DUSHANBE, June 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — A newly created Bio-safety and Bio-security Training Center in Dushanbe was opened at the Institute of Botany of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences on June 25.
According to press release issued by the European Union (EU) Delegation to Tajikistan, the Center, the first for bio-safety and bio-security training in the country, is the main outcome of a project funded by the European Union (“Creation of Regional Biosafety Training Center in Dushanbe for Capacity Building for Tajikistan and Afghanistan Professionals”, ISTC, Budget: € about 900.000,00).
Training courses for bio-experts will be funded under the same project at the Dushanbe Center, a total of 130 specialists from Tajikistan and Afghanistan will follow the courses in the coming year.
Focus of the training will be on measures to assure the safety of personnel when handling pathogenic agents; to assure effective controls and protection against illegal and unintentional release of bio-agents; to mitigate the effect of accidentally and intentionally released bio-agents. The project falls within a larger Action denominated “Strengthening Bio-Safety and Bio-Security Capabilities in Central Asian Countries”, one of the EU flagship programs in Central Asia (about 7 million euro in 2010-2014), aiming at building capacity in the field of bio-safety and bio-security.
At this occasion Ambassador Eduard Auer, EU Head of Delegation to Tajikistan said that: “The opening of the Centre is a significant step forward for the training of Tajik bio-specialists. This should advance the ability of the country to modernize its research capacity and the future integration of the scientists in the international research community and network.”
The European Union is the world’s biggest aid donor. Tajikistan gets the main share of bilateral assistance in the Central Asian region (€66 million for 2007-2010 and 62 million for 2011-2013) in support to sector programs, technical assistance and grants. It focuses on social protection, health and private sector development, underpinned by public finance management. 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 EU assistance disbursed to Tajikistan since 1992 is over €600 million.
