Energy Transmission Planning Models for Central Asia

With USAID support, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek national energy companies have created models for both short-term and long-term planning of energy generation, transmission, and distribution. The models will help optimize energy flows, minimize energy outages in each country, as well as identify needed investments.

Central Asia Is Increasing Its Cadre of Accountants With International Qualifications

By September 2008, over 7,000 Central Asia’s accountants have passed internationally-recognized accounting qualifications thanks to the assistance from USAID. More than half of these specialists, 4,575, are Kazakh. Over the past ten years, USAID projects have extensively promoted the proliferation of international accounting standards and the specialists qualified to use them in the region.

Kyrgyzstan - Among the Top 10 Business Reformers

The World Bank Doing Business 2009 report named Kyrgyzstan one of the three top reformers worldwide and ranked it 68th among 181 surveyed economies, up from 99th ranking last year, based on the regulatory environment for doing business. The Government of Kyrgyzstan thanked USAID for its support in identifying and carrying out reforms that have improved the country's ranking.

USAID Cooperates with Other Donors to Fight HIV/AIDS

USAID has recently donated over one million male and female condoms to the Kyrgyz Republic to support HIV/AIDS prevention in the cities of Osh and Karasuu. The donation was facilitated by the USAID-funded CAPACITY project and coordinated with the Kyrgyz ministry of health. The condoms will be distributed by the HIV prevention project TUMAR, funded by the World Bank.

USAID Helps A University With U.S. Accreditation

The American University of Central Asia (AUCA) received nearly $500,000 from USAID to jumpstart its U.S. accreditation process. AUCA is the first Western-style university in Kyrgyzstan to initiate the accreditation application process. By obtaining U.S. accreditation, AUCA would gain international recognition as a university that has the necessary resources to achieve its stated purposes and that its students are benefiting from its curricular and extra-curricular programs.

Support for People in Need

USAID and Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) opened a new center for blind and partially blind people in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan. The center offer to its visitors special equipment that will enable people with eyesight problems work on computer, write and edit texts, read flat-bed literature, translate texts into Braille, as well as use various databases, electronic information, and Internet. The center was created by NGO "Blagodat" (Grace) under a USAID grant.

USAID Continues Food Security Support in Kyrgyzstan

To increase food production and rural incomes, USAID signed a $1.7 million extension to its Kyrgyz Agro-input Enterprise Development project, implemented by the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC). Over the coming two years this project will focus on increasing the production of two major food staples in Kyrgyzstan - wheat and milk.

USAID and Winrock Help Increase Farmer Incomes

With USAID support, 30 Tajik water user associations restored irrigation canals, reclaimed over 2,000 hectares of previously unused land, and increased farmer incomes by over 170%. Assistance, provided by the USAID-funded Water User Associations Support Program, also helped farmers improve water distribution along the canal, enhance management of their associations, and ensure reliable water supply for thousands of residents and 60,000 hectares of land.

USAID, Ministry of Health Sign MOU on Cooperation

To improve program management and cooperation in Tajikistan's healthcare sector, USAID Regional Director William Frej and Minister of Health Nustratullo Salimov on September 26, 2008 signed a key Memorandum of Understanding between Governments of Tajikistan and USA. The MOU presents the overarching framework for $5.1 million allocated in health and education programs carried out by USAID implementing partners.

Modern Technologies to Control the Spread of TB

In September, CDC, with funding from USAID, trained a group of Tajik specialists from Tuberculosis (TB) hospitals to understand and interpret the Tajik TB Electronic Surveillance Case-based Management System (TB ESCM) database. This is yet another step towards the nationwide implementation of the system that will replace the currently used slow and labor-intensive paper-based TB reporting with comprehensive and efficient electronic reporting.

USAID Helps Enhance Maternal and Child Health

A 4-year joint USAID and Mercy Corps program has substantially contributed to maternal and child health and enhanced community knowledge of health prevention techniques, risks, and home treatment strategies in Soughd area. According to the program's data, compared to 2004, women have significantly increased their ability to describe at least two signs of pregnancy complications.

USAID to Help Foster Turkmen Economic Reforms

Recently, USAID achieved a breakthrough in its relationship with two new key Turkmen agencies responsible for fostering economic reforms in the country: Turkmenistan's Supreme Regulatory Chamber and the Institute for Strategic Planning and Economic Development agreed to cooperate with USAID Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness (EREC) program.

Communities Learn to Collaborate with Government, Improve Local Services

The USAID-funded Turkmenistan Community Empowerment Program has helped 43 Turkmen communities, mostly rural, expand cooperation with the local governments in identifying and carrying out projects for the improvement of local services. The three-year project, implemented by Counterpart International, has trained over 5,000 people, including local government officials.

Credit Unions Assets Exceed $52 Million

During the first half of 2008, assets of the Uzbek credit unions exceeded 70 billion Uzbek Soums ($52 million). Uzbekistan currently has 60 credit unions with over 80,000 members. Through the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), USAID has helped draft legislation, facilitated creation of a number of credit unions, and has been providing assisting in improving their services.

Vocational Schools

The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Education of Uzbekistan will distribute countrywide 4,000 copies of the training manual Drug Use Prevention Among Students of Academic Lyceums and Vocational Colleges, developed with support from USAID.

Fergana Valley Youth - for Healthy Lifestyle

USAID's CAPACITY project in cooperation with the Social Initiative Support Fund conducted a series of events to promote healthy life style and increase awareness on prevention of HIV/AIDS and drug use in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan. The events ran with a slogan "We are for a healthy lifestyle; we have no time for anything else" and focused on students of higher educational institutions, colleges, as well as other Uzbek youth.