FOCUS and World Bank Agree Natural Hazard and Poverty
Reduction Project for High Mountain Areas
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 2 March, 2004 –
The World Bank and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS)
have agreed to implement an innovative project aimed
at reducing poverty in high-mountain areas around Lake
Sarez. The US$ 2 million project is financed through
the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) administered
by the World Bank.
Mr
Hakim Feerasta, the Resident Representative of the Aga
Khan Development Network (AKDN), noted that, “the
JSDF project is innovative in that it links risk reduction
with longer-term socio-economic development. This is
critical for the communities which will be targeted
in this project as they face the combined challenges
of physical and socio-economic isolation as well as
threats from natural hazards.”
Referring
to the work of FOCUS with other high-mountain communities
in Central Asia, including in Pakistan and Afghanistan,
Mr Altaaf Hasham the Chief of Mission of FOCUS in Tajikistan,
stated “this is an important project that can
serve as an excellent model for future development initiatives
in mountainous areas in a region where much of the population
faces the combined challenges of natural hazards and
socio-economic isolation.”
The
JSDF project builds on the “Lake Sarez Risk Mitigation
Project” (LSRMP), which is also being implemented
by FOCUS and has been supported by the Governments of
Tajikistan, Switzerland, and the United States of America,
the World Bank, and AKDN. The LSRMP, a multi-faceted
programme being implemented jointly with the Ministry
of Emergency Situations - has promoted mobilising and
strengthening local communities. The JSDF project will
draw on the LSRMP experience and partnerships to encourage
communities in high-mountain areas around Lake Sarez
to undertake projects which reduce the potential impact
of local hazards, such as landslides and avalanches.
The communities will, at the same time, undertake projects
to improve their income-generating potential using the
local and natural resources in an environmentally sensitive
manner.
The
JSDF project complements and supplements the Government
of Tajikistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. It
seeks to strengthen the decision-making and implementing
capacity of local communities by having them as the
key driving force in the identification and implementation
of the small-scale projects.
For further information, please contact:
| Focus
Humanitarian Assistance
137 Rudaki
Dushanbe
Tajikistan
Tel:
+ 992 372 21 37 36
Fax: + 992 372 21 96 11
Website: www.akdn.org |
|
| |
|
*
* NOTES * *
Focus
Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) is an international
group of agencies established in Europe, North America,
and South and Central Asia that have developed a specialisation
in disaster preparedness, mitigation, prevention and
disaster response. FOCUS has been active in Tajikistan
since 1997 and has played a lead role in designing and
implementing a variety of disaster preparedness, mitigation
and prevention (PMP) initiatives – ranging from
Hazard and Vulnerability Assessments (HVAs) and disaster
preparedness training with local communities to risk
mitigation against natural hazards and strengthening
government capacity (specifically the Ministry of Emergency
Situations and Civil Defence’s capacity) to respond
to emergencies.
FOCUS
is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network
(AKDN). The Aga Khan Development Network is a group
of private, non-denominational development agencies
and institutions that seek to empower communities and
individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to
improve living conditions and opportunities in specific
regions of Africa and Asia. Active in over 20 countries,
the Network's underlying impulse is the ethic of compassion
for the vulnerable in society and its agencies and institutions
work for the common good of all citizens, regardless
of origin, gender or religion.
The
AKDN has since 1993, launched a number of successful
initiatives in Central Asia in areas ranging from agrarian
reform to education, infrastructure, healthcare, micro-credit,
small enterprise development and cultural revitalisation.
These include the creation of rural support programmes
in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, curriculum development
for universities in the region through the Aga Khan
Humanities Project, promotion and preservation of musical
traditions of the region through the Aga Khan Music
Initiative, educational support for students, faculty
and university resources for training in a variety of
disciplines ranging from English language and Economics
to Architecture and Computer-Aided Design. Cultural
and social development initiatives have been enhanced
by support for health and education sector reform and
formal collaboration with the United Nations, five Central
Asian republics and Russia in regional drug control
programmes. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development
(AKFED), in collaboration with other international investors
has established the Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank,
the country’s largest commercial bank. Complementing
its engagement in the financial services sector, AKFED
operates an extensive micro-credit programme in Tajikistan
and has just launched, in collaboration with the IFC,
the Pamir Energy Company which operates one of the largest
power projects in the region.
|
