ENG - UN CC:Learn

EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF
INDEPENDENT STATES
TAJIKISTAN
WATER
QUICK FACTS
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $1,933,546
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $146,000
Total MPU and Bilateral: $70,422
Total: $2,149,968
SPOTLIGHT
NHDR Enhances Policy Formation for Improved Water Management 1
UZBEKISTAN
Dushanbe
AFHGANISTAN
Khujand
TAJIKISTAN
KYRGYZ
REPUBLIC
Water is Tajikistan’s greatest natural resource, and potentially its greatest source of
economic growth. Effective management of this resource could prove to be a powerful
tool for facilitating progress in human development. However, to fully realize its potential,Tajikistan needs to overcome substantial
obstacles to improved water management.
Recognizing the need for effective water management in the country and the huge potential benefits, the 2003 National
Human Development Report (NHDR) aimed to promote dialogue around issues of water management
in Tajikistan. The report argues that the deteriorated state of the public water infrastructure
is a result of chronic under-investment in the water system, and that the haphazard
responses of the authorities are symptomatic of a culture of weak institutional capacity that
requires change. In addition, the report reveals the vast inefficiencies in the provision and
consumption of water in the country.
The report makes 3 key recommendations. First, levels of investment for adequate rehabilitation
and maintenance of household water supply and irrigation networks should be significantly
increased,and salaries in public ministries and other agencies should be raised. This will
require high and sustained levels of funding from the Government and the international
community. Second, investment in training and in Tajikistan’s water-related academic institutions
is crucial in order to educate a new generation of policy-makers to combine the high technical
standards of the previous era with today more sustainable and user-focused approaches. Third,
wasteful water consumption patterns must be changed through awareness-raising campaigns to increase public appreciation and
ownership of water as a shared national resource, as well as through public policy options such as raising water tariffs.
The findings and analyses of the NHDR, while by no means exhaustive, made a valuable contribution to the public debate and
enhanced the level of policy formation and decision making taking place in Tajikistan today.
CHINA
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
25 ODP tonnes
258