T

AJIKISTAN

Security Situation 

The security situation on the Tajik  Afghan boarder and in Northern Afghanistan has deteriorated this 

quarter. A number of Afghans have been captured or killed by the Russian border guards for trying to 

bring heroin into Tajikistan and some Tajik border guards have been wounded. In the area in and 

around Mazar Sharif, a city located directly south of Uzbekistan in Northern Afghanistan, three NGOs 

were robbed and one expatriate NGO worker was raped. In addition, two local staff members of 

Mercy Corp were shot and wounded in the town of Rustaq. The international NGO community has 

appealed to the UN to expand the international peace keeping forces to Northern Afghanistan.  

The overall security situation in most of Tajikistan and Dushanbe seems to be good, but a major 

typhoid outbreak has occurred in both Dushanbe and southern Tajikistan. 

Activity Overview 

Staff Changes in Hub Center 

Barno Gaibullaeva, the Community Outreach Coordinator, resigned after six years at Counterpart 

Tajikistan to work for UNICEF. Counterpart has appointed Lola Nazarova as the Acting Community 

Outreach Coordinator. Ms. Nazarova did an outstanding job as the Community Reconciliation and 

Development Coordinator and has experience working on community mobilization activities. The 

assignment is temporary because she is scheduled to be the Project Coordinator of ABT s Zdravplus 

starting in September. The search for a full time CO Coordinator continues. 

Farishtamo Ofaridaeva, the Training Coordinator, has also resigned from her position upon 

completing her probation period. Counterpart has appointed Shoira Zuhurova as the new Training 

Coordinator. Mrs. Zuhurova formerly worked as the Secretary for Counterpart Tajikistan before 

joining the World Bank. She has a good understanding of the civil society issues and the overall work 

of Counterpart.  

Regional Consultants Visit Tajikistan 

Arlene Lear, Senior Vice President at Counterpart International, and Jay Cooper, the Regional 

Director, visited the Tajikistan office this quarter. They met with the staff members and visited the 

Kurghon Teppa and Dushanbe Civil Society Support Centers and the community projects in the 

Dushanbe area. 

The Regional Financial Director, Bob Abma, visited Counterpart Tajikistan to work with the 

Financial Officer and the Country Director on spending plans. He also consulted with the Grant 

Coordinator and Grant Coordinator Assistant and gave recommendations and comments on how to 

improve the grant filing process and the monitoring of grants. 

Grant Programs 

USAID, The Office of Democracy and Mass Media, has awarded Counterpart Tajikistan additional 

grant funds for use under the Phase III Program in the amount of $250,000. These funds have been 

budgeted for use under Counterpart's Institutional, NGO Support and Community Action Grants 

programs. Counterpart developed a plan for using the funds and completing the entire process by the 

end of the Phase III Program. It is anticipated that the NGO Support and Community Action Grants 

will be administered through the CSSCs. The Country Director and the Program Staff introduced and 

explained the strategy to the CSSCs in the last Network's meeting. Grant funds will be distributed in 

the following way: CSSCs for projects that focus on sustainability; target NGOs that have not 

received a grant from Counterpart under Phase III; non target NGOs working with community 

development projects; Youth NGOs; and CSSCs for communities that have developed Community 

Action Plans and have applied for support. 

21