ASTANA – Kazakhstan is intending to supply Tajikistan with 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil as humanitarian aid. The 128.68 million tenge (US$387,712) in assistance will be allocated from an emergency reserve in the 2017 government budget, according to a Kazakh Ministry of Defence and Aerospace Industry press release.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is instructed to determine the recipient of official humanitarian assistance and ensure coordination measures to provide it. The Ministry for Investments and Development needs to ensure the timely supply of rolling stock for transportation and delivery of humanitarian goods to Tajikistan,” the relevant government resolution said, according to the press release.
In a related development, Kazakhstan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) experts, including representatives of the Foreign Affairs, Healthcare and Internal Affairs ministries and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Kazakhstan, travelled to Tajikistan for a Nov. 6-11 study trip to learn the best practices and approaches in development assistance.
“A delegation from Kazakhstan learned about the development priorities of the Tajik government and projects implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United Nations Development Programme aimed at promoting sustainable development of the country. The knowledge and skills will enable Kazakh delegates to effectively formulate and implement development assistance projects going forward,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service.
The Livelihood Improvement in Tajik-Afghan Cross-border Areas (LITACA) project implemented by the UNDP office in Tajikistan features concrete examples of improving the local population’s wellbeing by targeting key infrastructure provisions and services enabling local economic development. The Kazakh delegation travelled to the Khatlon region, visiting a rural school, medical facility and small hydropower plant. The delegates spoke with the beneficiaries and learned about the project’s impact on peoples’ livelihoods.
“Kazakhstan has considerable experience in ODA. The country ensured humanitarian assistance to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan providing educational grants and constructing educational facilities. Since 2006, Kazakhstan has supplied consumer goods worth $22.3 million in humanitarian aid to Tajikistan. The ODA system considers Tajikistan one of the priority countries,” noted the report.
