Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 9 April 2009 - Every year communities in the mountainous regions of Tajikistan are subject to natural hazards such as landslides and debris flows. In an effort to reduce the resulting risk run by those communities, the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Tajikistan and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) signed an agreement to hydro-insulate a water channel in the district of Roshtqala and rehabilitate a debris flow channel in the district of Ishkashim. Additionally, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and FOCUS have signed an agreement to implement a project aimed at reducing the vulnerability of communities to the risks associated with glacial lake outburst floods in Tajikistan.

(1) The Embassy of Japan in the Tajikistan Signs Agreement with FOCUS to Reduce the Risk of Natural Hazards in Tajikistan

FOCUS will implement these activities in partnership with the Government of Tajikistan and the communities in these districts. The agreement is signed under the auspices of the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grass-root Human Security Projects and is a continuation of the long-standing partnership between the Government of Japan and FOCUS to reduce the risk of communities in Tajikistan to natural hazards.

Since 2001, FOCUS, with the support of the Government of Japan, has implemented a variety of disaster risk reduction projects in the Republic of Tajikistan.

(2) DFID, SDC and FOCUS Sign Agreement to Reduce the Risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods on Tajik Communities

With a view to reducing the vulnerability of communities to the risks associated with glacial lake outburst floods in Tajikistan, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) have signed an agreement to implement the Remote Geo-Hazards Capacity Building and Monitoring Project. The project (US $ 1.47 Million) will be implemented by FOCUS in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence, the Hydro-Meteorology Agency and the Head Agency of Geology.

This initiative, supported by the Aga Khan Development Network, is jointly-funded by DFID, SDC, and FOCUS. The project seeks to reduce the risk of communities to glacial lake outburst floods in Tajikistan as well as build the capacity of communities and institutions in Tajikistan to assess and monitor these risks.

The initiative includes conducting glacial lake risk assessments in the Zarafshan Valley, the Jirgital District and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) of Tajikistan. Implementation of community-based risk reduction activities in GBAO and institutional capacity building activities in Dushanbe are also part of the project. The total number of beneficiaries will be close to 200,000.