Speeches Shim
The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) are initiating a combined $2.6 million response to COVID-19 in Tajikistan over the next twelve months. USAID and AKF will work to improve care for patients, especially for the severely and critically ill, create employment opportunities, provide food support for the most vulnerable, and educate communities about COVID-19 to help reduce the spread of the virus. This brings the total direct U.S. government contribution to support Tajikistan’s efforts to combat COVID-19 to more than $5 million.
The current situation with COVID-19 and the quarantine is challenging for everyone but it is especially difficult for our beneficiaries,” says Suhrob Idrissov who is a peer navigator for one of USAID’s HIV programs in Tajikistan that is funded by PEPFAR, and provides consultations and support to people with drug addictions, who are at risk of acquiring HIV, or already live with it.
Meet Pulot Ashurov, a horticulture producer and the leading exporter of fresh apricots from the Asht district of Tajikistan. Representing Apricot & Co., Pulot owns orchards located in the northernmost tip of Sughd Province of Tajikistan, bordering Uzbekistan. The fertile land, rich in vitamins and minerals, has been producing delicious apricots for decades. Tajikistan possesses a huge potential for fruit production due to ideal growing conditions in Asht and across the Ferghana Valley. Pulot, like many other traders in the country, faced challenges exporting small batches of dried apricots because he didn’t have the capacity or verifiable export quality standards to reach high-end export markets.
Food insecurity, combined with the lack of knowledge about nutrition severely affects the lives of many families in Tajikistan, resulting in high levels of malnutrition especially among young children in rural areas. Faizina, a 29-year-old woman from Ayni district, previously worked as a seamstress, but when her two-year-old daughter, Omina began losing significant amounts of weight, she had no other choice than to stop working to take care of her daughter. Faizina recalls how her daughter’s health situation deteriorated: “Omina was so thin and exhausted that I could not believe that any medication would help her. She had no appetite and she would not gain weight.”
In Tajikistan, the strength of the community is based on tradition. Traditions are what bind people together, creating shared experience and reminding everyone that they are part of something larger than themselves. Elderly men and women act as stewards of these traditions, ensuring that they are incorporated into everything, from weddings to ceremonies that celebrate the birth of a child. While these traditions are important to honor, bringing together thousands of people for Friday prayers at the mosque or hundreds of people for a traditional wedding amidst the COVID-19 pandemic can put individuals at increased risk of sickness and even death.
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