Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has completed the project 'Gender and Employment in Central Asia', implemented during 2013–2015 with the University of Central Asia, Hannover University, the International Security and Development Centre (ISDC), Vanderbilt University and Manchester University. The SIPRI-led project was funded by DFID and IZA as part of the Growth and Labour Market-Low Income Country (GLM-LIC) Programme.
The overall objective of the project was to study the position of women in the labour market and the policies that shape their position in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, two low-income countries in Central Asia. The project was motivated by the lack of attention that women’s positions in the labour market receive in many low-income countries and focussed on three important dimensions: the type of work that women perform in the labour market and the quality of their jobs; the determinants of female labour force participation; and the impact of policy changes on the labour force participation of women.
The main result of the research project is the Life in Kyrgyzstan Panel Study, a multi-topic longitudinal survey of households and individuals in Kyrgyzstan, conducted over the course of four consecutive years between 2010–2013. SIPRI led the collection of the fourth and final wave of the data, which is available for public use from the IZA data platform IDSC. Overall, the LiK panel data is gaining ground in Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region as a unique and accessible data source for research, policy analysis and teaching. Along with LiK data, existing household and individual survey data in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was used and micro-econometric techniques were applied.
The project produced a set of research papers based on the collected panel data. One paper was published as a working paper, two discussion papers are planned to be submitted within several months, and others will be issued as working or discussion papers during 2016.
The project consortium partners also contributed to research exchange, policy dialogue and analytical capacity building in the Central Asian region. Two highlights of these efforts are the Annual Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference conducted in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in October 2015 and attended by more than 100 participants, and the International Summer School on Labour Markets in Central Asia conducted for twenty participants from Central Asia in July 2014.
For more information on the project, please check the project webpage.