclusion errors as well as combating corruption, that is, warning of cases of inappropriate use of budgetary funds and the issuance of false certificates. In addition, the registry will allow to determine household incomes and conduct a reliable study of their financial situation. In turn, the government will be able to identify citizens who really need government assistance and support. In this backdrop, current enquiry is undertaken. Uzbekistan has a relatively articulated and comprehensive social protection system that includes social insurance schemes (contributory), social assistance (noncontributory), and labor market programs (Ta- ble-). Social insurance programs, and in particular old-age pensions, comprise by far the largest share of the budget, with a very high coverage of the population. Based on figures provided by the PF as of October 1, 2018, 2.58 million people receive old-age pensions, 366,000 receive disability pensions, and 169,000 receive survivors’ pensions. Numbers of recipients of noncontributory social assistance are significantly smaller, but are nevertheless very important for poor and vulnerable people. Finally, labor market programs are of relatively lower importance in terms of budget given their short-term nature of support. Table 5.5. Main social protection programs in Uzbekistan Social Insurance Social Assistance (noncontributory) Labor market programs (contributory) Old-age pension Low-income family allowances (child Unemployment bene- Disability pen- care allowance for children <2; children fits Public works Mi- sion Breadwinner allowances for children aged 2–13; and croloans Professional loss financial assistance) training Apprentice- Childbirth leave Old-age allowance ships and benefit Disability allowance (since childhood Job intermediation and Sickness leave and or acquired) matching service benefit Breadwinner loss allowance Other social insurance Birth and funeral allowance One-off financial assistance in the Re- public of Karakalpakstan and Khorem region Monetary compensation for commu- nal expenses to vulnerable groups In-kind support: free-of-charge winter clothes to school children, use of pub- lic transport, food provision, medicines Social care services By far the programs with the largest population coverage are social insurance programs and in particular old-age contributory pensions, but it is social assistance that ensures a higher coverage of the poor. More- over, within social assistance the most important program is low-income family allowances. This program is further divided into three programs: 29 ➢ a child care allowance for families with at least one child under two years of age; ➢ a children allowance for families with at least one child aged two to thirteen; and ➢ financial assistance for other households that face specific difficulties because of disability, old age, or other specific problems. All three programs share the same eligibility criteria (per capita income has to fall below a set income threshold) and the same procedures to verify their low-income status. However, once households are en- rolled into the program, the amount of support varies as well as the duration of the validity of their eligi- bility. The number of households receiving low-income family allowances declined continuously in recent years, and in 2017 was almost one-half the number of beneficiaries in 2013. In 2018 the Government of Uzbek- istan increased budget availability for this program, however, and the number of beneficiaries is expected to increase as well. From social assessment perspective, the study, recognizes that targeting could involve two types of errors: • Exclusion error: not all intended beneficiaries actually receive the program; • Inclusion error: some people who were not intended beneficiaries receive the program. In the case of social assistance there are good reasons to argue that the intended population should be the poor. Therefore, when poor people do not receive social assistance, an exclusion error arises; conversely, when nonpoor people receive social assistance, an inclusion error occurs. This in background, the study draws the results of the analysis (conducted by the World Bank in 2018) of the household survey data which determined the extent to which the poor are reached by different programs, the relative targeting accuracy, and the impact of programs on poverty reduction. In this analysis the poor are defined as people with a consumption expenditure lower than the daily international poverty line of US$3.2 in purchasing power parity. The survey estimates that just under 10 percent of people are poor in Uzbekistan. While overall the distribution of beneficiaries of social assistance programs, particularly of low-income family allowances, across quintiles is good, the analysis identified three main problems: ➢ Large exclusion errors: 63 percent of the poor are not reached by low-income allowances; ➢ Inclusion errors: 62 percent of beneficiaries of low-income allowances are nonpoor; and ➢ Suboptimal transfer amounts: while for child care allowances the transfer amount is very high, support is very low for children allowances, even though the income and living conditions of households eligible for either one are likely to be the same. This imbalance means that among the poor receiving support, only one-half are pushed above the poverty line. The above results can be the effect of both design problems and implementation difficulties. Focusing on the implementation errors, Key findings are that 1) no common standards exist for outreach activities, and 2) there is a need to better define who belongs to the same household and for procedures to impute income, as well as to standardize the way living conditions are assessed and verified. Moreover, one of the main reasons for exclusion errors is the use of caps in budgeting and in the number of beneficiaries at the local level. 5.5. Labor Market Programs Concerning labor market programs, various interventions and schemes exist, all provided by the MELR through the district-level ESC. Unemployment benefits are granted for a short period of time to people registered as unemployed in the ESC. Public works schemes were first piloted in the last quarter of 2017 and started to be promoted nationwide since the beginning of 2018. They consist of both subsi- dized employment in the private sector and public employment offered by government agencies for a period between 15 days and 3 months per year. Microloans are also provided at preferential interest rates to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship. There are also services aimed at supporting entry in the labor market through training, apprenticeships, and job intermediation. 30 5.6. Issues and Challenges – Other Parties Key issues/ challenges envisaged by Other Parties engaged in social protection, in providing effective service delivery, are discussed below. Table 5.6. Challenges – Other Parties Other Party Issues Remarks Ministry of fi- Lack of a single body re- Three different agencies are at work - nance sponsible for social protec- Pension Fund, responsible for social security and pro- tion issues. tection. There is a Ministry of Health, responsible for - --. The Ministry of Labor, responsible for monitoring and control social benefits. But there is no single re- sponsible body. Issues of social protection are ad- dressed piece meal, each body examines issues only in its part. At the moment, there is no united policy. Now the issue on creating either a council or a separate min- istry which can function as one unified agency is being considered. Ministry of labor Quality of jobs and low sal- Department is ready to provide employment to every department on aries. citizen who does not want to wait for social benefits. public works Public works programs are a good response to current problems faced by households in Uzbekistan. Since the number of unemployed has decreased significantly. Participation in public work does not require a certain level of knowledge and experience, so the unskilled population is provided with work. The number of peo- ple seeking work abroad is decreased. The number of people waiting for money for social allowances is de- creased. Termination of the employ- The Employment Support Centers do not have enough ment contract of the spe- people and resources to develop public works pro- cialist in the regions. grams. All documents normally are incomplete. The problem is not a lack of work, but a low salary. Em- ployees do not have enough motivation. It would be better to raise the salaries of employees or introduce incentives, to avoid rent seeking. Employment Sup- People do not want to work The working conditions and amount of wage is to be port Centers at the proposed vacant jobs improved. because of low wages. There is lack of vacancies ESC cannot provide employment to some people be- for certain professions. cause of no vacancies for their profession and offer re- training instead that in some cases causes dissatisfac- tion. ESC’s specialists are pro- Inspectors visit the mahallas. They implement the mon- vided with the car to drive / itoring and control the employment rate, provide infor- transport the people who en- mation on vacant positions and other services on em- gaged in temporary work. ployment of the population. Table computers will However, there is a lack of speed up the collection and processing the information tablet computers at the spe- as well as servicing the population. Switching over to cialists who visits mahalla E Transactions is essential. committees. ESCs in the regions face Inspectors visit all mahallas, including remote ones ac- lack of staff. cording to the established schedule. However, there are 31 cases when additional orders and tasks from higher in- stances are assigned and as a result employees of ESC and inspectors lack time to perform all the assigned tasks and regular job tasks, including income assess- ment of applicants for allowances by visiting them as part of the commission, in due time. Representatives of Employment Center together have to visit each Mahallya and personally listen to all the complaints, hold public talks, meetings and seminars for which they usually do not have time. In this view, it was proposed to create a position at ma- halla committee for the person engaged in employment issues. Thus, inspectors may work directly with that person. The employment of people Assistance of Ministry of internal affairs at each district who lost their passport is as well as public prosecutor's office to have the docu- impossible. ment (passport) re-issued. Then, our specialist can help them to be employed. Republic pension When calculating a pension Improvements of the legislation will allow simplifying Fund there is no document con- the process of calculation of pensions as well as in- firming the period of work - crease the size of calculated pension. a work book, a salary certif- icate, etc. The organization does not operate; there are no accrual documents at the archive. The court can con- firm the period of work, but cannot give information on the salary at the time of work. Consequently, the Pension Fund cannot calcu- late the pension. Pension Fund of There is a difficult situation Assistance of Ministry of internal affairs at each district Tashkent city with the people who lost as well as public prosecutor's office to have the docu- their passport, need the so- ment (passport) re-issued. Then, people can apply for cial allowance, but cannot the allowance for low-income families or other allow- apply for it. They cannot ances. provide the required docu- ments. Issue of guardianship. It is difficult to collect all the re- quired documents for guard- ianship and social allow- ances for people who are in- capable. It is difficult to collect the documents, especially med- ical conclusion for disabil- ity. District Pension Many people receive mini- In 90s many organizations opened and closed without Funds mum pension as cannot submission of documents to Archive. As a result, peo- prove their years of work ple working at these organizations cannot prove their experience. work experience, as documents are not available. In There are 2 inspectors on this view, electronic document turnover should be in- pensions for 3000 – 4000 troduced with single database with all information 32 people in each district: 1 in- about people. It will reduce time for collection of doc- spector for assignment of uments and will be convenient for everybody. Elec- pension, 1 inspector – for tronic database should contain all necessary data about payment of pensions. If people, from tax inspections, places of work and other there are 12 000 people in institutions. the district, 4 inspectors for assignment of pension and 4 inspectors for payment of pensions are engaged in this process. Khokimiyats It is necessary to understand that social benefits are di- rected on improvement of people’s life conditions, but not for permanent financial assistance. Thus, it is nec- essary to increase the legal and economic conscious- ness of people in order to avoid dependency. Mahalla committee People can apply for the al- According to the legislation, mahalla committee is not lowance only at the place of authorized to consider the application on the applied permanent registration. If persons registered at another place of permanent resi- person is registered at an- dence. other district / mahalla, he/ she must apply for the al- lowance to the local author- ities at the place of perma- nent residence, not at actual living place. Final conclusion on the con- People do not agree with the calculations and acts on sidered application for low- assessment the household living conditions. They think income families is given by that they are low-income families. However, results of the mahalla committee assessment of the commission do not allow considering based on their calculations the household as low-income. Such households usually and visit of the households. have good living conditions, support of their parents and other relatives. Conclusion on the submission of the low-income al- lowance must be given by other legal institutes based on the provided documents and acts. Now this conclu- sion is given by mahalla committee. Provision of allowance for If all the allowance for children under 2 years old are children under 2 years old is given by the employer, then mother of children will try provided to the housewives to be employed. This will allow stimulate the employ- by mahalla committee. ment of the population, increase their responsibility for well-being of the families and reduce the expenses of local budget for such type of allowance. Finally, ma- halla committee will re-distribute these financial as- signments for other types of allowances for needy fam- ilies. Insufficient amount of funds Mahalla committee has monthly limit for payment of for payment of allowances, allowances based on the number of applications sub- i.e. monthly limit resulting mitted in the previous month. However, sometimes in inability to support all el- mahalla committee faces the situation when more ap- igible applicants plicants submitted the applications for allowances and are proved to be eligible according to the results of in- come assessment. Consequently, not all applicants can be supported the month they submitted the application and thus, are shifted to next month. 33 Non-payment of soft loans Provision of soft loans requires availability of guaran- by some of the debtors tor. However, not any person can be a guarantor, only those with fixed income, mainly from state-owned en- Banks terprises. In this view, too complex requirements for issuance of soft credits affect the amount of people able to take them. Award of commendations and appreciations on Award of commendations and appreciations on official holidays (Navruz, Eid, Independence Day official holidays (Navruz, Eid, Independence Day and Constitution day) and memorable days and Constitution day) and memorable days If any of the employees apply for the support, No support they get it 5.7. ESC – Anecdotal Remarks. 1) There are many applications from people to work as a nurse, but there is no opportunity to employ everybody for the position of nurse as there are no vacancies. In this view, these applicants are of- fered retraining in seamstress. 2) For registration as the unemployed at the Employment Support Centers, a lot of documents are re- quired and templates to fill in. In this view, it is highly recommended to transfer all the procedures to automated and electronic system. 3) People submit their grievances and claims to ESC. The main reason is disagreement with the refusal to assign unemployment benefit. 4) Certain applicants take quite a time to get explanations. 5) Where are the jobs, we have no answer for job aspirants. 6) Low awareness of people about ESC. 7) There are no suitable vacancies for applicants for the moment of application and people are offered retraining. Some people do not want retraining and express their dissatisfaction. 8) Information on vacancy is received from the company. When people are sent there, the vacancy is already occupied. 9) There are many dissatisfied people because of low salary jobs proposed by ESC staff. 34 VI. POTENTIAL SOCIAL RISKS AND IMPACTS 6.1. Positive and Negative Impacts The impacts likely to occur as a result of the project intervention are described below. Table 6.1. Impact assessment and risk management Negative Im- Risk and re- Mitigatory # Stakeholders Positive Impacts pacts marks Measures 1 Affected par- 1. The registration None Currently risks are Public outreach ties at the Employment cen- substantial. With program by the ter will increase. the Project this is Ministry of Labor 2. Skills training expected to be- through ESC. and/or retraining. come low. ESCs to try mobile 3. Increase in gen- registration coun- eral awareness among ters and / or cam- job aspirants, as well as paigns in the rural employers. areas. 4. Targeted social Cash or in-kind as- assistance will be much sistance to poor and more effective. near poor. Rolling out of a new/ revised social registry. 2 Other inter- Surplus funds for unem- The workload Currently risks are Modernization of ested parties ployment benefit. at the em- substantial. With systems and proce- System will be digital- ployment the Project this is dures. ized. centers are expected to be- Reorienting the Capacity building. likely to go come low. staff through state- up, which of the art technolo- will have im- gies and tech- plications on niques. resources. Incentives in reach- ing out poor and near poor. 35 VII. SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN The Social Management Plan (SMP) essentially lists ouf the key issues emanating from the social assessment and draw mitigatory measures to address each of them. At the outset, it may be apt to mention that the entire project is in fact literally a comprehensive Social Management Plan itself as not only the PDO but also components are designed such as to address the key social development focusses – Inclusion, Equity, Transparency and Accountability. The social assessment has been able to inform the project design amply as reflected in the key issues identified and addressed by the project (Table – input output/ outcome results chain). The project components have been designed such as to address the SD issues. Yet, for the purpose of inclusiveness of this report, major issues and actions are reiterated. Figure 7.1. Key Issues and Interventions 36 7.1. Major issues/ challenges: 1. Unemployment – Three categories of the population encountering unemployment are: (i) Unviersity Graduates – this is likely to increase in the coming days; (ii) Rural Residents, specially those who are unskilled; (iii) Women – from both rural and urban areas; abd (iv) Laid-off workers- People who lose jobs find it difficult to get similar kind of jobs. Given the structural reforms involving privatization of SOEs, more people are likely to lose in the coming days7. 2. Quality of jobs and remuneration – Discouarages youth to take up jobs and prefer to remain idle. 3. Underemployment – most works in the rural areas are seasonal and rural (unskilled) people find it difficult to be employed throughout the year. 4. Employment centers – functioning and performance: (i) Rural and remote area residents find it difficult to access and expensive in getting registered; (ii) Too many demands in terms of documentation and cumbersome processes; (iii) Operations are mostly manual and hence time consuming; (iv) Territorial restrictions and mandatory residence proof restricts exploring jobs in the country; (v) Inadequate and inappropriate out reach programs; and (vi) ESCs interface with mahallas and hakumiyat needs further strengthening. 7.2. ESC and jobs (i) Lack of adequate and appropriate jobs – results in refusal of jobs repetitively and discontentment among aspirants; (ii) Mismatch between the skill and expectations of an aspirant with that of the jobs offered; (iii) Less than satisfactory interface with employers; (iv) Training and re-training programs requires a re visit to make it more effective; and (v) ESC staff’s capacity are to be enhanced in terms of knowledge, skills and management practices. 7.3. Targeted Social Assistance (i) Multiple agencies – Three or four agencies are involved with similar mandate and clientielle. They also function rather independent of each other and manage different programs. (ii) Inclusion and Exclusion Errors- While reaching out to the poor and near poor has been a challenging task, un deserving or not-so- much deserving people are being benefitted. (iii) Nature and quantum of assistance, specially, for unemployment. While the assistance has been in terms of cash only, it is one time payments, and be set with many procedureal wrangles for the fact that it is the last resort. Further, quantum of assistance has always been debatable, as they are incredibly low (Table 7.1). 7 Another World Bank project is assisting in reforming the SOEs. 37 Table 7.1. The amount of unemployment benefits 2018 (projected by 2017 2016 MoF) No. Total bene- Total re- Total benefits Total re- Total Total re- fits in mlns cipients, in mlns of cipients, benefits cipients, of soums, annual soums, annual annual in mlns annual annual of soums, annual Unemploy- 1 4510.7 9.496 2801.7 10.428 1710.4 6.981 ment benefits exchange rate UZS/USD* 8325.59 8101.62 3217.56 2018 (projected by 2017 2016 MoF) No. Total bene- Total re- Total benefits Total re- Total Total re- fits in thou- cipients, in thousands cipients, benefits cipients, sands of annual of USD, an- annual in thou- annual USD, an- nual sands of nual USD, annual Unemploy- 1 541.787 9.496 345.820 10.428 531.583 6.981 ment benefits * in December of re- spective year Monthly ben- efits per per- son in USD $57.05 $33.16 $76.15 7.4. Mitigatory Measures- social management plan As stated earlier, the entire project is a mitigatory plan. So, without going into repeating the elements of PAD, certain key measures are made explicit and these correspond to the issues listed above. 1. University Graduates Employment ➢ Need to look at the curriculum and tweak it to the requirements of job market. Placement service centers should be established in the universities for not only counselling the would-be- job seekers but also interface with the prospective employers. ➢ Arrangements should be made for the would-be-job seekers to interact with the prospective employers through lectures, fairs, exhibitions etc. 2. Rural Residents Unemployment and Under-Employment ➢ Advance planning and informing of the same as regards seasona employment to the job seekers through mahallas and hukumiyots by ESCs. ➢ Appropriate skill training and/ or upgradation of skills following identification of skill gaps by ESCs. ➢ Provision for micro enterprises be included as most rural people prefer the same. 3. Laid-off Workers ➢ A region-wise disaggregated data base should be developed with details about the age, qualifications and skills of those persons who will or likely to lose jobs. 38 ➢ The same should be shared with prospective employers so that it is registered in their HR data base as well. ➢ Matching of the existing skills with the currently available jobs be made and updated regularly, and shared with job seekers ( registered and un-registered) as well as with the employers. ➢ Training and re-training programs should be designed taking into account the required skills in the market. These programs necessarily be designed with full participation of the prospective employers. ➢ All the training programs should be communicated to the job seekers well in advance, free of charge and executed taking into account their logistical convenience. 4. Women Employment ➢ A disaggregated data base of the employment available and the skills required thereof in respect of women should be prepared in respect of each region/ district. ➢ Separate job fairs be held to provide a platform for job seekers and employers to interact. ➢ Refusal of women candidates for any particular job should be recorded and analyzied. It is understood that most employers shy away fearing payment of maternity leave and allowances. ➢ State of the art techniques and technologies should be imbibed in desinging and conducting the training programs, be it sewing, beautician or hospitality industries. 5. Employment Centers ➢ Digitalization is essential. Manual processing should be minimum. ➢ Simplification of the procedures is critical and demand for documents should be minimum. ➢ It is normal practice to expect a job seeker to go over to the ESCs. In addition, it is also required for the ESCs to go over to the people. Mobile Centers, job fares/ exhibitions, and other out reach campaign are to be planned for. Necessary resources for this should be made available. ➢ Adequate and appropriate incentives and facilitation be made available to the EC Inspectors to go out and interface continuously with the mahalla and hukumiyat as well as job seekers in the field. ➢ Private sector service providers be identified and accredited for the conduction of training and/ or re-training programs. Matching grants with incentives that culminate in job placements be provided. ➢ Each Region should be enabled to prepare a strategic implementation action plan on an annual basis which should cover all the above elements. 6. Targeted Social Assistance ➢ Single Social Registry. Development of a single social registry would address the issue of inclusion/ exclusion errors. To begin with, this can be piloted in one region and further steps be drawn to roll out nation wide. ➢ Consolidation of different programs and improving effectiveness. It is higly appropriate for ensuring the consolidation of family allowances into a single social benefit for low income fami- lies and an alternative benefit amount structure, including the introduction of gradual phasing of benefits and/or partial income disregards for work-able beneficiaries of family allowances as well as the introduction of conditions (and related sanctions) attached to the family allowance benefit to promote labor activation. This too can be piloted initially along with the social registry and then plans for country wide replication can be drawn. ➢ Entrepreneurship Development. Towards enabling small scale entrepreneurship development, specially aimed at poor and the near poor unemployed people, a new program combining skill training and provision of micro loans will be highly helpful. All the above mitigatory measures are incorporated in the design of the project. 39 VIII. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 8.1. Implementation Arrangements The PIU under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations will shoulder full responsibility for engaging with the stakeholders. Social Development Specialist recruited from the market will steer the SMP including SEP in the PIU. S/he will be assisted by a Community Liaison Officer (CLO). As this is countrywide program, other key entities like regional employment centers, district employment centers and mahalla committees will also play a major role. At the sub-national level each regional ESC will identify one person (either from the Department of employment and social support, or from the Sector for creation and maintenance of database on vacancies) will act as a nodal person for SMP (Figure №7.1.). However, the entire ESC will be involved in managing SMP. Figure 8.1. Employment Support Center structure Director State legal employment in- Deputy Director spector (1 person) Department of employment Sector for creation and and social support to the un- maintenance database on va- employed (1-2 people) cancies (1 person) Sector for organization of job Legal consultant (1 person) fairs, professional retraining and public works (1 person) Bureau for provision with temporary single-time job. Sector for monitoring of pay- ments to low-income families and organization of individ- ual programs for withdrawal from low-income level (1 person) Inspectors on employment 40 8.2. Roles and Responsibilities A core Community Liaison Team comprised of MELR, the PIU, Regional employment departments and Em- ployment support centers staff will take responsibility for and lead all aspects of the stakeholder engagement. However, to implement the various activities envisaged in the SEP, the Community Liaison Team will need to closely coordinate with other key stakeholders – other national and local government departments/agencies and PAPs. The roles and responsibilities of these actors/stakeholders are summarized in the Table below. Table 8.1. Responsibilities of key actors/stakeholders in SEP Implementation Actor/Stakeholder Responsibilities Ministry of employment • Planning and implementation of the SMP/ SEP; and labor relations and • Leading stakeholder engagement activities; Project Implementation • Management and resolution of grievances; Unit • Coordination/supervision of contractors on SMP activities; • Monitoring of and reporting on social performance to GOU and the World Bank. Regional employment de- • Inform PIU of any issues related to SMP implementation; partments • Provide report on all complaints to the PIU GRM Focal Point; • Transmit and resolve complaints caused by the project interventions in close collaboration with and as directed by PIU and by participating in the local Grievance Resolution Committee; • Disclose and implement various project referenced plans. Employment support cen- • Monitor Project compliance with Uzbek legislation; ters (district/city) • Participate in the implementation of assigned activities in the SMP and SEP; • Provide report on all complaints to the Regional GRM Focal Point; • Participate in the local Grievance Resolution Committee (see Section VIII. Grievance Redress Mechanism); • Make available the disclosed SMP, SEP documents and GRM proce- dures. Project-affected parties • Invited to engage and ask questions about the Project at Project Meetings and through discussions with Community Liaison Officers where it is of interest or of relevance to them; • Lodge their grievances using the Grievance Resolution Mechanism de- fined in the SEP (Section VIII. Grievance Redress Mechanism); • Help the Project to define mitigation measures; Other project stakeholders • Engage with PIU regarding project design; • Raise concerns to help the project to be inclusive. 8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods to be used Public/community meetings Prior to other activities, at the time of disclosure of the Social Assessment, Social Management Plan and this SEP, MELR will organize project launch meeting on a national level. District/city employment sup- port centers with the support of Regional Employment Departments will organize meetings in each dis- trict/city for mahalla leaders, PAPs, and other interested parties. Meetings will be open house events where ESCs will present information and people will be invited to make comments and express any concerns. If there is sufficient interest, separate meetings will be held for women, at which women will also be the primary representatives of ESCs. Meetings in each of the district/city will also be organized on a quarterly basis. 41 Communication materials Written information will be disclosed to the public via a variety of communication materials including brochures, flyers, posters, etc. A public relations kit will be designed specifically and distributed both in print and online form. MELR will also update its website regularly (at least on a quarterly basis) with key project updates and reports on the project’s performance both in Uzbek, Russian and English. The website will also provide information about the grievance mechanism for the project (see next sub-section). Mass/social media communication A community liaison officer (CLO) or social media expert (from MELR/PIU staff or an external consult- ant) will be engaged on the Project during the project implementation in order to remain in close commu- nication with stakeholders including PAPs, mahalla leaders. The CLO will also be responsible for posting relevant information on the dedicated MELR website, social media channels (Facebook, Telegram, etc.) and on information boards throughout the project’s lifecycle. Social media channels will be used as much as possible to disseminate information as rates of social media use (especially Telegram channels) appear to be high across users of different age and background in project-affected communities. Information Desks Information Desks in each region and district will provide local residents with information on stakeholder engagement activities, project interventions, contact details of the Focal point, etc. The focal point, in turn, will set up these information desks, either in their offices or other easily accessible places where they can meet and share information about the project with PAPs and other stakeholders. Brochures and fliers on various project related social and environmental issues will be made available at these information desks. Citizen/PAP perception survey A perception survey examining citizen’s experience and feedback about the project will be carried out twice during the project’s lifecycle: once around the mid-implementation phase, and once towards the end of the project’s implementation. Training, workshops Training on a variety of social issues will be provided to MELR, PIU, REDs and possibly relevant gov- ernment or non-government service providers. Issues covered will include sensitization to inclusion/ex- clusion, labor issues, gender-based violence risks. Grievance redress mechanism In compliance with the World Bank’s ESS10, a project-specific grievance mechanism will be set up to handle complaints and issues, and this will be integrated into a country system on GRM that are available to citizens. Dedicated communication materials (specifically, a GRM brochure or pamphlet) will be de- veloped to help local residents become familiar with the grievance redress channels and procedures. Locked suggestion/complaint boxes will be posted in each ESC and mahalla offices, and PIU will main- tain a grievance register in order to capture and track grievances from submission to resolution and com- munication with complainants. The initial effort to resolve grievances to the complainant’s satisfaction will be undertaken by mahalla. If that is not successful in resolving grievances, they will be referred to a committee at the ESC. The mech- anism is described in more detail in Section VIII below, which includes a form that can be used to submit grievances. Grievances may be submitted anonymously, but in that case, it cannot be known if the com- plainant is satisfied with the resolution. MELR’s website, posters, and leaflets will include clear infor- mation on how feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and grievances can be submitted by any stake- holder. It will also provide information on the way grievances will be handled, both in terms of process and deadlines. 42 8.4. Proposed strategy to incorporate the view of vulnerable groups The project will take special measures to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups have equal opportunity to access information, provide feedback, or submit grievances. The deployment of CLO with the support of social specialist will help to ensure proactive outreach to all population groups. Training and awareness raising sessions will be conducted in villages and mahallas rather than municipal centers to ensure higher participation of the targeted population. Focus groups dedicated specifically to vulnerable groups may also be envisaged as appropriate. 8.5. Information disclosure The current MELR website (www.mehnat.uz) is being used to disclose project documents, including those on social performance in Uzbek and Russian. MELR will create a webpage on the Project on its existing website. All future project-related social monitoring reports listed in the above sections will be disclosed on this webpage. Project updates will also be posted on the homepage of MELR’ s website. An easy-to- understand guide to the terminology used in the social reports or documents will also be provided on the website. All information brochures/fliers will be posted on the website. Details about the Project Griev- ance Resolution Mechanism will be posted on the website. An electronic grievance submission form will also be made available on MELR’s website. Contact details of the Community Liaison Team and head- quarters and all Community Liaison Officers at the Regional and District levels will also be made availa- ble on the website. MELR will update and maintain the website regularly (at least on monthly basis). Further, MELR will create a dedicated project Facebook page and a Telegram channel for PAPs and other stakeholders. 8.6. Estimated Budget While SMP implementation derives its budget from the project as a whole, a tentative budget for imple- menting the stakeholder engagement plan over five years is reflected in Table №7.2. The stakeholder engagement activities featured above cover a variety of social issues, which may be part of other project documents, so it is possible that they have also been budgeted in other plans. However, the table below summarizes all the stakeholder engagement activities in one place for better coordination and monitoring. MELR will review this plan every six months to determine if any changes to stakeholder classification or engagement are required. If so, the plan will be updated, and a new revision distributed. The budget will be revised accordingly. Table 8.2. Stakeholder Engagement Plan – Estimated Budget (5 years) Unit Total № of Stakeholder Engagement Activities Q-ty Cost, cost years USD (USD) Community liaison officer (5 years x USD 300 per month) 1 300 5 18000 Travel expenses of staff (cost per year) 5000 5 25000 Information desk (PIU - 1, regional departments - 14, ESCs -170) 185 100 1 18500 = 185 Communication materials (leaflets, posters, PR kits including de- 25000 sign) Project press conferences (twice per year) 2 1000 5 10000 43 Trainings (Social issues, outreach, GRM, etc.) for PIU, Regional 14 1500 1 21000 employment departments and ESCs Suggestions / GRM boxes (PIU and in each Regional department 185 20 1 3700 and ESCs) MIS/GRM data base (including mobile application with online and 10000 1 10000 offline uploads) Subtotal 131200 Contingency 13800 Total 145000 44 IX. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 9.1. Social Development Indicators are fully integrated into that of the PDO. a. Increased share of beneficiary families supported by social benefits that belong to the poorest quin- tile; b. Number of poor and vulnerable individuals (women, youth, returning migrants, low income workers) who find a job through Employment Centers’ intermediation services; c. Increased number of poor and vulnerable people who have a job in six months after participating in selected labor market programs supported by the project (entrepreneurship training and training sub- sidies); d. Number of vulnerable dismissed workers supported by the transition benefit. The PDO-level and intermediate results indicators would be monitored using the following sources and methodologies: (i) data collected through management information systems supported by the Project (Sin- gle Registry, ISWO and LMIS); (ii) regular administrative data collection processes; (iii) beneficiary sur- veys supported by the Project and conducted by outsourced external firm(s); (iv) other monitoring and evaluation studies conducted by the Client; and (v) progress reports to be prepared by the project manage- ment team. In general, the project management team would be responsible for gathering the relevant reports and information from MoF and MELR representatives and other relevant parties involved in the project implementation (e.g. ESCs, Employment Fund) to monitor the PDO and results, and for communicating with the World Bank according to the frequency of reports to be described in the project’s Results Frame- work. The proposed project would also support continued building of the MELR’s capacity (including its research center) to better track implementation and monit or key labor market interventions and evaluate policy and programs based on the systematic and organized feedback from beneficiaries and the use of the MIS data. The detailed results framework and the arrangements for its execution are presented in Annex – 1. A social audit of the SMP will be undertaken 18 months down the implementation and adjustments will be made, as appropriate. 45 X. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM The GRM will be accessible to the full range of project stakeholders, including project-affected parties, community members, civil society, media, and other interested parties. Stakeholders can use the GRM to submit complaints, feedback, queries, suggestions, or even compliments related to the overall manage- ment and implementation of the project. The GRM is intended to address issues and complaints from external stakeholders in an efficient, timely, and cost-effective manner. A separate mechanism will be used for worker grievances. The PIU at MELR will be responsible for managing the stakeholder GRM. The PIU will enable (i) regional (Regional Employment Departments), (ii) district (Employment Support Centers) and (iii) community (village and/or mahalla) level as GRM focal points. By this arrangement the project will be able to address effectively and efficiently all grievances raised at grassroot level – house- holds, which will have countrywide scattered pattern including those in remote areas. To manage the project GRM it will include three successive tiers of extra-judicial grievance review and resolution: • The first tier will be the mahalla. They will deal with issues that can be quickly resolved and would always involve direct communication with the person(s) who submitted the grievance. • The second tier will be a Grievance Resolution Committee (GRC1) that includes representa- tives of ESCs and of the complainant’s village and/or mahalla. The GRC1 will deal with issues that could not be resolved in the first tier. • The third tier will be a Grievance Redress Commission (GRC2) under leadership of PIU and includes one or more senior Regional Employment Department (RED) and ESCs managers and one mahalla and/or village leaders. GRC2 will resolve issues that could not be resolved by GRC1. 10.1. Grievance resolution process Information about the GRM will be publicized as part of the Public/community meetings. Brochures will be distributed during consultations and public meetings, and posters will be displayed in public places such as in government offices, project offices, ESCs, village and mahalla notice boards, etc. Information about the GRM will also be posted online on the MELR website (https://www.mehnat.uz). The overall process for the GRM will be comprised of six steps, as shown on Figure 8.1 and described below. Figure 10.1. Feedback and GRM Process8 • Step 1: Uptake. Project stakeholders will be able to provide feedback and report complaints through several channels: in person at focal points of various levels (offices village/mahalla, ECSs, REDs, PIU, and MELR) and by mail, telephone, and email. • Step 2: Sorting and processing. Complaints and feedback will be compiled by the Community Liaison Officer and recorded in a register. Each focal point will assign one individual to be responsible for dealing with each complaint, and with the complainant to arrive at a resolution, with the goal to resolve complaints within 15 days of receipt. 8Source: Agarwal, Sanjay and David Post. 2009. Feedback Matters: Designing Effective Grievance Redress Mechanisms for Bank- Financed Projects – Part I. SDV. World Bank. 46 • Step 3: Acknowledgement and follow-up. Within seven (7) days of the date a complaint is submitted, the responsible person will communicate with the complainant and provide infor- mation on the likely course of action and the anticipated timeframe for resolution of the com- plaint. If complaints are not resolved within 15 days, the responsible person will provide an update about the status of the complaint/question to the complainant and again provide an estimate of how long it will take to resolve the issue. In addition, each focal point will report to the PIU every two weeks on grievances that have remained unresolved for 30 days or more. • Step 4: Verification, investigation and action. This step involves gathering information about the grievance to determine the facts surrounding the issue and verifying the complaint’s va- lidity, and then developing a proposed resolution, which could include changes of decisions concerning eligibility for mitigation, assistance, changes in the program itself, other actions, or no actions. Depending on the nature of the complaint, the process can include site visits, document reviews, a meeting with the complainant (if known and willing to engage), and meetings with others (both those associated with the project and outside) who may have knowledge or can otherwise help resolve the issue. It is expected that many or most grievances would be resolved at this stage. All activities taken during this and the other steps will be fully documented, and any resolution logged in the register. • Step 5: Monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring refers to the process of tracking grievances and assessing the progress that has been toward resolution. The PIU will be responsible for consolidating, monitoring, and reporting on complaints, enquiries and other feedback that have been received, resolved, or pending. This will be accomplished by maintaining the griev- ance register and records of all steps taken to resolve grievances or otherwise respond to feed- back and questions. • Step 6: Providing Feedback. This step involves informing those to submit complaints, feed- back, and questions about how issues were resolved, or providing answers to questions. When- ever possible, complainants should be informed of the proposed resolution in person. If the complainant is not satisfied with the resolution, he or she will be informed of further options, which would include pursuing remedies through the World Bank, as described below, or through avenues afforded by the Uzbekistan legal system. On a monthly basis, the PIU will report to the MELR on grievances resolved since the previous report and on grievances that remain unresolved, with an explanation as to steps to be taken to resolve grievances that have not been resolved within 30 days. Data on grievances and/or original grievance logs will be made available to World Bank missions on request, and summaries of grievances and resolu- tions will be included in periodic reports to the World Bank. MELR through PIU will be responsible for carrying grievances through all six steps. Step 4 (Verify, Investigate, and Act) could involve interviews of the aggrieved party, workers, or other stakeholders; review of records; consultation with authorities; and/or other fact-finding activities. If the grievance can- not be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, it will be referred to GRC1, who would retrace Step 4 as needed. The steps following the initial investigation and proposed solution would proceed as follows: • Determination of proposed resolution or referral to second tier: - If resolution is proposed: referral to E&S manager for review and approval (including refinements). Once approved, responsible person would communicate resolution to com- plainant and refer to corporate management for implementation. - If referred to second tier, GRC1 would consider facts determined by initial review and conduct such other fact-finding as needed, including interviews of complainant and others if necessary. • GRC1 recommends resolution or refers to GRC2: - If resolution is proposed: referral to ESC for implementation, including communication to complainant. 47 - If referred to third tier, GRC2 to meet and discuss facts as determined by initial tiers and make determination of proposed resolution. • GRC2-recommended resolution: referred to ESC for communication to complainant and im- plementation of recommended actions (if any) • Complainant would be asked to acknowledge acceptance (or rejection) of the resolution. • ESC would then implement actions that are part of the resolution (if any). If a person who submits a grievance is not satisfied with the resolution at the first or second tiers, he/she may request it be elevated to the next tier. If they are not satisfied with the ultimate resolution, they may pursue legal remedies in court or pursue other avenues as described in section 8.2. Throughout the entire process, ESC will maintain detailed records of all deliberations, investigations, findings, and actions, and will maintain a summary log that tracks the overall process. 10.2. Grievance processing Anyone who believes they are eligible for compensation can submit a grievance: • By completing a written grievance form that will be available (a) in the village/mahalla, (b) at ESC’s offices and on their website, and (c) from CLOs or other members of the PIU. An example of a grievance registration form is provided in Annex 1. • By contacting the ESC or other member of the RED team, either by telephone or in person. Grievances received verbally will be recorded by the assigned officer on a grievance registra- tion form and logged into the Grievance Register. A copy of the logged grievance will be given to the complainant, giving them the opportunity to alert PIU if the grievance has not been noted down correctly. 48 Figure 10.2. Typical grievance resolution process. The ESCs will explain to local communities the possibilities and ways to raise a grievance during consul- tation meetings organized in each district and selected villages when this draft SEP and other draft docu- ments are disclosed and then at quarterly meetings thereafter. The GRM procedures will be disclosed through the Project’s website and will also be described in a brochure or pamphlet made available in ESC administration buildings. The ESC Community Liaison Officer team will be responsible for logging and tracking grievances. As noted above, one person will be assigned responsibility for investigating and recommending resolution to each grievance, or to recommend referral to GRC1. Information to be recorded in the grievance log will include name and contact details of the complainant and a summary of the grievance and how and when it was submitted, acknowledged, responded to and closed out. All grievances will be acknowledged within 7 days and resolved as quickly as possible. If there has been no resolution within 30 days, the person assigned responsibility for the grievance will contact the complainant to explain the reason for the delay. On at least a monthly basis, a summary of grievances and resolutions will be provided to the PIU. The status, number, and trends of grievances will be discussed between the project team and ESC management during meetings held at least monthly and more frequently as needed. 49 A grievance will be considered “resolved� or “closed� when a resolution satisfactory to both pa rties has been reached, and after any required corrective measures have been successfully implemented. When a proposed solution is agreed by the complainant, the time needed to implement it will depend on the nature of the solution. Once the solution is being implemented or is implemented to the satisfaction of the com- plainant, the complaint will be closed out and acknowledged in writing by both the complainant and ESC. In certain situations, it may not be possible to reach a satisfactory resolution. This could occur if a com- plaint cannot be substantiated or is proved to be speculative or fraudulent. In such situations, ESC’s efforts to investigate the grievance and to arrive at a conclusion will be well documented and the complainant advised of the situation. It is also possible that a complainant will not be satisfied with the proposed resolution. In such cases, if ESC cannot do more, the complainant will be asked to acknowledge refusal of the proposed resolution in writing. ESC will then decide whether to implement the resolution without the agreement of the complainant and the complainant will decide whether to pursue legal remedies. 10.3. Grievance Logs As noted previously, the PIU will maintain a grievance log. This log will include at least the following information: • Individual reference number • Name of the person submitting the complaint, question, or other feedback, address and/or contact information (unless the complaint has been submitted anonymously) • Details of the complaint, feedback, or question/her location and details of his / her complaint. • Date of the complaint. • Name of person assigned to deal with the complaint (acknowledge to the complainant, inves- tigate, propose resolutions, etc.) • Details of proposed resolution, including person(s) who will be responsible for authorizing and implementing any corrective actions that are part of the proposed resolution • Date when proposed resolution was communicated to the complainant (unless anonymous) • Date when the complainant acknowledged, in writing if possible, being informed of the pro- posed resolution • Details of whether the complainant was satisfied with the resolution, and whether the com- plaint can be closed out • If necessary, details of GRC1 and GRC2 referrals, activities, and decisions • Date when the resolution is implemented (if any). 50 10.4. Monitoring and reporting on grievances Details of monitoring and reporting are described above. Day-to-day implementation of the GRM and reporting to the World Bank will be the responsibility of the PIU. To ensure management oversight of grievance handling, the Internal Audit Unit will be responsible for monitoring the overall process, includ- ing verification that agreed resolutions are actually implemented. 10.5. Central point of contact - PIU The point of contact regarding the stakeholder engagement program: Description Contact details Name Address: E-mail: Telephone: Information on the Project and future stakeholder engagement programs will available on the Project’s website and will be posted on information boards in the villages crossed by the line. Information can also be obtained from MELR in Tashkent. Six-monthly E&S reports that document the implementation of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be disclosed on the Project website and made available in the ESCs. 10.6. World Bank Grievance Redress System Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a project supported by the World Bank may also complaints directly to the Bank through the Bank’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS) (http://projects-beta.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-re- dress-service). A complaint may be submitted in English, Uzbek or Russian, although additional pro- cessing time will be needed for complaints that are not in English. A complaint can be submitted to the Bank GRS through the following channels: • By email: grievances@worldbank.org • By fax: +1.202.614.7313 • By mail: The World Bank, Grievance Redress Service, MSN MC10-1018, 1818 H Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20433, USA • Through the World Bank Uzbekistan Country Office in Tashkent: 107B Amir Temur Street, Block C, 15th floor, 100084, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, tashkent@worldbank.org, Tel. +998 71 120-2400 The complaint must clearly state the adverse impact(s) allegedly caused or likely to be caused by the Bank-supported project. This should be supported by available documentation and correspondence to the extent possible. The complainant may also indicate the desired outcome of the complaint. Finally, the complaint should identify the complainant(s) or assigned representative/s, and provide contact details. Complaints submitted via the GRS are promptly reviewed to allow quick attention to project-related con- cerns. In addition, project-affected communities and individuals may submit complaints to the World Bank’s independent Inspection Panel, which will then determine whether harm occurred, or could occur, as a result of the World Bank’s non-compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted to the Inspection Panel at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank’s atten- tion, and after Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org. 51 ANNEXES Labor force composition Jan-Dec 2018 (thousand people) Jan-Dec Change from Jan-Sep to Jan-Sep № Indicators 2018 (pro- Jan-Dec 2018 jected) (+,-) (%) I Labor force participants 14599.8 14641.7 41.9 100.3 1 Employed, total 13292.2 13273.1 -19.1 99.9 including 1.1. Formally employed 5354.6 5403 48.4 100.9 1.1.1. Employed by legal entities (businesses) 4566.8 4602.1 35.3 100.8 1.1.2. Licensed single entrepreneurs 318.5 330.4 11.9 103.7 1.1.4. Employed by farming enterprises 21.5 22.7 1.2 105.6 1.1.5. Other entities and agencies 447.8 447.8 0 100 1.2. Informally employed 7937.6 7870.1 -67.5 99.1 1.2.1. Temporary and seasonal workers 1766.5 1692.2 -74.3 95.8 а) temporary short term jobs 686 683.5 -2.5 99.6 б) seasonal jobs 1080.5 1008.7 -71.8 93.4 Family members working in family busi- 1.2.2. ness 783.7 879.6 95.9 112.2 Single entrepreneurs operating without 1.2.3. proper license 1291.3 1470.6 179.3 113.9 Vendors at market places trading without a) license 609.7 727.4 117.7 119.3 Other types of entrepreneurship (private b) harnesses, crafts, household services) 681.6 743.2 61.6 109 1.2.4. Employed by farming enterprises 1502.4 1442.9 -59.5 96 1.2.5. Temporarily migrated to work abroad 2593.7 2384.8 -208.9 91.9 2 Unemployed, total 1307.6 1368.6 61 104.7 Unemployment rate 9 9.3 х х 2.1 Officially registered unemployed 62.9 32.3 -30.6 51.4 Unemployed job seekers not registered 2.2 with ESC 1244.7 1336.3 91.6 107.4 II Out of labor force, total 4214.3 4193.9 -20.4 99.5 2.1. Students 1673.7 1698.3 24.6 101.5 2.2. Women on maternity leave 1726.1 1741.8 15.7 100.9 2.3. Not seeking a job 814.5 753.8 -60.7 92.5 III Total human resources 18814.1 18835.6 21.5 100.1 3.1. Working age adults 18697.2 18718.2 21 100.1 3.2. Employed minors and elderly 116.9 117.4 0.5 100.4 52 Labor force composition by regions, Jan-Dec 20181) (in number of people) Including Population Temporary labor mi- Out of la- Total hu- Labor force Employed, Employed Employed grants Job seekers Unemployment bor force man re- annual av- Regions participants2) total 3) formally informally abroad 4) 5) rate 3) sources 2) erage 2) Republic of Uzbekistan 14,641,658 13,273,082 5,403,001 7,870,081 2,384,779 1,368,576 9.30% 4,193,942 18,835,600 32,955,395 Republic of Karakalpak- stan 781,961 707,701 285,891 421,810 144,620 74,260 9.50% 283,439 1,065,400 1,855,995 Andijan 1,398,626 1,263,758 423,741 840,017 305,226 134,869 9.60% 335,774 1,734,400 3,039,218 Bukhara 861,855 784,266 358,875 425,391 133,173 77,589 9.00% 219,745 1,081,600 1,884,810 Jizzakh 563,466 510,678 181,589 329,089 73,743 52,788 9.40% 202,434 765,900 1,338,574 Kashkadarya 1,356,307 1,224,984 495,828 729,156 177,939 131,323 9.70% 452,093 1,808,400 3,180,876 Navoi 446,152 407,546 244,116 163,430 37,688 38,606 8.70% 105,148 551,300 966,166 Namanghan 1,166,938 1,055,796 316,900 738,897 200,668 111,141 9.50% 396,862 1,563,800 2,726,109 Samarkand 1,624,110 1,466,806 499,865 966,941 341,176 157,304 9.70% 477,190 2,101,300 3,759,365 Surkhandarya 1,107,819 1,002,517 324,208 678,309 163,407 105,302 9.50% 334,781 1,442,600 2,541,790 Syrdarya 378,718 342,242 164,539 177,703 68,926 36,476 9.60% 101,782 480,500 822,790 Tashkent region 1,349,727 1,227,669 506,778 720,891 178,431 122,058 9.00% 279,273 1,629,000 2,879,963 Ferghana 1,600,229 1,444,651 529,890 914,761 283,715 155,578 9.70% 444,571 2,044,800 3,651,683 Khorezm 776,993 702,776 260,422 442,354 154,317 74,217 9.60% 236,507 1,013,500 1,820,214 Tashkent city 1,228,756 1,131,691 810,360 321,331 121,750 97,065 7.90% 324,344 1,553,100 2,487,844 1) Preliminary estimates 2) Data of State Statistics Committee 3) Data of State Statistics Committee and estimates based on December 2018 survey 4) Estimates based on December 2018 survey 5) Data of the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, estimates based on December 2018 survey 53 Example Grievance Form Grievance Form Grievance reference number (to be completed by GRM Focal Point): Contact details Name (s): (may be submitted anony- Address: mously) Telephone: Email: How would you prefer to be By mail/post: By phone: By email contacted (check one) � � � Preferred language � Uzbek � Russian � other___________ Provide details of your grievance. Please describe the problem, who it happened to, when and where it hap- pened, how many times, etc. Describe in as much detail as possible. What is your suggested resolution for the grievance, if you have one? Is there something you would like Em- ployment Support Center or another party/person to do to solve the problem? How have you submitted this Website email By hand form to the project? � � � In person By telephone Other (specify) � � � Who filled out this form (If Name and contact details: not the person named above)? Signature Name of Focal Point person assigned responsibility Resolved or referred to GRC1? � Resolved � Referred If referred, date: Resolved referred to GRC2? � Resolved � Referred If referred, date: Completion Final resolution (briefly describe) Short description Accepted? Acknowledgement signa- (Y/N) ture 1st proposed solution 2nd proposed solution 3rd proposed solution 54