As it has in most countries around the world the COVID-19 pandemic has put considerable economic strain on Uzbekistan’s citizens, particularly women and other vulnerable groups who have seen their incomes and livelihoods come under threat. From the start of 2020 the national unemployment rate rose from 9.1 to 13.2 percent, with the highest levels being among women (17.4 percent) and youth (20.1 percent), a phenomenon that has been witnessed globally.

For women like Gulnora Babaeva, a resident of the Syrdarya region’s Gulistan district, the lockdown made it hard to make ends meet. As she succinctly describes it, “the wages were not enough.”

Like many women in her district Gulnora was determined to pull herself out of the situation by launching a new business, with assistance from UNDP and the Ministry for Support of Mahalla and Family, and with funding from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.

Gulnora already had the skills she needed to set up her planned business – a beauty salon – but lacked the equipment and resources, which UNDP and the Ministry of Mahalla and Family Affairs were able to provide. She received everything she needed to bring in customers, including hairdressing and hair washing chairs, tables with mirrors, stands for manicures and pedicures, and all the necessary professional appliances.

In turn, Gulnora “paid it forward” by making her business a space for training other women, who will then set out to create their own businesses. The salon hired three other hairdressing professionals who had found themselves out of work during the pandemic, who then trained other staff as apprentices. “These master beauticians have secured jobs, and now they are teaching two more students, who will also work in the future and have steady incomes,” Gulnora said.

With her salon well positioned to take advantage of post-COVID demand, Gulnora expects that good days will be just around the corner. “Previously, our women had to go to the city, which is 15 km away. Also, the city prices are more expensive, and in our new salon we have set affordable prices for everyone. Now women don't have to walk a long distance and pay dearly every time.”

Creating the groundwork for business         

The ‘Supporting the COVID-19 rapid response by mitigating socio-economic impact for vulnerable populations in Syrdarya and Karakalpakstan regions of Uzbekistan’ initiative has worked to assist women like Gulnora to build sustainable self-employment opportunities from the bottom-up. It has sought to address several limitations which make it hard for women to launch their own businesses, all having been made worse by quarantine conditions.

“Women living in rural areas of Uzbekistan who wish to build their own businesses run into a few problems that are common across all traditional, isolated communities throughout the world, in which women are expected to fulfil only homemaker roles,” said UNDP project manager Dilfuza Abulkhasan, who has been leading this initiative. “These include a lack of financial resources, of support and advice from peers and mentors, and a lack of time.”

UNDP is working with the Government on this and other innovations to create lasting solutions to the many challenges the pandemic has brought. One approach has involved creating critical infrastructure needed to give communities and households reliable access to power and clean water.  It has also worked with it Canadian partners to distribute an effective disinfectant which has proved critical throughout the pandemic.

UNDP also has procured and distributed material resources needed by enterprises which will help boost employment within targeted communities. It has delivered a full range of furniture and equipment required by businesses working across different professions including sewing, tailoring, hairdressing and pasta-making, for use by both training centres and businesses. 

Through the initiative, 60 women have been trained in garment design and 170 have learned sewing, baking and other crafts. Plans are in place to finish the development of a professional training facility in the Syrdarya region for use when conditions are right. In the region, many business locations have been supplied with resources needed to operate including electricity, water, and other essential utilities.

Getting communities (and businesses) back on their feet

As a result of the UNDP’s work and the financial support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, within the Syrdarya and Karakalpakstan regions 100 women have been able to launch their own businesses, where many other women will be trained in marketable skills. In addition to 60 women trained last year in Handicraft Training Center, in early 2021 another 1,500 women will receive formal professional education, allowing them to potentially create their own enterprises and gain both greater economic independence and improved quality of life.

Assisting a few select businesses and their owners has the potential to considerably improve standards of life in whole communities.

“COVID-19 has obviously had major health impacts, but its socio-economic consequences have been just as severe,” said Abulkhasan. “Our initiative has sought to help aspiring entrepreneurs take ownership of their own financial recovery. We’re inspiring people like Gulnora and giving them the resources for businesses that will prosper as the pandemic lessens in severity, and as Uzbekistan’s considerable small-business sector strengthens once again.”