(Islamic religious leader) helps connect the local government with local communities, organizes and distributes social assistance to poor families, and rallies people to get involved in public works projects.<sup>56</sup> In Armenia, respondents complained of lack of information about government and private aid distribution, even blaming power outages in the cities for preventing timely distribution of information. Networks of reciprocity are said to have retracted to include only close family members. However, it is recognized that such kinship networks are becoming less effective and are often not available to the poorest households.<sup>57</sup> Similarly in Georgia, information about entitlement to assistance from public or private sources was often said to be unavailable and rarely provided by officials, leaving the poor to rely mainly on each other for help.<sup>58</sup> In Azerbaijan, internally displaced persons (IDP) live mainly in Baku and other urban areas, and they are among the poorest households in the country.<sup>59</sup> Street children have become a concern in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) since the early 1990s, although they usually live with their families and help support them by begging or other odd jobs.<sup>60</sup> Prostitution proliferates in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and in Tbilisi (Georgia) among girls and women.<sup>61</sup> Crime is reported to be a growing issue in virtually all the countries. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, survey respondents attribute criminal activity to poverty (although said to be less often an effect of poverty than hunger and illness).<sup>62</sup> In Ukraine urban residents reported fear of leaving home due to crime and felt that criminals were gaining control of society.<sup>63</sup> In Moldova theft of goods from state owned enterprises was widely condoned because of the companies’ failure to pay salaries on time. Theft and violent crime, including by youth gangs, is said to be scaring people off the streets and reducing trust especially in urban communities.<sup>64</sup> In Latvia, respondents say that they no longer rely on the police for protection.<sup>65</sup> An aspect of poverty in the region which – like in many other countries – is more specific to urban areas relates to youth engagement in risky behaviors like drug taking and delinquency. In ECA, this particular aspect of urban poverty remains little documented, and this is probably because reliable quantitative data on substance abuse and crimes are not available. However, available evidence from qualitative or administrative sources confirms the increasing importance of risky behaviors among youth in the region.

# **5. Conclusion**

The last 15 years have brought profound changes to ECA countries as central planning was replaced by market forces and as large countries fragmented into many parts. Industry, manufacturing and agriculture shrank in nearly all countries and unemployment increased. The increase in services was inadequate to make up for the declines in the primary and secondary sectors.

Against this backdrop, the fortunes of ECA countries, both in terms of output and level of national poverty, have diverged sharply. Countries with the highest poverty incidence have been those in which the progress of structural reform and liberalization has been very incomplete. At the same time, countries where GDP has fallen more sharply are those with higher rates of urban poverty, suggesting that the prolonged economic recession in these countries has had strong impacts on urban households.

> 56 When Things, p. 85.

> 57 When Things, p. 146-152; 189-190.

> 58 When Things, p. 233, 254.

> 59 “An Update of Poverty Assessment and Consultations with the Poor in Azerbaijan, p. 51.

> 60 Tajikistan PA, p. 24

> 61 When Things Fall Apart, p. 45, 227

> 62 “Consultations with the Poor” National Synthesis Report, Bosnia and Herzegovina, p. 19.

> 63 When Things Fall Apart, p. 286.

> 64 When Things, p. 372.

> 65 When Things, p. 397.

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