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USAID Information:
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Tajikistan
EXAMPLES OF OUR IMPACT
- USAID’s TB programs reach more than 26 percent of the country’s population, helping to improve TB diagnostics and treatment.
- USAID’s agricultural production assistance has benefited 5 percent of Tajikistan’s farmers and has helped to increase income by $1.6 million.
- One in seven Tajiks have benefited from USAID projects that bring communities together to tackle community problems and improve their standard of living.
USAID/CENTRAL ASIA SITE
http://centralasia.usaid.gov
CONTACTS
Regional Mission Director
Andrew Sisson
USAID/Central Asia
41 Kazibek bi St
Almaty, Kazakhstan 050010
Tel: 7-727-250-76-12
Jeffrey Lehrer
Country Program Officer
USAID
109 “A” Ismoili Somoni Ave.
Dushanbe, Tajikistan 734019
Tel: 10-922-372-229-2000
Bob Wallin
Central Asia Team Leader
Tel: 202-712-0141
Email: bowallin@usaid.gov
 Over 3,000 residents of the Somoniyon township use clean and safe drinking water, thanks to USAID’s support for repairs to their township’s water supply system. (Photo: Urban Institute)
Overview
Tajikistan is a small, landlocked country balancing considerable pressures in a changing region. While relatively stable, the country is increasingly suffering from low economic productivity, high unemployment, and extreme poverty. These conditions, coupled with a shortage of electrical power and gas, are leading the country into a humanitarian crisis. Additionally, the global economic crisis is contributing to a reduction in remittances from Tajik labor migrants, and unemployment is increasing as these migrants return home. The USAID program in Tajikistan focuses on supporting economic growth (including agricultural productivity), health, education, political reform, democratic institutions, and food security.
Programs
Economic Growth: Strengthening Tajikistan's Economy
USAID helps farmers increase agricultural production and improve the management of water and irrigation networks. Agricultural production assistance has already benefited 227,000 people (5 percent of the country’s farmers); farmers participating in 35 USAID-supported water users associations earned a total of $1.6 million as a result of improved water management.
To reduce regulatory and administrative constraints for businesses, USAID facilitates dialogue between the government and the private sector and supports small and medium enterprises, business associations, and microfinance institutions. A USAID-supported association of microfinance organizations doubled its member loan portfolio to $62 million and tripled the number of active clients/borrowers to 94,000.
To facilitate regional trade and Tajikistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization, USAID helps reduce trade barriers and expand access to market information. Assistance also aims to improve the handling of budgetary and macroeconomic issues, tax administration, monetary policy, and banking supervision. Other programs focus on commercial law reform and improvements to land tenure legislation.
Investing in People: Quality Health Care and Education
Over the years, the United States has assisted Tajikistan in dealing with multiple health emergencies. Currently, assistance focuses on reforms to ensure quality, client-oriented, evidence-based, and cost-efficient primary health care services, as well as implementation of infectious disease prevention programs, including tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, and avian influenza. As a result of USAID’s efforts in health finance reform, 22 percent of all primary health care facilities now function under a new system that provides financing to health facilities based on the number of people they serve, rather than assigning resources based on other methods. This channels the funds where the patients are, promoting transparency and enhancing accountability. In cooperation with other donors, USAID recently negotiated changes in a government health financing decree that will help protect the poor’s access to health care.
USAID assists in oversight of grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM) and supports the training of health professionals in HIV/AIDS prevention. With USAID assistance, GFATM recently approved three new grants totaling almost $80 million that will provide Tajikistan with all of its HIV and TB medications. Complementing this assistance, USAID-supported TB control programs reach over 26 percent of the country’s population, helping to improve TB diagnostics and treatment. Tajikistan now uses international standards to define a live birth; doctors now try to save the lives of even the smallest infants, who were counted as stillborn under the Soviet system. USAID recently trained 341 medical professionals to use the new definition countrywide.
To improve primary and secondary education, USAID helps Tajikistan introduce teaching methods that stress critical thinking and active learning. Each year, these programs train 20 percent of Tajikistan’s teachers.
Governing Justly and Democratically
With the emergence of independent media, USAID has helped draft and improve media legislation, train media managers and journalists, and create the National Association of Independent Mass Media. USAID also supports the production of local television programs. USAID assisted 60 percent of Tajikistan’s 3,000 nongovernmental organizations with re-registration of their legal status under a new law. With support from USAID, over 30 percent of Tajikistan’s municipalities have expanded the involvement of residents in local decision making and improved community services, such as better water supply and garbage disposal.
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