Fact Sheet

BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR

April 19, 2013

Asia Report N°222 – 29 March 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary: This paper examines the implications of elevated global food prices for inflation in select Central Asian economies - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The findings suggest that global food inflation has significant short-run effects that build over time. Inflation outcomes simulated under alternative global wheat price assumptions underscore these vulnerabilities, and suggest that sustained administrative measures are unlikely to prove effective.

Abstract: Since the end of 2007, countries in Central Asia have been struck by two major consecutive shocks: the food and fuel price increase in 2007-08, and the global economic and financial crisis that began at the end of 2008. Households, both poor and not poor, are directly and adversely affected by the crisis. The multi-dimensionality of the crises and the volatile economic environment challenge the ability of vulnerable households to cope and to maintain their living standards. Social protection programmes play an important role in the response to a crisis.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper reviews wheat market dynamics in the Central Asia region. As a region whose countries experience perennial food deficits, trade plays a central role in ensuring adequate food availability.
The paper is the result of fieldwork undertaken in spring 2011 to establish a better understanding of the dynamics, structure, trends, and constraints confronting the wheat marketing sector in the region, and to better understand the role that wheat trade plays in ensuring food security for the region.

Sustainable Management of Water Resources Key to Peace and Security in Central Asia

Hydropower Projects, Inefficient Irrigation Systems, Growing Populations and Climate Change Emerging as Key Challenges for Environmental Diplomacy Geneva, 11 July 2011-Boosting cooperation between countries sharing the waters of the Amu Darya, Central Asia's longest river, could be key to future peace and security in the region a new report launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says.

Bishkek/Brussels, 24 May 2011: Tajikistan, Central Asia’s poorest state and a key logistical link for international forces in Afghanistan, faces a growing security threat from both local and external rebels.

Attention to land degradation and environmental pollution has increased significantly in the past 25 years, largely due to greater levels of international cooperation and recognition that local changes in land resources have global impacts. As the world’s focus on climate change increases, so, too, does the attention being paid to drought and its rise in frequency and severity.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Events in southern Kyrgyzstan was established after the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Ms. Roza Otunbayeva asked Dr. Kimmo Kiljunen, Special Representative for Central Asia, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to coordinate the preparation process to establish it. After broad consultation with numerous international bodies, including the UN, the OSCE, the EU, the CIS and the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the terms of reference were established and endorsed.