Integrated Health and Habitat Improvement (IHHI) Rasht Valley, Tajikistan

Project completed

Rasht Valley is the most neglected and fragile region in Tajikistan - the poorest country of the former Soviet Union republics. The region marked by a sluggish transition and fragility patterns – remnants of the Civil War in the country. This project will improve quality of living conditions of Rasht Valley’s population by increasing access to better quality drinking water, sanitation and healthcare services, as well as strengthening resilience of communities to the impact of natural hazards.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Tajikistan
Climate change and environment
Health
Disaster risk reduction DRR
Health systems strengthening
Environmental policy
01.01.2018 - 31.12.2021
CHF  1’300’000
Background

Rasht Valley is located in the north-eastern part of Tajikistan – a region prone to disasters, which was afflicted by political instability and insecurity in the last decades.

Less than 45% of the local communities have access to safe drinking water; hygiene and sanitation conditions are below standards in most of the places.

With only 2% of GDP spent on healthcare the central government is not capable to provide good quality healthcare services in country’s remote areas; in many places primary health care facilities are in poor condition or inexistent.

Poor management of natural resources, use of outdated agriculture/irrigation techniques, pressure by growing population, land degradation and deforestation are increasing natural risks, specifically those related to water.

Objectives People benefit from basic public services in a peaceful and quitable society allowing them to improve their quality of life.
Target groups

The project will serve the development of the entire Rasht Valley (508,500 people) with the project sites selected in all seven districts of the Valley (Fayzobod, Rogun, Nurobod, Rasht, Tojikobod, Lakhsh, and Sangvor).

More than 120,000 people in 140 villages (14 target sub-watersheds) will directly benefit from safe drinking water supply, improved sanitation, health care, NRM/DRR projects, while investments in valley-wide health services will cover indirectly 322,000 people.

Medium-term outcomes

Outcome 1:

Communities, including women and youth, are active stakeholders/actors in local development.

Outcome 2:

Increased access to vital public services strengthen resilience of the targeted population

Outcome 3:

People in the target area adopt healthier, more environmentally-sustainable, and disaster-safer behaviours.

Results

Expected results:  

  • 21 water supply systems established;
  • 210 of private EcoSan or flush toilets constructed by the households as a result of project advocacy;
  • 109 of youth- and women-focused income generating activities supported
  • 24 doctors and 120 nurses trained on family medicine specialty
  • Clinical Excellence Centre (CEC) established, 3 new Primary Health Centres (PHC) constructed and 10 PHC rehabilitated to ensure the quality of health service provision by the trained staff
  • 14 Watershed Management Plans (WMPs) developed and 111 DRR-driven NRM projects be implemented
  • 4 emergency communications systems and 7 safe havens/emergency shelters established


Results from previous phases:  

  • Over 62,000 people (or 12% of the Valley’s population) got access to safe drinking water services and 2% of population improved their sanitation conditions by constructing project-promoted EcoSan latrines;
  • Access to family medicine services expanded to reach 50% of the population of Rasht Valley; the under-five child mortality rate fell from 25.6 to 23.1 per 1,000 live births;
  • 47% of population improved their livelihoods applying modern Natural Resource Management (NRM) techniques;
  • 30% of communities are better protected from the impact of natural hazards (17% increase from 13% pre-project);
  • 61% of youth and 35% of women in the targeted communities participated in design and implementation of local development planning.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Humanitarian aid
Project partners Contract partner
International or foreign NGO
  • Agha Khan Foundation


Coordination with other projects and actors

At policy level, the project will contribute to overall health reform and water sector reform program in Tajikistan.

At operational level implementation will be coordinated with the main stakeholders through the national water and sanitation platform TajWSS (funded by SDC and implemented by Oxfam GB) and with other SDC-funded projects in health (Community Based Family Medicine Project, Enhancing Primary Health Care Services Project and Medical Education Project) and DRR fields (Integrated Watershed Management).

Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    1’300’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    1’300’000 Total project since first phase Swiss budget CHF   10’140’000 Budget inclusive project partner CHF   20’000’000
Project phases

Phase 2 01.01.2018 - 31.12.2021   (Completed)

Phase 1 01.07.2013 - 31.12.2017   (Completed)