In rural Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Foundation has helped foster a network of over 1,600 village organisations and 105 social unions, reaching almost 700,000 people.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In rural Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Foundation has helped foster a network of over 1,600 village organisations …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
The Blended learning studio in Khorog is an AKF supported studio which allows teachers to record lessons or learning courses for use by distance learning students, resulting in many more students having access to learning opportunities.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
The Blended learning studio in Khorog is an AKF supported studio which allows teachers to record lessons or …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
The Mahalla Committee in the Tughul village has been supported by AKF through the ESCoMIAD programme with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
The Mahalla Committee in the Tughul village has been supported by AKF through the ESCoMIAD programme with …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
By investing in community-based institutions like savings groups, ESCoMIAD is helping create a cycle of growth and development—expanding social and financial opportunities for women in Tajikistan.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
By investing in community-based institutions like savings groups, ESCoMIAD is helping create a cycle of …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
This page is also available inTajikistan | Civil Society
The government has pledged support for the development of civil society organisations (CSOs). However, Tajikistan faces challenges with the legal enabling environment for non-governmental organisations, with implications for the financial sustainability of the non-profit sector. Meanwhile, the decreasing number of young adults engaged within civil society may undermine CSOs’ role in supporting Tajikistan to realise goals within its National Development Strategy. There is a need firstly to build the organisational and technical capacity of CSOs to improve their productivity and enhance their impact, and secondly to support public understanding of civil society’s role in developing and advancing concepts of national unity, social cohesion and civic engagement.
98,000
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is supporting 848 civil society organisations, reaching 98,000 people
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) aims to develop resilient, values-based civil societies, which demonstrate greater competency, legitimacy, accountability and sustainability. Our experience in grassroots poverty alleviation indicates that community-based civil society structures are the foundations of development. We achieve this by enhancing capacities for collective action, strengthening values-based societies, strengthening transparency and accountability, and improving resources, services and economic assets. Since 1993, AKF has engaged over 1,900 village organisations to empower women, men and youth to meaningfully participate in local decision-making processes.
Good Governance
AKF establishes, strengthens and partners with community-based CSOs representing over 1.4 million rural constituents in the governance, education, health, emergency management, water and sanitation, and natural resource management sectors. Our organisational capacity assessment and organisational performance index tools support CSOs to implement inclusive, efficient, transparent and accountable governance of development activities, helping them build trust and self-reliance.
Enabling Environment
In 2017, we supported the country’s first-ever Parliamentary Committee focused on the role of civil society in realising goals outlined in the National Development Strategy of Tajikistan for 2015-2030, and related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, we advanced the hearing recommendations for closer engagement between civil society and government by facilitating the fifth national civil society forum. This was attended by more than 40 public organisations across the country, including representatives from the Presidential Office, National Parliament, Ministry of Justice, Tax Committee, donors and intergovernmental agencies. The resultant joint resolution was shared with the Presidential Office and relevant ministries to create an enabling environment for the development of civil society in Tajikistan.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Policy Advocacy
In 2020, AKF and the Committee on the Local Development of the Parliament of Tajikistan facilitated policy discussions on the Public Self Initiative Bodies Law of the Republic of Tajikistan (PSIB). The meeting brought together representatives of mahalla committees, public organisations, sub-districts and district heads, town and regional government, and members of the national parliament. During the meeting, participants shared their experiences with the implementation of the PSIB law at the mahalla committee level. Challenges such as the consistency of the PSIB law with the Law on Public Associations, communities’ ownership over community resources and strengthening mahalla committees by granting them more authority were discussed. After this meeting, the participants presented recommendations for improvement of the PSIB law to the National Parliament, while Members of Parliament presented possible amendments to the law.
Civil Engagement
AKF empowers all segments of the community – women, men, youth and the elderly – to participate meaningfully in local decision-making processes. We support village development planning workshops for communities to identify their key priorities through a participatory process involving the most marginalised members.
Connecting Supply and Demand
We support inclusive social and economic development across the country by linking priorities identified through participatory village development planning processes to district and regional development plans. This connects governance supply and demand, while aligning public resources around community priorities and needs. This alignment has enabled the implementation of over 3,600 micro-projects since 2014, in partnership with civil society and local authorities.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Innovation and Acceleration
Our Accelerate Impact initiative teaches AKF staff a human-centred design approach to continuously improve our programmes. This is an innovative approach to problem-solving that fosters the understanding of context and identifies local solutions in a creative way by prototyping and testing ideas with local communities.
Promoting Volunteerism
AKF Tajikistan’s civil society programme, in close coordination with the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast government, initiated a regional forum on the collaboration of local government and civil society institutions in response to communicable diseases such as COVID-19. This was an important step taken towards joint coordination between the government and civil society institutions at a time of crisis, and towards the establishment of a coordination mechanism for response and volunteer engagement. The forum promoted volunteer work and reflected on good practices to expand to other regions.