Head of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Service Shamsiddin Qurbonzoda, Director of the State Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Expertise and Control on Transport and Borders (CSEE CTB CTB) in Tajikistan Ilhom Yatimov and Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) CEO Umed Qalandarov on May 2 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will facilitate partnerships and cooperation on conducting water-related issues and strengthening mutual understanding, knowledge sharing, and confidence, according to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Resident Office in Tajikistan.
The purpose of this MoU is to define the scope of cooperation, delineate tasks, and outline obligations for the parties for the next five years. The primary areas covered by the MoU include conducting joint consultations, approving work plans, collaborating on the examination and analysis of drinking water quality, obtaining legal approvals from both parties, and engaging the parties in training, internships, and other related matters. Detailed provisions defining these aspects for the parties are provided in the subsequent sections of the MoU.
Under the previous MoU, for 5 years (2019-2024) several great successes have reportedly been achieved. Together with the Government of Tajikistan, the support of Government of Switzerland, AKDN, AKF, MSDSP, USAID, EU, and other partners, under different projects AKAH conducted 166 water tests and more than 129 498 people benefited from that. Consequently, AKAH has built more than 30 Drinking Water Supply Systems in different parts of Tajikistan. For instance, under the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation Management Project in Tajikistan (SWSMT) AKAH purchased a mobile laboratory to test water for physical and chemical, and biological indicators. All procedures for testing and monitoring water quality comply with the drinking water quality protocol of the World Health Organization (WHO) and comply with the standards of Government Standard 2874-82 on “Drinking Water”, Sanitary and Epidemiological Station 2.1.4.004-07 of Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tajikistan.
With the signing of this MoU, AKAH will continue its work on initiating seasonal fieldwork, on a comprehensive analysis of the quality and safety of the drinking water source in targeted areas. Furthermore, this analysis should be conducted jointly by the mobile laboratory of AKAH and the laboratory of SI “CSEE CTB” to calibrate and assess the performance level of diagnostic tools. Procurement and supply of equipment for the mobile water testing laboratory and Analyzing drinking water quality by using modern equipment such as the Del Agua system, Portable Water Testing Kit, Metalyser Portable HM100, and other relevant tools would be supported or mobilized by AKAH.
The parties reportedly agreed upon modalities and tasks, roles, and responsibilities for cooperation including Involving specialists from SSESS, SI “CSEE CTB”, and Regional State Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Centers in training courses and experience-sharing sessions focused on water quality analysis and safety diagnostics in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.
In the framework of the signed contract, AKAH immediately handed over technical equipment for raising the capacity of the specialists of State sanitary and epidemiological control service.
Hence, Both parties expressed their satisfaction with the previous achievements and expressed their wish to continue working on an already developed cooperation framework in the field of water testing, following the international standards, and to share experiences and knowledge of methodologies aiming to develop and harmonize indicators of the water issues, hygiene, and Sanitation and expressed great hope for future cooperation and work, which will be a big contribution to the elimination of water-related disease and improve the lives of great amount of people in mountainous areas.
