Donors to meet in Dushanbe

Donors are set to meet in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Friday in an effort to highlight the many developmental challenges facing Tajikistan and how best to facilitate further progress. "This meeting comes at a crucial time for Tajikistan," William Paton, UN resident coordinator for Tajikistan, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, one day before the meeting. "The government and its international partners have a unique opportunity to make development work." Some 140 participants, including high-ranking delegations from international financial institutions, key donors, the UN, other multilateral organisations and the government are expected to attend. And while all sides appeared committed to making economic growth sustainable and to alleviating poverty, there was clearly a need for better coordination, prioritisation and targeting of the government's programmes and international support for them, Paton maintained. Human development indicators in poverty, health and education were low, but progress in macro-economic performance, increased public spending on the social sectors and significant donor response were grounds for cautious optimism. "We expect both sides to take stock of the impressive progress made here in the last two years, [and] renew their commitment to working together in the coming years," he said. "There needs to be more agreement on key priorities, such as improving transparency, strengthening the investment climate and the environment for business, as well as further support for social sector reforms." According to a recent report by the UN, after over a decade of independence and seven years of peace following a devastating civil war, which claimed 50,000 lives and caused some US $7 billion in damage, Tajikistan enjoyed relative stability and calm. Profound improvements in the former Soviet republic's situation included the near absence of political violence and unrest, the extension of government control over the entire country, as well as macroeconomic stability with an average economic growth of 8 percent over the past five years, the report stated. "There is a unique opportunity for effective joint effort by the government of Tajikistan and the international community to make progress on sustainable development," it added, calling on a further focus on poverty reduction. But as the ongoing Millienium Development Goals (MDG) needs assessment underscored, the impoverished nation of 6.5 million still faced serious challenges in the social sector, particularly in improving access to health care and the quality of education. "Further progress will largely hinge on whether the administration can be made more transparent and responsive and whether economic growth can be sustained," Paton said, noting, however, some humanitarian concerns still remained. "One mustn't forget that Tajikistan is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world, with several dozen small and medium scale landslides, floods, droughts and earthquakes hitting the country every year," he explained. But donor interest in this mountainous, landlocked nation remained high, the senior UN official claimed. Of the $900 million pledged at the last Consultative Group (CG) meeting for Tajikistan in May 2003, $750 million had already been translated into firm commitments, signed agreements and disbursements. Despite that, the remaining challenges were daunting and neither the government nor the donor community had reason to be complacent. "Overall, Tajikistan has the potential to be one of the most salient success stories in post-conflict development and accelerating progress toward the MDGs. It would be a great shame to let this opportunity be missed," he concluded.