Policy

The Republic of Tajikistan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In December 2013, government representatives informed the CMC that due to a change in leadership the decision-making process on the matter of Tajikistan’s accession to the convention had to start again.[1] Representatives confirmed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no objections to joining the treaty.

Tajikistan has said several times that it is studying its position on accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2] In its last public statement on the convention, in September 2012 Tajikistan informed States Parties that the government was still considering its position on joining.[3] In September 2011, a representative said that full consideration of the convention had been delayed by a number of internal and organizational issues involving different ministries.[4]

Tajikistan participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and endorsed both the Oslo Declaration (committing to the conclusion of an international instrument banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians) and the Wellington Declaration (committing to negotiate a convention banning cluster munitions based on the Wellington draft text). However, Tajikistan did not participate in the formal negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008, even as an observer, and did not attend the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[5]

Since 2008, Tajikistan has continued to engage in the Convention on Cluster Munitions despite not joining. Tajikistan has participated as an observer in every meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Tajikistan participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011 and 2012, but did not attend intersessional meetings in 2013 or April 2014.

Tajikistan is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Tajikistan is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, use, and stockpiling

Tajikistan has stated several times that it does not use, produce, transfer, or stockpile cluster munitions.[6]

Cluster munitions were used in Tajikistan during its civil war in the 1990s. ShOAB-0.5 and AO-2.5RT submunitions have been found in the town of Gharm in the Rasht Valley.[7] It is not known what forces used the weapons.

In May 2011, the Ministry of Defense said that Tajik forces had never used cluster munitions.[8] A representative of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Interior said that cluster munitions were used by Uzbek forces in the 1990s in Rasht Valley as well as Ramit Valley, but Tajik forces had no capacity to use the air-delivered cluster munitions.[9]

In 2011, the Ministry of Defense informed the CMC that a check of weapons stocks had not found any stockpiled cluster munitions and an official letter confirming no stockpiles of cluster munitions was sent to the Office of the President.[10]

 

Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: AVERAGE[1]

Mine contamination in the Republic of Tajikistan is the consequence of different conflicts. Tajikistan’s borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were mined by Russian and Uzbek forces in 1991–1998 while the central region of the country was contaminated as a result of the 1992–1997 internal conflict. A national survey in 2003–05 by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) estimated the area of mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination at 50km².[2]

As of January 2013, the Tajikistan Mine Action Centre (TMAC) had reduced total suspect hazardous area (SHA) to 7.2km² through non-technical survey (NTS), technical survey (TS), and clearance, of which 4.9km² of SHAs were along Tajikistan’s Afghan border and almost 2.3km² were in the central region.[3] In September 2013, however, TMAC unexpectedly revised its estimate of remaining contamination to almost 11.7km² of contaminated land: 9.3km² of mined area and almost 2.4km² of battle area.[4] The basis for this new estimate was unclear.

In March 2014, TMAC reiterated its estimate of contaminated area of 11.7km², but claimed that 8.9km² contained mines while 2.8km² contained ERW. No cluster munition-contaminated area is now reported by TMAC.[5] The estimates did not, however, include area covered by 110 minefield records that were made public for the first time by TMAC in September 2013.[6] According to TMAC, survey of the areas covered by these records would take place in 2014.[7] The 110 records concern areas where security constraints have prevented survey activities in the past.[8]

In 1992–2012, TMAC recorded 846 mine/ERW casualties (368 killed, 478 injured). Of that total, almost 30% were children (101 killed and another 142 injured) and 88 were women.[9]

Mine Action Program

The Commission for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law (CIIHL) is Tajikistan’s national mine action authority, responsible for mainstreaming mine action in the government’s socio-economic development policies.[10]

In June 2003, the government of Tajikistan and UNDP established the TMAC with the intention that it would become a nationally-owned program in the near future.[11] TMAC was made responsible for coordination and monitoring of all mine action activities.[12] Since then, TMAC has acted as the executive body of the CIIHL to which it reports.[13]

Tajikistan’s mine action program is not yet fully nationally-owned.[14] TMAC has no legal status and does not report directly to a government ministry. Lack of legal recognition has presented problems for TMAC.[15] For example, without legal status, TMAC cannot open a bank account to receive and disburse funds.[16] The importance of clarifying TMAC’s status was also highlighted in the 2012 evaluation of UNDP support to mine action in Tajikistan.[17] The Ministry of Justice is leading the government effort in nationalizing TMAC, and a commission has been established to study the issue and make recommendations on the structure of the center. A decision was expected sometime in 2014.[18]

The Ministry of Defense plays a significant role in Tajikistan’s mine action sector. With the adoption by the Ministry of the Strategic Plan on Humanitarian Demining (2013–2016) in July 2013, the ministry focuses on three main objectives: to further support humanitarian demining; enhance national capacities; and create the conditions for a sound national mine action program.[19]

Following the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009, the ministry established a Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU). Since 2010, the OSCE has supported the HDU via the Union of Sappers of Tajikistan (UST). The UST was contracted by the OSCE in order to provide project management and administrative support to the HDU in 2010–13.[20]

FSD and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) are the two international demining operators in Tajikistan. FSD started its operations in 2003. Since then, it has conducted surveys (in 2004–2005 and 2007–2009) and clearance; provided technical assistance to TMAC; and, by November 2012, supported the development of UST’s capacity.[21] NPA started operations in Tajikistan after signing an MOU with the government in 2010. NPA’s arrival significantly increased the demining capacity of Tajikistan’s mine action program and made a positive impact on clearance output.[22]

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan has been supporting mine action since 2003. OSCE’s strategy in Tajikistan is twofold: supporting national capacity building in humanitarian demining and fostering regional cooperation in borders management and security issues.[23] Its work focused on supporting the government in cooperation with neighboring states and fostering dialogue through a regional mine action cooperation project in Central Asia.[24]

Strategic planning

In May 2011, the national mine action strategic plan (NMASP) for 2010–2015 was approved by the government.[25] Among the plan’s specific objectives, TMAC was to ensure that all priority areas—7.5 km² of SHAs—are cleared by the end of 2015; that survey activities could initiate along the Tajik-Uzbek border; and that a plan for nationalization of TMAC is established.[26] According to the NMASP, TMAC was to be fully nationalized by the end of 2011. As of April 2014, however, TMAC was still not established as a national entity, remaining a nationally-executed UNDP project.[27]

During the Mid-Term Review workshop (MTR) on the NMASP in Dushanbe in June 2013, nationalization of Tajikistan’s mine action center was discussed at length. As a consequence of the review, a revised national strategic plan was expected, with a clear and definite plan for TMAC’s nationalization.[28] As of April 2014, however, a revised national strategy was still awaited.

In collaboration with the EU and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), TMAC organized an Article 5 completion workshop in Dushanbe in September 2013. The aim was to clarify the extent of remaining contamination, and to agree on a work plan to achieve Tajikistan’s Article 5 clearance deadline in 2020. TMAC committed to revise its completion work plan (2014–20).[29]As of April 2014, the plan was still under development.[30]

According to the GICHD, there is little commitment from the government to assume ownership of the mine action program.[31] Unless UNDP acts effectively, the GICHD sees a real risk of no real progress in the nationalization process in the near future.[32]

Land Release

Survey in 2013

No areas were cancelled by NTS in 2013.[33] Following an operational efficiency assessment in June 2013, the GICHD recommended NTS in the districts bordering Uzbekistan. Survey activities were conducted by FSD to confirm if SHAs were on Uzbek territory.[34] Survey was completed at the end of 2013. FSD, jointly with TMAC, concluded that no contaminated areas were located in Tajikistan.[35]

Clearance in 2013

In 2013, FSD, NPA, and the Ministry of Defense’s HDU released 47 contaminated areas covering 2.97km² of land. During clearance operations, 22,486 antipersonnel mines, 3 antivehicle mines, and 872 items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were destroyed. Of the 2.97km² of land released, 2.01km² were released by clearance and 0.94km² by TS. No battle area clearance (BAC) was conducted in 2013.[36]

Release of mined area in 2013

Note: MoD = Ministry of Defense

TMAC had planned to release 2km² of contaminated land in 2013. It expected to release another 2km² of contaminated land in 2014.[37] In 2014, demining activities were planned to be concentrated in the central region.[38]

In the last five years, Tajikistan has cleared a total of 6.75km² of mined area.

Mine clearance in 2009–13 (km²)

Capacity

As of April 2014, three demining operators in Tajikistan comprised capacity of one survey team, thirteen manual demining teams, five mine detection dog (MDD) teams, and three mechanical demining machines.[39]

From 2012 to 2014, FSD capacity decreased from seven to two manual demining teams. Due to lack of funding, it was expected that FSD would close its program in Tajikistan by the end of 2014 after handing over its capacity to a local NGO.[40] In the same period, NPA capacity increased from six to eight manual demining teams. In addition, in April 2014 NPA deployed an additional demining team consisting entirely of women.[41] Due to the type of contamination in Tajikistan, the NPA’s MDD team (10 dogs) was cancelled.[42]

In 2013, the OSCE financed the operational costs of the HDU’s Mini MineWolf, which was procured and delivered by the United States (US) Department of Defense Foreign Military Financing program in 2012.[43] Between 2012 and 2013, the HDU increased its demining capacity by adding a manual demining team, which has been financed by the US’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) and by Luxembourg via the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.[44]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension granted by States Parties in 2009), Tajikistan is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2020.

In granting the request, the States Parties noted that, while no demining had taken place until more than four years after entry into force, since that time significant progress has been made, particularly by release of land through resurvey. The States Parties further noted that use of mechanical demining assets might enable Tajikistan to “find itself in a situation wherein it could proceed with implementation much faster than that suggested by the amount of time requested.” The Analysing Group mandated to analyze extension requests under Article 5 of the treaty had also noted shortcomings in Tajikistan’s original estimate of the size and locations of mined areas and recognition by Tajikistan of the need for resurvey.

More recently, the extent to which Tajikistan is making best efforts to complete its Article 5 obligations is unclear, in particular given the significant increase in suspected mined area in 2013.

Support for Mine Action

The National Mine Action Strategic Plan budget for 2010–15 was estimated at US$30 million.[45] In 2012, international contributions came from five states, UNDP, and the OSCE for a total of US$6.6 million. Germany, Norway, and the US provided two-thirds of the funding while NPA and FSD were the main recipients of support.[46] In 2012, Tajikistan reported contributing US$700,000 toward its mine action program.[47]

In 2012, the US Department of State PM/WRA provided US$1.7 million to Tajikistan for mine action and conventional weapons destruction activities. These funds were channeled through international organizations, namely, FSD, NPA, and the OSCE.[48] In addition, through the US Department of Defense Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense received the Mini MineWolf, currently operated by the HDU.[49]

 In 2013, the mine action sector in Tajikistan received almost US$3 million less than the previous year. Total international funding decreased from US$7.3 million in 2012 to US$4.5 million in 2013. The government of Tajikistan provided to its national mine action program only technical contribution but not financial support.[50] Germany and Norway were the major donors in 2013, contributing more than half of the total funding between them. As in 2012, NPA, FSD, and TMAC were the main recipients of funds.[51] Additionally, in 2013 the OSCE office in Tajikistan channeled funds for US$681,010 directed to mine action, capacity building, regional cooperation, and borders management.[52]

In 2014, TMAC was expecting to receive less funding. As of March 2014, committed funding was about US$3.4 million. Germany was providing FSD with €300,000 for handover of capacity to a local NGO.[53] But donors had not committed to support Tajikistan’s MDD and mechanical demining teams. TMAC feared lack of funds would affect land release in 2014 and that its target of releasing 2km² might not be achieved.[54]

In 2014, NPA was expecting to receive less funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nonetheless, NPA planned to increase its demining capacity by adding a female demining team funded by the US Department of State PM/WRA.[55]

The OSCE in Tajikistan was expecting to receive more funding for 2014.[56] Funding allocated by the OSCE Unified Budget for 2014 was estimated at US$360,000, while extra funds are planned via the OSCE extra-budgetary projects estimated at about US$560,000.[57]

Recommendations

·         Tajikistan should survey the new 110 minefield records as soon as possible so as to clarify the actual extent of mine/ERW contamination.

·         It should then revise its Article 5 completion work plan and its mine action strategic plan for the period 2014–20 with precise and clear milestones.

·         In order to improve operational efficiency and strategic planning, TMAC and the Tajik government must enhance their commitment to assume full ownership of the national mine action program.

 

Summary Findings

·         A national victim survey by the ICRC, used as a basis for micro-grant initiatives, improved the economic inclusion of survivors

·         The program for victim assistance run by the Tajikistan Mine Action Center (TMAC) became a Disability Support Unit, recognizing a broadening of its mandate and reinforcing the understanding that victim assistance is inclusive of other persons with disabilities

·         Due to a staffing shortage, the quality of physical rehabilitation services required improvements through training and restructuring

·         Harnessing sustainable financial resources for victim assistance was the major constraint to full implementation of annual planning

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Tajikistan is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, cluster munitions, and explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Tajikistan has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

TMAC recorded 12 mine/ERW casualties for 2012. Seven casualties were civilian; most civilian casualties (five) were children (four boys and one girl); there was also one woman and one man injured. There were three casualties among deminers (all were injured), and two military border guards were killed.[1]

TMAC reported six casualties for 2011; including three casualties among deminers.[2]

TMAC registered 846 mine/ERW casualties (368 killed; 478 injured) for the period from 1992 to the end of 2012. Of the total known casualties, almost 30% were children (101 children were killed and another 142 injured) and 88 were women.[3]

Cluster munition casualties

At least 164 casualties from unexploded submunitions were reported in Tajikistan through 2007. Most incidents occurred in the Rasht valley area. The exact timeline of incidents is not known.[4] No casualties from cluster munition remnants have been reported in Tajikistan since 2007.

Victim Assistance

Tajikistan is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other ERW. Tajikistan has made a commitment to ensure victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty. The total number of known mine/ERW survivors in Tajikistan is 478.[5]

Victim assistance since 1999[6]

Since the beginning of Monitor reporting, victim assistance improved in Tajikistan with its inclusion in the national mine action strategy in 2004, the recruitment of the Victim Assistance Officer in 2006, and the subsequent development and implementation of a national victim assistance program through the coordination of the national mine action center. From the beginning of Monitor reporting in 1999 until 2004, there were no dedicated programs assisting mine/ERW survivors in Tajikistan.

A TMAC needs assessment in 2008 identified the needs of the large majority of survivors. The national Victim Assistance Program was adjusted based on these needs.

Improvements in medical care have been reported since 2004 when medication and supply shortages were chronic and most facilities were said to be in poor condition. Particularly in mine/ERW-affected areas, infrastructure remained poor due to under-funding and the mountainous terrain severely hampered access to existing services in the capital.

Between 2005 and 2009, the government gradually took on more responsibility for the State Enterprise Orthopedic Plant (SEOP);[7] it was handed over to full government management by the beginning of 2009. Adequate psychological support was mostly unavailable for survivors through the existing system. In response, the Victim Assistance Program held regular camps to begin to address those needs. Increasingly, economic reintegration projects were carried out and accomplished based on the needs identified in the survivor assessment survey, but the activities were not able to be implemented to the extent planned for most of the period due to funding constraints. The need for sustained funding was highlighted as a key challenge to ensuring that the victim assistance capacity which had been developed continued to benefit survivors.

New disability legislation that was developed to be in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted at the end of 2010.

Victim assistance in 2012

From January 2013 the Tajik Victim Assistance Program was “rebranded” as the Disability Support Unit (DSU) to reinforce the understanding that efforts to assist landmine/ERW survivors are part of broader disability and development frameworks.

The quality of prosthetics services decreased due to the continuing departure of trained staff; and the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) assisted with planned improvements to the rehabilitation structure.

Assessing victim assistance needs

TMAC maintained a database on mine/ERW casualties in Tajikistan. In 2012, TMAC, in cooperation with the ICRC, started a needs assessment survey which included the collection of new data and clarifying previously stored data. ICRC continued data collection in 2013, having surveyed 140 survivors and family members by May.[8]

Victim assistance coordination[9]

At a workshop in September 2012, members of TMAC’s Inter-ministerial Technical Working Group recommended that TMAC’s program for victim assistance broaden its focus in the period 2013–2015 to be more inclusive of all persons with disabilities. To reflect this change and to reinforce the understanding that efforts to assist mine/ERW survivors should be part of broader disability and development frameworks, from January 2013 the Victim Assistance Program was transformed into the DSU. The DSU operates as a Nationally-Executed UNDP Project.[10]

TMAC, through its Victim Assistance Program, worked in close collaboration with partners to implement the victim assistance plan and to mobilize donor support. TMAC was involved in the monitoring of the annual victim assistance work plan together with Technical Working Group members; the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population (MLSPP); Ministry of Health; State Enterprise Orthopedic Plant; National Research Institute for Rehabilitation of Disabled People; National Union and Society of Disabled People (NUDP); ICRC; Tajikistan Red Crescent Society (TjRCS); Handicap International (HI); Tajikistan Centre to Ban Landmines & Cluster Munitions (TCBL&CM); and mine/ERW survivors’ networks. One of the main obstacles to the implementation of the annual plan was limited funding and resources.[11]

Responsibility for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities was shared by the Commission on Fulfillment of International Human Rights, the NUDP, and local and regional governmental structures.[12]

Tajikistan’s Victim Assistance Program, guided by the Cartagena Action Plan, aimed to ensure that all mine survivors have equal access to adequate gender- and age-appropriate victim assistance services as well as legal assistance. In this regard, the Tajikistan National Mine Action Strategic Plan 2010–2015 includes an objective for implementing victim assistance, ensuring the rights of survivors, and advocating for Tajikistan to join the CRPD.[13]

On 31 December 2011, the Coordination Council for Social of Persons with Disabilities (DCC) was formally established with the purpose of coordination of the work of the ministries, government establishments, and civil society organizations for implementation of government policy on the social protection of people with disabilities. The TMAC director is a member of DCC and represented the interests of victim assistance. The DCC is mandated to meet on a quarterly basis. Three meetings were held in 2012 starting in July, and meetings continued into 2013.[14]

Tajikistan provided detailed, updated information on all aspects of victim assistance in reporting at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties and the 2013 intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty.[15] Tajikistan also reported on victim assistance in its Article 7 reporting for calendar year 2012.[16]

Survivor inclusion and participation

Survivors were involved in the provision of victim assistance services by the government in 2012, including through the SEOP, where the majority of employees are persons with disabilities. Survivors and their representative organizations contributed to the preparation of government transparency reports and/or statements to be presented at international meetings and shared input for data collection and presentations. A landmine survivor, the assistant to the Victim Assistance Officer of TMAC, participated in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in 2012 and in the international technical working group on psychosocial rehabilitation for persons with disabilities, including landmine survivors in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012.[17]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[18]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

The number of prosthesis produced at the SEOP increased in 2012.[19] However, the quality of services at the center was affected by staffing issues. There had been a gradual deterioration of the quality of services at the SEOP caused by a low level of expertise following the departure of all the formally trained technicians and weak managerial capacity. Of the eight trained technicians initially employed at the SEOP, six had left the center by 2008 and the other two by the beginning of 2012. Although the SEOP had introduced better salaries, staff mostly left for financial reasons. In order to address the loss of expertise, the SFD sponsored two prosthetic and orthotic technicians to attend an upgrade course, provided further on-the-job training, and offered recommendations on physiotherapy and logistics management. Three technicians sponsored for International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) category II training in Vietnam were on the second year syllabus in 2012.[20]

A project review in April 2012 resulted in an SFD decision to post a full-time expatriate to help SEOP reorganize and decentralize its work and to increase the quality of its services. Following the project review, and discussions with SEOP staff and MLSP leadership, the SFD developed a three-year action plan and strategy to address weaknesses in rehabilitation services. The strategy is designed to restore quality standards of SEOP services. It also includes a plan for decentralizing services and equipping the satellite rehabilitation center in Khujand, the second largest city in Tajikistan.[21]

The MLSPP, with support from the European Commission Budgetary Support Programme, covered costs of the SEOP and paid the expenses for transport and accommodation of patients attending the center from remote areas. However, for many people, especially for patients from remote regions in need of regular follow-up visits and renewal of devices, access to treatment remained difficult owing to the centralized provision of services. As in previous years, the SEOP had a long waiting list for prostheses.[22]

Economic and social reintegration

A lack of appropriate economic inclusion opportunities, psychological support, including peer-to-peer support was identified as a significant challenge for 2012.[23] During 2012, approximately three-quarters of mine/ERW survivors and their family members received various socioeconomic support, via mainstreaming of victim assistance programming into the socioeconomic activities of other organizations, agencies, and governmental programs. More than 644 mine survivors and family members received social and economic assistance or had improved access to microfinance.[24]

The ICRC provided micro-grants for economic inclusion activities through its MEI program, to families identified through the mine/ERW survivor survey.[25]

With the support of the ICBL-CMC Survivor Network Project, TCBL&CM provided employment training activities for survivors and family members. Most graduated students found gainful employment following the course.[26]

Psychological assistance

In 2013, TCBL&CM organized peer-to-peer support training for survivors in Rasht, Kurgan-Tube, and Khujand to become peer supporters, funded by UNDP. In 2013, TMAC, in cooperation with TCBL&CM, continued peer support project activities. Several international NGOs were implementing pilot small-scale community-based rehabilitation (CBR) projects. Landmine survivors and other persons with disabilities also participated in the annual Rehabilitation Camp, which included participants from Afghanistan in 2012. TMAC, in cooperation with the Afghan Landmine Survivors Organization (ALSO), conducted a pilot peer-to-peer support project during the camp.[27]

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Déminage, FSD), in partnership with TMAC, implemented a victim assistance project with psychosocial training for medical staff. The NGO Psychosocial Support Center was recruited to develop the modules and conduct trainings for doctors and nurses from surgery, trauma, and anesthesia departments of mine affected districts.[28]

Regional cooperation and exchanges between Afghanistan and Tajikistan to build capacity in psychological and peer support continued in 2012.[29]

Laws and policies

Tajikistan’s 2010–2012 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper contains provisions for improvements in areas relevant to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities, including the quality of healthcare services, the pension system, the quality of prosthetic and orthopedic devices, access to social institutions, training of prosthetic/orthotic technicians, and access to vocational training for vulnerable groups.[30]

In 2012, changes to the legal framework relevant to protecting and promoting the rights of survivors were included in newly approved policies on pensions and social welfare.[31] The December 2010 Law on Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities, which includes standards similar to those of the CRPD,[32] guarantees the physical accessibility of infrastructure for social life and to public transportation. Any planning, construction, or reconstruction that does not follow the law is prohibited and penalties can be applied.[33]

In September 2012, TMAC, through the FSD, began implementing a year-long pilot project to introduce physical accessibility solutions and tools in two sites in Dushanbe: a children’s health center and the Dushanbe central mosque. Also in 2012, the building of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population was made accessible to persons with disabilities, as were the national library and some new buildings. Over the past three years, there have been small-scale projects to improve accessibility in some rural areas, mostly led by international organizations.[34]

Advocacy activities for the CRPD intensified in 2012, including training on advocacy strategies, rights of persons with disabilities in the framework of national disability legislation, and international conventions and several advocacy round-table meetings.[35]

Tajikistan had not signed the CRPD as of 1 June 2013.

In April 2013, a recommendation for Tajikistan to ratify CRPD was included in the government’s National Plan of the Republic of Tajikistan to implement the recommendations of the UN member states to the universal periodic review of the Republic of Tajikistan on Human Rights for 2013–2015.[36]

 

In 2012, international mine action contributions from five governments, UNDP, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the Republic of Tajikistan totaled US$6.6 million. Germany, Norway, and the United States (US) provided two-thirds of the funding. Norwegian People’s Aid and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action were the main recipients of the support.[1]

In 2012, Tajikistan reported it contributed $700,000 toward its own mine action program.[2]

International government contributions: 2012[3]

 

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[4]