KULOB, March 31, Asia-Plus — Japan’s Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) supports establishment of the community health councils (CHC) in four jamoats of Khatlon’s Kulob district.
Ms. Halima Boboyeva, a chief specialist with the project implementation unit, JFPR in Tajikistan, said that the CHCs will be established as part of the Community Participation and Public Information Campaign Project. According to her, a group of specialists completed survey of the situation in the Dahana jamaot on March 27 and local residents welcomed and opportunity to participate in improving health care conditions in close cooperation with local authorities and public associations.
“Similar CHCs will also be established in Roghtqala, Rasht, Mastchoh and Ayni districts of the country,” she said, adding that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided grant support to the project.
The grant development objective of the Community Participation and Public Information Campaign Project is to improve access to and use of innovative health care procedures promoted under the Health Sector Reform Project (HSRP) by the poor population, in particular by the poorest, women with reproductive age, mothers, and children. The grant purpose is to strengthen public information, and community and family participation in determining, implementing, monitoring health needs, practices and services.
The JFPR project and HSRP is implemented in five rural districts — Roshtqala in Gorno Badakhshan, Ayni and Kuhistoni Mastchoh districts in the Sughd province, Rasht in the region subordinate to the center, and Kulob in the Khatlon province.
The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction is an untied grant facility established by the Japanese Government and ADB in May 2000. From an initial contribution of $90 million, the Fund now stands at well over $360 million, of which $224 million has been committed. JFPR assists ADB clients to provide direct relief to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society while building up their capacities for self-help and income generation.
