Rural Infrastructure Development Project (Previously Uzbekistan Prosperous Villages) (WB-P168233)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Uzbekistan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Ferghana, Andijan and Namangan provinces
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Nov 14, 2019
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Ministry of Finance
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Construction
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
  • Law and Government
  • Transport
  • Water and Sanitation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Potential Rights Impacts
  • Housing & Property
  • Labor & Livelihood
Only for projects receiving a detailed analysis, a broad category of human and environmental rights and frequently at-risk populations.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 100.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 183.60 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Campaign Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Jul 27, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Oct 14, 2018

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

This project supports the Government of Uzbekistan's Obod Qishloq program, with the stated aim of empowering citizens and local communities to play a greater role in local development. This includes increasing access to essential basic infrastructure and services, and improved local governance processes in targeted rural communities and districts. 

According to Bank documents, the results of this project will be measured through indicators such as:

  • Percentage of sampled community respondents reporting improved access to transport, drinking water, electricity or irrigation
  • Percentage of sampled community respondents reporting that investments financed are in-line with their priority needs
  • Number of malhalla committees or district khokimiyats able to plan and maintain their own development projects
  • Percentage of residents reporting improved performance of malhalla committees or district khokimiyats
Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Although this project endeavours to deliver needed infrastructure and ensure this development is community-based, the continued prevalence of forced labour under the larger Obod Qishloq programme, the restricted environment for communities to voice their opinions free from coercion, and the current capacity of civil society to meaningfully participate in these processes is concerning.

Despite government reforms, since the launch of the programme in May 2018, Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights (UGF) has documented numerous reports and complaints from residents of Uzbekistan that local authorities are forcing employees of state-funded organisations to work without pay and carry out unskilled, and often dangerous, tasks.

There is an ongoing and high risk of abuses, including evidence of state-organized mass forced labour, directly related to the Obod Qishloq programme, which this project supports. Given the plans and mitigation measures currently outlined in the World Bank’s project documents, there are challenges with the:

  • focus and dependence on regional and district hokomiyats in promoting and implementing participatory community-based development, including discretion over land use, given evidence of widespread current complicity in enabling forced labour and other violations when carrying out the Obod Qishloq programme;

  • lack of attention to capacity building for Uzbek civil society in order to enable their meaningful participation and leadership, as envisioned;

  • lack of penalties or repercussions outlined for contractors found to use forced labour under this project;

  • lack of preventive measures to address the proven inadequacy of traditional grievance reporting frameworks, such as hotlines, in reporting forced labour for fear of lack of anonymity and of reprisals; and

  • lack of specific provisions outlining how the World Bank and the AIIB will proactively create and safeguard space for community members and civil society to safely express their opinions and priorities to create qishloq development plans for sub-investments under this project, including in instances where there is disagreement with authorities, and if intimidation, threats and reprisals are reported.

For additional details and civil society recommendations, see: https://ews.rightsindevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Letter-to-WB-AIIB-Board-re_-Obod-Qishloq.pdf

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

World Bank
Robert Wrobel
Senior Social Development Specialist

Implementing Agency
State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan
Shukrat Vafaev
Deputy Chairman
info@invest.gov.uz

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF WORLD BANK
The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. You can learn more about the Inspection Panel and how to file a complaint at: http://ewebapps.worldbank.org/apps/ip/Pages/Home.aspx. 

How it works

How it works