Tajikistan Projects

Tajikistan


Global Partners has been engaging Tajikistan in relief and development work since 1998. Our offices are in Dushanbe, Gharm, Panjikent and Khorog, but we work in villages throughout the country. With projects helping villages all over the country, Global Partners provides local decision-making bodies with the resources and knowledge base they need to make lasting changes that can benefit their communities. From water projects to soil testing projects, GP Tajikistan has a well-equipped team with skills and experience in helping people create better lives.

Global Partners enjoys strong cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations for Tajikistan and the Tajikistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Our areas of service include:

Water Projects
In Tajikistan, many people now have access to clean drinking water as a result of Global Partners’ work in their country.

“The 2010 well-digging project in Shartuz District created six clean drinking water wells and is an ongoing project,” one GP worker said. “The project has benefited over 1,000 people so far. We will continue the well project in Khatlon Region expanding our operations to many more villages.”

A recent irrigation project in the village of Shahidi Bobohon of Khatlon Region benefitted 800 people who rely on crops from the fields surrounding their village. And a water project provided natural spring water to the 600 people of Takob village (Varzob District).

In the arid Zarafshan Valley, Global Partners conducted drinking water projects in the Yovon Aini region and in the village of Revad. To ensure that local villages in the Hadishar and Mastcho region could grow vital crops for their families, GP provided pipe to repair a much needed water line for irrigating fields and trees.

We are always looking for sustainable ways to get water to thirsty mouths and dry fields. In the village of Safed Hok, GP provided a water wheel to a farmer as a test model. The design of this project is to help farmers by moving irrigation water from canals and rivers to higher ground. We also purchased and installed 5km of water pipe to this village, providing 20 homes with drinking water. Another 150 homes benefited from drinking water received from 5km of water pipe that GP installed to the nearby village of Belgi.

Disaster Management
GP Tajikistan began responding to natural and some manmade disasters in 1998. Since that time we have been involved in responses to fourteen major disasters in Tajikistan and have responded to three events in Northern Afghanistan. In 2002 we began a team for disaster preparedness and response. In 2004, Disaster Management Training was added as a major element aiding the people of Tajikistan.

Our Disaster Management Team (DMT) was involved in helping a village in the Badakhshan province of Northern Afghanistan recover from a flood that washed away four homes and 23 flour mills in the summer floods of 2005. The team provided material to the villagers so they could rebuild their mills and over half a kilometer of water canals. The DMT also finished a rebuilding project in cooperation with Shelter For Life in Ghalaba in the Khatlon Province. Forty-eight homes were constructed by the villagers themselves to replace homes washed away in rainstorms in June of 2005. The DMT followed up this project with disaster preparedness training emphasizing better home designs that will help them withstand extreme weather in the future.

More recently, GP aid workers from our Panjikent office responded to Tajik people affected by flooding in the Zarafshan Valley in 2010:

“We distributed 190 bags of flour to flood victims and gave out cement to help rebuild houses that were destroyed in the flood,” the GP worker reported. In the same town, an ongoing food kitchen project provided more than $20,000 worth of lunches for the poor and sick.

Read more about GP’s disaster management work in Tajikistan

Community Development
The GP Tajikistan Disaster Management Team is also involved in community development. During the Mill Project of 2005 we encountered a village in the Romit valley who had constructed a small hydro power station. They needed heavy electric cable to complete the project and were unable to purchase it themselves. The DMT met with the village and helped them obtain the cable they needed, providing the village with electricity for the first time in over 15 years. The team followed up by working on electricity safety education in the village to help them (and especially children) handle this new power in a responsible manner.
Global Partner’s office in Gharm now specializes in agricultural development and medical training.

Read more about GP’s recent agricultural development and medical training work in Tajikistan

Business Development
A key area of Global Partner’s work in Tajikistan has been business development. This project provides services to Dushanbe-based businesses through Professional Training Seminars, Leadership and Management Training, and Sales Training. The Business Development’s network of professionals from America and Europe are extensive, and they are able to provide specialized training with follow-up consultation to those businesses with particular needs.

Sports
Global Partners built a basketball court for the local children of a neighborhood in Gharm, benefiting more than 20 families. GP sponsored sports tournaments in the early spring of 2010 throughout the Rasht District.

Past GP projects in Tajikistan.

Facts About Tajikistan

  • Area: 143,100 sq. km.
  • Borders: Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
  • Arable Land: 6.52%
  • Natural Hazards: Earthquakes, Flooding, Landslides
  • Population: 7,627,200 (July 2011 est.)
  • Urban Population: 26% of total population (2010)
  • Infant Mortality Rate: 38.54 deaths / 1,000 live births (#65 in world)
  • Life Expectancy at Birth: 66.03 years
  • Literacy (age 15+ can read and write): 28.1% (Male: 43.1%; Female: 12.6%)
  • GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,000 USD (2010 est.)

More About Tajikistan:

The statue of the emperor Ismoili Somoni stands tall as the focal point of downtown Dushanbe. Erected in 1999 in the wake of communist rule and civil war, the statue represents an attempt for the Tajik people to recover their identity, unity, and history. Tajik history is a story of division and subjugation. The Somonian Dynasty of 1100 years ago is the last time in history that the Tajiks were unified as one people under one ruler. Conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, by the Arabs in the 7th century, and later on by the Turks and Mongols, the Tajik people have constantly been divided and conquered throughout history. The culmination of this pattern was when under Soviet rule the historical and cultural cities of Bukhara and Samarkand were placed in the Republic of Uzbekistan in order to divide the Tajiks and undermine any threat of ethnically-based nationalism.

Independence brought inner-divisions to the forefront in a five-year civil war. A peace accord in 1997 brought a conclusion to the fighting, but the divisions still remained. However, despite the difficulties, Tajikistan is using the years of peace to slowly rebuild its economy and infrastructure. Many obstacles yet remain, but with help from their global neighbors, Tajikistan is moving forward.