A man and two women stand laughing in front of a house.

In rural Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Foundation has helped foster a network of over 1,600 village organisations …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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The Blended learning studio in Khorog is an AKF supported studio which allows teachers to record lessons or …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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The Mahalla Committee in the Tughul village has been supported by AKF through the ESCoMIAD programme with …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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By investing in community-based institutions like savings groups, ESCoMIAD is helping create a cycle of …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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Tajikistan | Civil Society

98,000

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is supporting 848 civil society organisations, reaching 98,000 people

Landscape enroute to Vrang village. AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Landscape enroute to Vrang village.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Policy Advocacy


In 2020, AKF and the Committee on the Local Development of the Parliament of Tajikistan facilitated policy discussions on the Public Self Initiative Bodies Law of the Republic of Tajikistan (PSIB). The meeting brought together representatives of mahalla committees, public organisations, sub-districts and district heads, town and regional government, and members of the national parliament. During the meeting, participants shared their experiences with the implementation of the PSIB law at the mahalla committee level. Challenges such as the consistency of the PSIB law with the Law on Public Associations, communities’ ownership over community resources and strengthening mahalla committees by granting them more authority were discussed. After this meeting, the participants presented recommendations for improvement of the PSIB law to the National Parliament, while Members of Parliament presented possible amendments to the law.


Civil Engagement


AKF empowers all segments of the community – women, men, youth and the elderly – to participate meaningfully in local decision-making processes. We support village development planning workshops for communities to identify their key priorities through a participatory process involving the most marginalised members.


Connecting Supply and Demand


We support inclusive social and economic development across the country by linking priorities identified through participatory village development planning processes to district and regional development plans. This connects governance supply and demand, while aligning public resources around community priorities and needs. This alignment has enabled the implementation of over 3,600 micro-projects since 2014, in partnership with civil society and local authorities.


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This beekeeper in Barchdev village is part of a Common Interest Group of other beekeepers supported by AKF through ESCOMIAD and funded by USAID.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Innovation and Acceleration


Our Accelerate Impact initiative teaches AKF staff a human-centred design approach to continuously improve our programmes. This is an innovative approach to problem-solving that fosters the understanding of context and identifies local solutions in a creative way by prototyping and testing ideas with local communities.


Promoting Volunteerism


AKF Tajikistan’s civil society programme, in close coordination with the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast government, initiated a regional forum on the collaboration of local government and civil society institutions in response to communicable diseases such as COVID-19. This was an important step taken towards joint coordination between the government and civil society institutions at a time of crisis, and towards the establishment of a coordination mechanism for response and volunteer engagement. The forum promoted volunteer work and reflected on good practices to expand to other regions.