DUSHANBE, June 25, 2009, Asia-Plus — The European Commission has adopted an emergency decision for €300,000 to provide relief to victims of the May floods and mudflows in Tajikistan. The funding will be channeled via the Commission”s Humanitarian Aid department through non-governmental and international organizations, according to the Delegation of the European Commission in Tajikistan.
The targeted populations are the internally displaced people and the most affected populations in the Khatlon province and in the directly ruled districts.
The funds will be deployed for the provision of non-food items, and water supply and sanitation operations for the internally displaced persons and the rehabilitation of some water systems damaged by the flooding
It has to be noted that the European Union has responded to the disasters earlier in May, and provided its assistance to Tajikistan following severe floods and mudslides. The European Commission has activated its Community Mechanism for Civil Protection at the request of the Republic of Tajikistan, and has deployed a coordination team with experts from Austria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Sweden, as well as a MIC (Monitoring and Information Centre) liaison officer, joining forces with the national government authorities and international partners to facilitate the distribution of the relief items, provided by the Austrian and Slovakian Governments.
The new EU Strategy for Central Asia aims to strengthen ties between the European Union and its Central Asian partners. It has doubled European Commission assistance to the region to €750 million for 2007-2013. Tajikistan gets the main share of bilateral assistance (€66 million for 2007-2010) in support to sector programs, technical assistance and grants. It focuses on social protection, health and private sector development, underpinned by public finance management. Projects aimed at enhancing living standards continue. Tajikistan also receives regional and thematic assistance in areas like border management and drug control (BOMCA/CADAP), education (TEMPUS, Erasmus Mundus), water / environment, migration, human rights and democracy (EIDHR), non-State actors (NSA) and SME development (CA-Invest). The total value of EC assistance disbursed to Tajikistan since 1992 is over €500 million.
