Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tajikistan Office and the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Tajikistan have jointly provided emergency assistance to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) of public of Tajikistan to strengthen its capacity to reduce nosocomial infection, and establish appropriate treatment systems at hospitals in Khatlon province.
According to JICA Tajikistan, amidst the COVID-19 crisis in Tajikistan, this emergency assistance was materialized under the framework of JICA’s ongoing project, Technical Cooperation Project for Improving Maternal and Child Health Care System in Khatlon Province Phase 2 (project period: 2017 – 2021) and AKAH ongoing support to fight against COVID 19 for the country.
AKAH in Tajikistan played a vital role to facilitate the logistics of the delivery, as well as monitoring of the assistance that aims to supplement the MoHSPP’s effort to realize improved sanitary and clinical environment for mothers and children in the hospital. The assistance reached over 435 frontline medical professionals in the hospitals with a budget of 25,000 USD.
Japan and AKAH in Tajikistan will continue to assist the MoHSPP to strengthen its national health system through technical and grant aid cooperation projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 " ensure healthy life for all ages and promote welfare" and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) " all people receive services for adequate health promotion, prevention, treatment, and functional recovery at affordable costs".
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, the Kyrgyz Republic, and India.
JICA began its technical cooperation with Tajikistan in 1993 by inviting Tajik officials to gain knowledge and experience on governance and macroeconomics development. As of January 2018, a total number of participants to JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Programs, formerly called the Training Programs, has exceeded 2200 people. JICA Office was established in 2006 in Tajikistan and since then various Grant Financial Assistance and Technical Cooperation projects have been implemented more dynamically, aiming at improving living standard of Tajik people for the sectors such as agriculture and rural development, water supply, health, transport, energy, capacity building as well as SME promotion. JICA’s cumulative investment portfolio in Tajikistan in all sectors comprises 35 projects amounting to more than 349.6 million USD (82 million USD for Technical Cooperation and 267.6 million USD for Grant Assistance), including 11 on-going projects.
