Executive Summary
The following policy brief adopts a development-oriented approach to investigate Tajikistan’s experience with fragility, focusing on the questions of how and what weaknesses in the country’s development are drivers for further fragility. This approach also aligns with the selected end user, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Tajikistan, with the purpose of providing evidence-based analysis on the primary catalysts of fragility and strategies for further mitigating fragility in the country. Tajikistan has maintained a medium level of fragility since the end of the civil war in 1997, with various factors affecting its fragility status. This brief delves into the primary drivers of fragility in the country, which include governance, economic development, and human development, as well as specific conditions where these factors may facilitate greater fragility. This report also goes over secondary drivers of fragility in the country, which include security, demography, and the environment. The authors propose four policy options for the UNDP to explore and recommend that focus be placed on: (1) capacity-building of local stakeholders to build resilience and (2) increased efforts in data collection to mitigate fragility in the country and improve the quality of life of all Tajiks.