USAID Celebrates its Work in Tajikistan and in southern Kyrgyzstan

On March 27, some 200 representatives of the government agencies, NGOs, donors, local and international companies, beneficiary organizations, and media participated in a USAID 15th anniversary event in Tajikistan. A similar event in late February marked 15 years of the USAID�s work in Kyrgyzstan with 150 local partners and counterparts in the southern part of the country.

USAID-supported TB Day activities for the region

To mark World TB Day, traditionally commemorated on March 24, USAID programs held a wide array of events throughout Central Asia. To increase awareness of this disease among the populations, a series of public service announcements were broadcast on the local TV stations. Concerts, conferences, and contests delivered information about TB to medical workers, youth, and other groups. Journalists had an opportunity to attend extensive training sessions and roundtables.

Vulnerable Populations Receive Donations of Food

Last winter USAID�s Food for Peace program delivered sizeable shipments of food donations to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The shipments aimed to strengthen food security and enrich the diets of those in long-term treatment and housing. In December and February, the program delivered over 70,000 kilograms of food to psychoneurological, narcological, and other social institutions across Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Courts adopt new tool to enhance transparency

In 2006-2008, the USAID Kazakhstan Judicial Assistance Project piloted new video and audio recording systems in six courts around the country to create an accurate comprehensive electronic protocol of the trial process. The new system has been shown to encourage all parties to the trial to a �more appropriate� behavior, to make judges to perform their duties in a more transparent and lawful manner, as well as to engender more public trust to the court decisions.

USAID-funded Campaign helps expand human rights

In February, President Nazarbayev signed the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This agreement will allow the citizens of Kazakhstan to file individual human rights complaints with the United Nation�s Human Rights Committee. A critical role in this important achievement was played by a year-long advocacy campaign that was funded with a grant from USAID.

USAID�s grantee helped persuade the Kyrgyz government to postpone restrictive changes to NGO law

In February, a draft law was introduced in the Kyrgyz parliament that would impose drastic restrictions on NGOs, their members, founders, and donors. The law would give government officials wide powers to interfere in the internal affairs of NGOs, restrict foreign funding, and cancel the registration of an NGO. NGOs were to be barred from any �political activity�.

Jalalabat City Presents Award to USAID�s Project

Recently, the Mayor of Jalalabat presented the USAID Decentralization and Local Self-Government Program with a special award for contributions to the city�s economic development. The city is one of six pilot municipalities that have been receiving the project�s assistance in strategic planning since 2007. The project helped the city design its economic development strategy and create the management system for its implementation.

USAID Helps Develop Property Use Tax Calculator

USAID�s Economic Reforms Project to Enhance Competitiveness (EREC) Project has developed a Property Use Tax Calculator for residential use which is now available on the State Tax Inspectorate�s website, www.sti.gov. This calculator is designed to assist citizens in calculating their liability for the Property Use Tax that came into effect on January 1, 2009. Property Use Tax assessments have to be completed before May 1, 2009, and paid on or before September 1, 2009.

USAID-funded conference helps stop restrictive Internet-related legislation

A USAID-funded conference recently led to the withdrawal of proposed legislation on Internet regulations in Kyrgyzstan. If adopted, this legislation would have made Internet providers and blog-hosting platforms responsible for content they host thus increasing their vulnerability to libel charges.

USAID-supported health financing reform to be replicated nationwide

Recently, the Ministries of Health and Finance of Tajikistan issued a joint order to extend the per capita payment system for the primary health care to the entire Khalton and Soughd provinces. This system had been introduced on a pilot basis in a few districts of these provinces by the USAID ZdravPlus project over the past couple of years.

Children learn to stay healthy with USAID project

In February USAID completed its Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education project, implemented by the NGO Save the Children. The project taught basic hygiene and nutrition concepts to 40,000 primary school children at 80 schools in the Khatlon Region with the goal of keeping healthy children in school. To facilitate adoption of healthy behaviors, the project enlisted 460 high school students to teach grade school children basic hygiene.

DOTS included in medical school curricula

Starting 2009, students at the medical schools across Turkmenistan will be learning about the tuberculosis treatment strategy DOTS, thanks to USAID programs. USAID�s TB prevention and control program, implemented by Project HOPE, has helped develop curriculum that includes DOTS and prepared a cadre of trainers to roll out the new curriculum in the medical colleges.

New Training Center to Facilitate introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards

Recently, USAID�s Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness Project helped open the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Training Center at the Supreme Council on Science and Technology under the President of Turkmenistan. The center will train university professors to introduce and integrate IFRS in accounting curriculum of Turkmen higher educational institutions.

Uzbekistan�s credit unions have doubled their assets over the past year

Introduced with USAID support in 2002, Uzbekistan�s credit unions have increased their number to 81 by January 2009, up from 58 a year before. Additionally, their assets have doubled to $79 million over the past year. USAID, together with the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), has helped create legislation, supported start-up of multiple associations, and has facilitated their growth.

Uzbekistan becomes a Signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

In February, the Government of Uzbekistan signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, following the long-term lobbying efforts supported by the USAID-funded Strengthening Local Capacity Project. The project, implemented by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), has worked since 2007 to assist the Uzbekistan Republican Society for the Disabled with its advocacy for the signing of the convention.