Democracy and Governance: Central Asian Republics Regional Program
The Development Challenge: It is in the U.S. national interest to promote stability and development in Central Asia. The countries of Central Asia are critical allies in the war on terrorism and potential sources of world energy supplies. They also sit at a crossroads, bordering Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. At the same time, these countries face pervasive poverty, huge income disparities, authoritarian rule, political repression, extreme corruption, significant health issues, and the potential for extremism. Although economic development in the region is progressing, particularly in Kazakhstan, true characteristics of democracy have yet to take root. Recent elections have been characterized as being not truly free and fair, media restrictions still exist, and crackdowns on civil society organizations are commonplace in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The regional nature of Central Asia's development challenges requires coordinated and integrated assistance from USAID. Several regional issues pose particular challenges. For example, all countries in the region have a vital stake in improving regional management of shared water resources, which are absolutely essential to the agriculture and energy supply sectors. The ecological problems posed by the disappearing Aral Sea also have regional consequences. Health issues are rapidly becoming regional in nature as well; the transmission of diseases across international borders occurs due to cross-border trade and migration, as evidenced by dramatic increases in the incidence of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in each of the Central Asian countries. Although regional trade is essential to Central Asia's overall economic development, many barriers to cross-border trade continue to exist and are particularly difficult to overcome. Risk of regional conflict also poses serious challenges due to stresses on individual communities produced by shared scarce resources, unemployment, and artificial national borders. While there is variation across the countries of Central Asia, democracy, human rights, and independent media benefit from a regionally-coordinated approach since authoritarian governance is pervasive in all countries. The regional nature of problems extends beyond just Central Asia. It also includes Afghanistan. As such, the USAID Mission in Central Asia and the USAID Mission in Afghanistan are increasingly engaging in dialogue to determine how specific programs, particularly related to economic growth, health reform, and management of natural resources, can be coordinated across borders.
(Excerpted from the 2006 Congressional Budget Justification for the Central Asian Republic Regional Program)
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