EMBARGOED TO THE MEDIA UNTIL TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2003, 1100 HRS NEW YORK TIME

Tajikistan

CONSOLIDATED APPEAL

SUMMARY

Needs remain

Despite increasing stability and development, many people in Tajikistan still have acute humanitarian needs.

People in Tajikistan face severe problems in the areas of nutrition, food security, health and drinking water.

Many are still feeling the effects of the five-year civil war that ended in 1997. Then, a two-year drought from 2000 to 2001 left many households even more vulnerable.

Meanwhile, one in four households have members that have migrated abroad.

Tajikistan is also one of most disaster-prone countries in the world, with frequent earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, floods and avalanches.

Sub-regional problems, instability in Afghanistan, restricted border crossing into Uzbekistan, large-scale drug trafficking and organized crime, continue to hamper development.

Despite overall improvements in security and the economy, many people’s coping mechanisms are stretched beyond their limits. Many are falling into deep poverty.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet Republics, with over 83 per cent of its people living below the national poverty line. Some 17 per cent of the population is considered destitute.

Transition

Projects in 2004 will address acute humanitarian needs, while building national capacities and fostering economic recovery at central and regional levels.

This transitional appeal addresses:

• access to basic social services
• sustainable food security
• capacity building at community levels

Government officials, local and international NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and representatives of affected communities consulted thoroughly to prepare the Consolidated Appeal for Tajikistan.

Agencies agreed to support:

• government reform initiatives
• development of technical skills
• increased participation and ownership of projects by the Government and community groups
• decentralization and corruption resistance at all levels

Following the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in 2002, agencies have increasingly emphasized development.

Request

The 2004 Consolidated Appeal requests a total of US$ 53,669,456.

Funding Requirements in 2004
(US$)