Within the framework of implementation of a protocol for expansion of cross-border cooperation for disaster preparedness and response to emergency situations between Tajikistan and Afghanistan signed in February 2018, the first training for Tajik and Afghan female rescuers has begun in Dushanbe, according to the Committee on Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of Tajikistan.
A week-long training is being held at the Republican Training Center of the Emergencies Committee, and its participants are learning methods of carrying out search-and-rescue operations with use of special rescue and personal protective equipment, Umeda Yusufi, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Committee, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Organized under support of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Tajikistan, the training is being conducted by professional instructors from the United Kingdom, Yusufi added.
The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), which merges the capabilities of Focus Humanitarian Assistance, the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services, and the Aga Khan Development Network’s Disaster Risk Management Initiative, focuses on preparing for both sudden and slow-onset disasters. AKAH works to ensure that poor people live in physical settings that are as safe as possible from the effects of natural disasters; that residents who do live in high-risk areas are able to cope with disasters in terms of preparedness and response; and that these settings provide access to social and financial services that lead to greater opportunity and a better quality of life. Initially, priority areas of AKAH will include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and India.
In Tajikistan, Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), a part of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, engages with communities living in precarious mountain environments to increase their resilience to natural disasters and complex emergencies and to support them in utilizing an enabling habitat to enhance their health, education and economic development.
