Tajikistan - OCHA: 01-30.Jun.98
Tajikistan - OCHA: 01-30.Jun.98
OCHA
Tajikistan Humanitarian Assistance
June 1998
HIGHLIGHTS
A compromise solution to the Law on Political Parties was recommended by
the Coordination Commission, established on 2 June 1998 with the aim of
eliminating the disagreement over the paragraphs prohibiting activities of
political parties based on religion. The commission proposes to replace the
controversial paragraph prohibiting the creation of religion-based parties
in the country by the following text: "Political parties and their members
have no right to use religious organisations in their activities."
President Rahmonov will return the law to the Majlis-i Oli for review.
The new Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in
Tajikistan, Mr. Jan Kubis, took up his post in Dushanbe on 17 June 1998.
Jan Kubis, who will also serve as Head of Mission of the United Nations
Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), is a career diplomat with
experience in both the Slovak and former Czechoslovakian Foreign
Ministries. Prior to his appointment as SRSG he held the post of Director
of Conflict Prevention Centre in the Secretariat of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 1994 to 1998.
Col. Khojayev, former United Tajik Opposition field commander and, since
February 1998, Deputy Commander of a Ministry of Defence special joint
Government/UTO unit (established for the protection of United Nations
personnel in Tajikistan) was killed in Dushanbe on 17 June 1998.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
Food for work
At the last food aid sectoral meeting the topic offered for debate was
"work norms," which entailed discussion of food for work issues.
Participants at the meeting included those organisations currently involved
in food for work projects in Tajikistan, namely WFP, Save the Children US,
German Agro Action, Mercy Corps International, CARE, ACTED and IFRC.
According to WFP, the main advantage of the food for work programme is that
it benefits only those people genuinely in need of food aid. In a process
known as "self-targeting," the beneficiaries aim towards becoming
independent of food aid. For this to be achieved, food for work projects
must have income-generating capacity. Experience has shown that such
projects can be difficult to implement successfully. WFP tries to achieve
this through its land lease programs, in which the beneficiaries receive
land from collective farms on a four-year lease. WFP assists the
beneficiaries for the first two years, based on the expectation that after
this time they would be self-sufficient. This often proves not to be the
case however - with beneficiaries hampered by security constraints and poor
infrastructure - confronting WFP with the dilemma of whether or not to
continue assistance. Critics argue that food for work projects are often
simply a means of distributing food. To avoid such a problem arising ECHO
is asking its implementing partners to submit proposals that promote food
security rather than straightforward assistance. 20 percent of food aid
projects submitted to ECHO for 1999 are required to fall under this
category. In the meeting participants discussed their common aim of
standardising work norms -, i.e., the number of workdays expected for a
certain task and the ratios of food given. The concept of calculating a
wage on market rates is obviously problematic, agreed the participants, in
a country such as Tajikistan where the economy is beset with problems and
where wages usually lag far behind the rate of inflation. The different
kinds of projects were said to further complicate the issue of
standardisation. It was agreed that an individual working on a project
without the possibility of additional benefits should receive more food
than someone working on an income-generating project (such as a land
lease). The type of food given was another debated issue. Whilst most
agencies give wheat flour, Save the Children/US also provide vegetable oil
for its nutritional value. In conclusion it was agreed that in spite of
such difficulties, food for work remains a good opportunity to implement
creative projects.
Child Protection
The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called a meeting
of national and international NGOs, government representatives and agencies
involved in child protection on 27 June 1998. This provided a follow-up to
recommendations agreed upon at an earlier meeting. The aim was to
strengthen coordination, improve NGO cooperation and network- building, and
to agree upon common goals and priorities. Participants agreed that in
order to best achieve these objectives a proper analysis of children's
issues was needed, and that a pilot study on 'Children and Poverty' should
be carried out in Dushanbe. A request was made for volunteers and resources
to carry out an assessment of street kids, child prostitution, drug abuse
and children in institutions - to be completed by the end of July. Once the
survey is successfully field-tested, a nationwide study will be undertaken.
This will endeavor to improve the understanding of needs, formulate a
response and ascertain gaps requiring future intervention.
COUNTRY-WIDE
Food / Food for work
Mercy Corps International carries out a regular Free Food Distribution
Program, which since January 1998 has assisted 58,000 beneficiaries in the
Khatlon Oblast, Dushanbe, Garm valley and Tavildara. MCI also has a loan
programme for the same regions. In addition MCI started three Food for Work
projects in May, aimed at improving hospitals and parks, and cleaning the
drainage systems of the city of Dushanbe.
ORA International reports that the WFP relief food distribution during
February-May 1998 for the 25 internat institutions that ORA works with has
ended because of the summer break. In partnership with WFP (flour as pay in
kind labor), ORA (material costs) is starting food for work projects in
five different internats to do small improvements to the facilities over a
18-50-day period which started at the end of June 1998.
Health
Pharmaciens Sans Frontieres (PSF) distributes medicines and medical
supplies every two months to 183 selected hospitals and other medical
institutions, and regularly monitors this distribution. PSF reports that it
is currently encountering problems in carrying out this distribution in the
Kofarnihon area and the Gharm valley. Cars have been stopped at
checkpoints and medicine demanded.
The International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) recently carried out its bi-annual distribution of medical kits,
soap and uniforms to 770 FAPs and SVAs in Khatlon and 130 SVAs in the RRS.
These distributions are followed up by monthly monitoring exercises, where
a total of 23 teams rate each FAP and SVA in order to encourage better
management practices. The IFRC has also designed a prevention campaign with
posters. Every 6-8 weeks a three-day workshop is held in Dushanbe, which
focuses on a particular disease such as malaria or typhoid. During their
monthly visits the monitors disseminate this information to the staff of
FAPs and SVAs as well as to the general public."
The IFRC and Red Crescent Societies will end their activities on typhoid
prevention and water conservation in June 1998 which was carried out in
Dushanbe city, Leninski and Varzob through the Ministry of Health, City
health department, local hukumats, jamoats and mahallahs, policlinics,
schools, kindergartens, NGOs, mass media and contests. 200,000 leaflets and
60,000 brochures on typhoid prevention were published. The project which
had commenced in May 1997 was funded by ECHO, USAID, and the Aga Khan
Foundation. Volunteers of the RCST train trainers to educate their
respective communities on disease prevention and First aid at the Rayon
level in Khatlon and Dushanbe. This project which will run through December
1998 consists of four training blocks also includes disaster preparedness
and response. Some of the problems encountered are related to the
relatively young structure of the RCST and the poorly understood concept of
voluntarism. The development of strong programmes on volunteer recruitment
and youth activities within the RCST is essential for the future of the
Community Based First Aid programme.
REGIONS OF REPUBLICAN SUBORDINATION
Education/Legal Issues
Save the Children/UK has funded a one year pilot project to offer
education, skills training and social welfare benefits to 50 working
children ('Society and Child Rights' project). The 'Rights and Prosperity'
project, is a four-month pilot project which aims to enable 300 families in
five villages near Dushanbe to get the state benefits to which they are
entitled. Claimants will be helped to take their cases to court where
necessary. Both projects are carried out in collaboration with two separate
local NGOs.
Food
Care International is continuing its Free Food Distribution (25 kg of
wheat flour) to pregnant and lactating women suffering 2nd and 3rd degree
anemia. This is carried out in four districts of Dushanbe (13,770
beneficiaries have received 344,250 kg of wheat flour) and six other
districts, namely Hissar, Leninsky, Shahrinav, Tursunzade, Varzob and
Yavan. The 18-month project is funded by the US Department of Agriculture.
The next round of distributions will take place in three months time.
In the month leading up to 10 June 1998 German Agro Action distributed 850
MTs of food to 36,000 beneficiaries in Kofarnihon, Faizobad, Tavildara and
Roghun. GAA further supported a small rural rehabilitation project in
Faizobad and the repair of a home for the elderly in Kofarnihon.
Action against Hunger (AAH) carried out an assessment mission in Tajikistan
and specified Gharategin and Tavildara valleys as initial target project
sites, following the team's observation of acute food insecurity in a
number of villages that was resulting in the chronic under-nourishment of
children and the elderly. AAH found numerous and complex causes for this
including loss of livelihood though destruction of assets and the loss of
a husband and/or children (manpower). While it was evident that families,
who were relatively well off were often assisting their poorer neighbours
where possible with gifts of bread, flour, vegetable seeds, and even small
live-stock, the economies of some villages were so badly affected or
disrupted that there were insufficient resources to share with the
extremely vulnerable. Consequently AAH is submitting a project proposal
that includes relief assistance over the winter to the most vulnerable,
based on a nutritional survey and vulnerability mapping. Gradually,
community projects for vulnerable households will be identified. There are
no comprehensive vulnerability mapping and nutritional surveys available in
Tajikistan, a fact that makes it difficult for agencies involved in food
aid to efficiently plan and target the most needy areas. Depending on
available founding, the AAH Gharategin survey may therefore be replicated
in other areas.
Rehabilitation
By decree of the Government of Tajikistan, and with the assistance of the
World Bank, a Center for Coordination of Projects of Credit for
Post-conflict Rehabilitation (CCP) was established, headed by former
Minister of Labour, Shukurjon Zuhorov. The aim of the CCP is the
reconstruction of the economy of Gharategin and Tavildara with the help of
two World Bank projects on post-conflict rehabilitation. One of the credits
consists of USD10 million for 1998 - 2000, for the rehabilitation of
destroyed infrastructure such as bridges, roads and schools in the
Gharategin valley and Tavildara. The project also includes USD 2.1 million
for the rehabilitation of schools, health facilities and USD 600.000 for
the agricultural sector.
Agriculture
CARE International's Private Farmers Support Project began its
implementation in Leninski District in September 1996. The aim of the
project is to increase agricultural production and economic livelihood on
private farms (915 farms as of June 24, 1998) which have recently acquired
land. The cornerstone of the project is in provision of agricultural inputs
on credit to the private farms and training. The conclusions reached after
the first year of activities have put forward some of the major production
constraints: Non availability and access to appropriate agricultural
equipment for cultivation and harvest activities; access to irrigation
water is beyond the control and management of small private farmers who
have no authority to negotiate separately with the Ministry of Irrigation
and Water Resources. The project is addressing possible resolution of these
constraints through allocation of credit to farmer groups and individuals
who play an active role in villages and mahallahs and developing credit
management schemes.
KHATLON REGION
Food/ Food for Work
Mission "East" distributed food to 4,000 vulnerable households in the
Kulob district in the second half of June. The items are thought to bridge
the period until harvest, and provide calories needed for a person for
two months. Mission "East" distribution take place two - three times per
year. This distribution fits into a general strategy of the international
humanitarian community in Tajikistan aiming at moving from food aid to
groups of vulnerable towards food for work programs. World Food Programme
(WFP) therefore does not distribute in Kulob anymore but leaves the taking
care of the most vulnerable to Mission "East," which have more human
recourses to fine-tuning targeting of beneficiaries. In the future, WFP
will further give the responsibility for the food aid of the districts of
Khovaling, Muminobod and Vose. Mission "East" beneficiaries are identified
in advance by field workers, who build committees with the chief of the
mahalla, teachers, etc. and visit possible beneficiaries house by house.
Based on negative experiences with criteria Mission "East" made in other
countries, they do not employ any criteria. This kind of distribution is
new to the Tajik government, because the Soviet social system was based on
categories of vulnerable, but the NGO is sure that their assessment is the
best for finding out who the really needy are. The organisation hopes to be
able to each year to distribute to less people. This will be possible,
because some of their former beneficiaries will than be included into WFP
food for work programs, until food distribution will only target the 'hard
core' of constantly vulnerable people.
Agriculture
An FAO consultant arrived in Tajikistan in June in order to identify the
potential for explosion of white fly (Bemisa tabaci) populations in
Tajikistan similar to the 1997 outbreak of the pest, which had a
devastating effect on cotton yield and fiber quality. The stage of
vegetative development in cotton fields visited so far make it difficult to
determine the extent of the problem, however the potato and tomato fields
have been affected. Leninabad region will also be inspected in the near
future. FAO will be proposing a training project in the country addressing
recent development of IPM methodologies through training of trainers and
farmers.
In Vakhsh, Save the Children Fund/UK has begun the second phase of this
assistance to vulnerable households, funded under the TASIF program. 673
newly identified families will receive training and agricultural inputs -
calves, goats, or seeds and fertilizer.
Education/Income generation
SCF/UK continues to work with parent/teacher committees to help schools
raise income. Three of those committees have chosen to establish flour
mills, while seven others decided for agricultural projects (land, cows,
ducks, goats or bees). In three further schools a revolving textbook scheme
is about to be discussed. SCF/UK provides training in project management to
the parent, teacher and pupil representatives on these committees.
In Kurghon-Teppa, SCF/UK has agreed to fund a one month teacher training
course at the Kurghon-Teppa Teacher Training Institute in July 1998, for 25
unqualified teachers. The course will be conducted by TTI staff and Save UK
has been invited to train on child rights and the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC). If the course proves successful, funding for further
in-service training courses in Kurghon-Teppa and Kulob will be considered.
Rehabilitation
The Community Development Center (supported by the UNDP peace building
project) of Dousti of Soviet District recently accomplished the
reconstruction of a barrage, which protects 200 ha of arable land. 84
unemployed young people worked for food provided by WFP and the local
authorities provided the necessary machinery. The accomplishment was
delayed by the floods, which damaged part of the barrage.
SCF/UK supports three new small scale income generating projects in
Shahrtuz: a land lease project, a sesame oil production project and a
shoemaking project.
Health
ACTED will distribute 9,000 mosquito nets in the districts of Vakhsh and
Bokhtar, which are according to their figures, touched the most by malaria.
Currently, eight people are trained to teach local delegates dissemination
about the sue of the nets. ACTED works in collaboration with the local
Community Development Center and WFP (food for work).
Merlin continues its assistance to labs and training to personal of labs in
diagnostic of epidemiological diseases such as typhoid and malaria. They
further continue the distribution of drugs to infection department of
district hospitals. Merlin, who works in the whole Khatlon region, will
open an office in Kulob.
Leninabad region
Save the Children Fund/UK has supported two new small-scale income
generation projects, the reconstruction of a flour mill serving 15 villages
and a women's bag sewing project under the TASIF programme in Aini
district.
Save the Children/US reports that it will be opening a new office and
placing full time staff in Penjikent, which will be supported by a 4-year
child survival project, funded by USAID. The office will be facilitating
partnerships among youth and women's groups, schools, village health
committees, village pharmacies and the Ministry of Health to improve child
survival in the district. The target beneficiaries in that area are 60,000.
Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO)
The Aga Khan Development Network distributed 1927,68 MTs of wheat flour in
the region during the month of May 1998.
Beside its ongoing programmes ranging from agricultural reform, education,
culture, humanitarian assistance and infrastructure, the Aga Khan
Development Network (AKDN) plans to start its first school in Central Asia
in Khorog. The school will enroll students and recruit teachers strictly on
merit, and though enriched curriculum expects to produce who will be able
to compete successfully for admission into any institution of higher
learning. AKDN will also start Health-Education and Reproductive Health and
Child Survival programmes aimed at preventing illness and improving health
of people in GBAO.
OTHER ISSUES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Conflict resolution and human rights
"The town is in a situation of violence. A man, escaping from his enemies,
knocks at a stranger's door and asks for refuge. He is taken in. While the
guest is having dinner, the host discovers that this man is the killer of
his father. After some reflection, the host gives money to the guest and
tells him to leave his house and never come back again." This the story
line of one of the stories of Tajik writers the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) compiled in a school manual that will be included in
the Tajik curriculum for students of the 8th grade. The stories offer an
opportunity for the students to think and talk about rules of society which
are in place or should be in place even when a country is suffering from
violence. "What would have happened if the host would have taken revenge?
What else could he have done? Why did he not give the killer to the police,
thereby asking that the rules of society are applied by those authorised to
apply them and not taken over by individuals?" A draft of the manual has
been tested in a pilot project with 1,200 students. The rich inputs from
the discussions with these students, who related the stories to their own
experience with the war, were incorporated in the final product which will
be used in Tajik schools from next term. Human Rights Watch addressed
a letter to President Rahmonov to express their profound concern about
violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed against civilians
during the April 30 - May 2, 1998 fighting between government security
forces and United Tajik Opposition (UTO) fighters on the outskirts of
Dushanbe. They say that according to credible records, government forces
used disproportionate and indiscriminate force during hostilities, and
looted and torched civilian homes. Combined with allegations of torture and
rape, these reports indicate that government forces continue to enjoy
impunity for crimes against civilians. Human Rights Watch estimates that
between 25 and 35 civilians were killed. The organisation says that there
is solid ground for concern that government troops inflicted the damage in
order to exact punishment on a village that allegedly harbours opposition
fighters who have not registered and disarmed as stipulated by the 1997
General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in
Tajikistan. If this is indeed the case, then this action can be classified
as collective punishment, forbidden by article four of Protocol II
additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions; torching civilian residences,
more fundamentally, is banned by customary international law on armed
conflict.
Certificates protecting the right for use of land
On 20 June 1998, the Government of Tajikistan adopted a decree "on
realisation of the right for use of land," according to which the right for
use of land is now officialised by the Certificate for Use of Land and the
Certificate for Land. All citizens of Tajikistan with family plots, access
to collective land and private farms, receive the right for free sale of
the certificates for land though the Committee for land Resources and Land
Improvement. The government expect that this measure will accelerate reform
in the agricultural sector.
TASIF
With the aim of realisation of a pilot project on the territory of Republic
of Tajikistan, on softening poverty problems of the population, TASIF which
is financed by the World Bank, is involved in solving problems of the most
vulnerable strata of the population, reconstruction and development of
projects of social infrastructure. TASIF was set up on 27 January 1997
through a governmental decree. The organisation also finances and monitors
programmes implemented by international organisations such as: SC/US,
SCF/UK, AKF and co-operates with other international and local NGOs.
TASIF carries out its activities on the territory of RT, giving preference
to the most vulnerable communities. 17 staff-members of TASIF were able to
receive training in Armenia, Pakistan and other countries. TASIF has
currently more than 50 projects 15 of which have been completed. At the
present day realisation of micro-projects is going on in 18 towns and
districts of the Republic including: - In Khatlon region: eight districts,
reconstruction of water and gas supplies and canalisation. - In Leninabod
region: seven districts, reconstruction of schools, water and gas supplies.
- In the Rayons of Republican Subordination: three districts;
rehabilitation of school N 128 in the Hissor district. TASIF is also
funding NGOs such as SC/US that is working on reconstruction of houses in
Shahrtuz, Qabodiyon, Bokhtar, Vakhsh, Kolkhozobod and Qurghon-Teppa town.
Missions in Country
UN Drug Control programme (UNDCP) mission
On 22 June 1998, a special group of experts of UNDCP arrived in Tajikistan.
They are visiting different regions of Tajikistan in order to develop
programs. Prepared was their mission by a working group of the Tajik legal,
social and health authorities, who studied the situation in the problematic
region of the Khatlon region bordering Afghanistan. Confiscation made by
the Ministry of Internal Affairs are less in terms of kilos as compared to
the previous year, but including more heavy drugs (heroin instead of
hashish and opium).
This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB:
http://www.reliefweb.int
United Nations Office - Dushanbe
Mr. Paolo Lembo - Resident Coordinator
Ms. Guissou Jeannot-Jahangiri
OCHA NGO Liaison Officer
Tel.: (0073772) 23 05 86
Tel./Fax: (0073772) 21 03 89
E-Mail: dha@taj.freenet.kiev.ua
Complex Emergency Response / Consolidated Appeal Process (CER/CAP) - Geneva
Mr. Ernest Chipman - Chief
Mr. Arjun Katoch
Tel.: (41 22) 788.1402
Fax: (41 22) 788.6386
Registry E-Mail: Abu.Conteh@dha.unicc.org
Complex Emergency Division (CED) - New York
Mr David Chikvaidze
Tel.: (1 212) 963.9665
Fax: (1 212) 963.1388
E-Mail: chikvaidze@un.org
Information Service
Ms. Therese Gastaut - Director
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2300
Fax: (41 22) 917.0030
E-Mail: tgastaut@unog.ch
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