DUSHANBE, February 12, Asia-Plus — This year, the US Government intends to provide humanitarian food assistance through its partners to Tajik families, which have been affected by cold weather and electricity shortages, Ms. Jaclyn MacKennan, Press Attaché, the US Embassy in Dushanbe, said.
She noted that the US Government provides humanitarian aid to Tajikistan’s population regularly, and within the framework of food programs, foodstuffs worth $8.5 million are annually provided to Tajikistan.
In the meantime, Ms. Roziya Qirghizbekova, Economic and Cultural Assistant, Japan’s Embassy in Dushanbe, noted that the embassy has not yet received any specific request from the Tajik Government for help in connection with ongoing energy crisis and severe electricity shortages. “However, at request of the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Government of Japan has provided 2,200 blankets for a total amount of some $92,900 to the ministry through JICA,” Ms Qirghizbekova said.
A source at President’s Executive Office told Asia-Plus today that the government has not yet made any official appeal to foreign countries for help
In the meantime, Iran’s news agency IRNA reports that international aid workers and foreign diplomats have been meeting with Tajik officials, urging them to declare a state of emergency and to make a public appeal for help.
BBC’s Natalia Antelava reported on February 6 that the deteriorating food situation is part of the energy crisis which hit the mountainous nation in the middle of its coldest winter for five decades. The cost of food has tripled in recent months, partially because of rising world prices. Some humanitarian agencies claim Central Asia”s poorest nation is heading towards catastrophe.
According to BBC, Zlatan Milisic, the country director for the World Food Program in Tajikistan, says it”s not just the rural population that”s being affected, but people in the cities too. “We are seeing more and more people who are eating just one meal a day. And we only expect the food situation to deteriorate. This is already a real emergency,” said Mr. Milisic. He added additional funding was urgently needed to assist the people.
Even at the best of times, tens of thousands of people are malnourished. But this winter is affecting a huge proportion of the population. People are spending all they have on trying to keep warm. And the worst is still to come – Tajikistan is currently using up its last energy resources, and it may face a total blackout.
