The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) under the Government of Tajikistan last week signed an agreement to launch a climate change adaptation project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
According to the WFP Tajikistan Country Office in Dushanbe, the project will benefit over the next four years approximately 115,000 food-insecure people in rural Tajik communities.
The project, Building Climate Resilience of Communities through Capacity Strengthening and Livelihood Diversification in Mountainous Regions of Tajikistan, is reportedly intended to increase the adaptive capacities of vulnerable and food insecure communities in the target areas.
The project will provide climate change adaptation interventions to strengthen the capacities of national actors in providing climate information services through monthly and seasonal forecasts, weather alerts, etc. to rural communities while enabling the communities to use the information and plan accordingly.
The project will also help create assets through the engagement of participants in community works in order to improve their food security and nutritional status as well as manage land and natural resources in a sustainable manner. The participants in assets building activities will receive in exchange cash assistance that will support them in fulfilling their immediate needs while enhancing their livelihoods.
“WFP is also keen on involving women in this project, as in all its other activities in the country, to contribute to the advancement of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in Tajikistan. WFP ensures that 60 percent of those assisted are women,” said WFP Representative and Country Director in Tajikistan Alberto Correia Mendes.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), a strategic WFP partner, is the world’s largest fund dedicated to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change. It was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010. GCF has reportedly contributed more than US$9 million to finance the project.
WFP has 20 years of successful experience in Tajikistan implementing resilience building, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation projects. In 2019, WFP assisted some 30,000 people through resilience building projects across the country.
The United Nations World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing the lives of millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.
