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Despite the challenges of transition from the former Soviet Union, which are still confronting Uzbekistan, the country has been experiencing economic growth in recent years. Unemployment rates among young people are high; about one fifth of the population lives on less than $1 a day. Immunization rates for the most common childhood diseases now exceed 98 per cent, and 99.3 per cent of the population is literate.
Issues facing children in Uzbekistan
Government spending for public health is only $8 per capita per year.
Infant mortality rates are high, although under-reporting and varying standards for live birth definition make it difficult to pinpoint the severity of this issue.
More than half of Uzbek women of childbearing age are anaemic, a major factor in worsening maternal mortality rates.
Almost a quarter of children under age 3 experience stunted growth. Vitamin-A deficiency is common, and more than half the population suffers from iodine-deficiency disorders.
Children with disabilities are educated separately, and there are serious concerns regarding the quality of education and opportunities for mainstreaming of children with disabilities.
Activities and results for children
A UNICEF-supported pilot project on safe motherhood has been endorsed by the Uzbek government and will be implemented nationwide. It calls for improvements in prenatal, perinatal and neonatal care, including an emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding.
More 4 million woman at fertile age and children under 2 have received iron and folic acid supplementation, and more than 2 million children have received vitamin A supplements, in order to combat deficiencies.
Efforts are being made to maintain the already high vaccination coverage.
Uzbekistan is now polio-free.
While lobbying the Uzbek government to pass a law requiring universal salt iodization, UNICEF has assisted with the creation of iodine monitoring programmes and raised awareness by enlisting 6 million schoolchildren to test salt samples in their own homes. More than 60 percent of population use iodized salt.
Working with the Ministry of Public Education and other partners, UNICEF helped to strengthen primary education by supporting changes in curricula and teaching methods to make them more child-centred and skills-based.
Sanitation facilities have been upgraded in 80 schools, benefiting thousands of students and improving attendance rates for girls.
Through promotion of youth-friendly health services, peer education, media campaigns and school curricula, UNICEF and its partners encourage young people to choose healthy lifestyles and fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.
A Coordination Council on Child Protection has been established by the government and work is under way with UNICEF assistance towards harmonising national legislation and juvenile justice system with international standards, developing policies that will deinstitutionalize children without parental care, and improving the conditions of disabled children.