ADB providing $20.5 million to boost social services in Tajikistan amid Middle East conflict

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $20. 5 million grant to expand pension coverage in Tajikistan, modernize the system that delivers retirement and other social benefits, and make services faster, safer, and easier to access, ADB Tajikistan Resident Mission (TJRM) reported on October 2. “For people who have worked all their lives, retirement security should not depend on paperwork or distance from an office,” said ADB President Masato Kanda. “As the conflict in the Middle East drives up costs and puts added pressure on families, this project will help Tajikistan strengthen the protections people rely on and extend them to workers who remain outside the system. ” The financing includes a $19. 5 million grant from ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF) and a $1 million grant from the High-Level Technology Fund, financed by the Government of Japan through ADB.

The ADF grant includes $12. 32 million from ADB’s support package for countries affected by the economic and financial effects of the conflict in the Middle East. Pension benefits in Tajikistan are among the lowest in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, leaving many older people with limited financial security. Informal and seasonal work, self-employment, and labor migration also keep many workers outside the pension system. Higher food and fuel prices, transport and supply disruptions, and uncertainty over labor migration linked to the conflict in the Middle East are adding pressure on low-income households, pensioners, informal workers, and women. The project will modernize the Agency of Social Insurance and Pension with secure data centers, a single digital platform for client services and administration, stronger cybersecurity, digitized records, and better data sharing with other government agencies. It…