Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Tajikistan

The Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Tajikistan (OSIAF-Tajikistan) aims to promote open society values and strategies in a country in transition. The foundation has worked for nearly 11 years in dynamic and sometimes difficult conditions marked by both progress and persistent harassment of groups and institutions trying to promote democracy and the rule of law. By 2006 Tajikistan was poised either to follow many of its neighbors and further embrace authoritarian rule or to strengthen efforts to pursue democratic development.

To help establish and entrench the foundations for an open society in Tajikistan, OSIAF-Tajikistan gives priority to supporting activities promoting human rights, judicial independence, education reform, and freedom of the press and information. Throughout 2006, the foundation worked with civil society groups on issues such as HIV/AIDS and harm reduction, abolition of the death penalty, labor migration, and development of the arts and culture sector.

The following briefs describe some of the foundation’s activities and achievements in 2006.

Project Provides Internet to Dushanbe Schools

Internet for Schools, a joint project of OSI, NATO, and UNDP, prepared 20 trainers to provide computer skills to 600 teachers and students in 55 secondary schools, helping to bring Internet connectivity and staff training to the majority of schools in Dushanbe. Teachers and students said that the project increased collaboration among educators and provided students with crucial experience for further studies in web and software design.

Country’s First Master’s Degree in Public Health Launched

OSI worked with partners in Lithuania and Russia to establish Tajikistan’s first master’s degree in public health. The two-year program, which has the full support of the ministries of health and education, provides training for program faculty, curriculum-development support, classroom renovations, and funding for a public health library.

Youth Compete for Credit to Start Businesses

In a competition for university business students, OSI provided matching funds for credit from Tajikistan’s microfinance bank to support business plans from young entrepreneurs, a group often considered too high-risk by lenders. Winning business plans included start-up proposals for a student café, a travel agency, and an environmentally sensitive mushroom farm. Students will receive special microfinance classes at universities.

Microfinance Helps Women Overcome Poverty

OSI helped over 30 women lift themselves out of poverty by establishing successful businesses such as a fruit preserves operation, an eyewear store, a pottery workshop, and a bed and breakfast. The pilot project, supported by OSI in partnership with a French NGO, supplied training and materials on tax policy and loan application, and technical expertise to 50 woman-operated projects. Thirty-three of the projects have become profitable and self sustaining. The jam and jelly entrepreneur, formerly a low-paid teacher, employs 30 women and plans to help other women run their own businesses.

Civil Society Solutions for Resolving Business Disputes

Two complementary initiatives worked to increase transparency in business legislation and fairness in resolving business disputes. In response to previous OSI-supported analyses and roundtables on draft arbitration laws, the Tajikistan Chamber of Commerce in 2006 established the country’s first and only independent, third-party international commercial arbitration center with specially trained staff to ensure prompt and fair resolutions. The center’s activities will be supplemented by new university courses supported by OSI that provide contemporary arbitration and dispute resolution skills to a new generation of lawyers.