Dushanbe, 17.02.2016. (NIAT «Khovar»). — On February 17, 2016 the Steering Committee meeting within the Project “Cross-border Cooperation for Sustainable Peace and Development” took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan. The Project is funded by the United Nations Peace Building Support Office/ Peace Building Fund (PBF) and by the Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO). It will be implemented by a group of UN Agencies (UNDP, WFP, UNICEF, UN-Women and FAO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan and other national counterparts.
Haqdod Mahmadsharif, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, Alexander Zuev, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Nathalie Barbancho, Deputy Country Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan together with high level officials of the Government and line ministries of the Republic of Tajikistan and Heads of UN Agencies took part in the meeting.
The Project adopts a multi-faceted approach in dealing with the complex nature of the challenges that Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan face in their border area. Proposed Project interventions include: conflict monitoring, cross-border intercommunity dialogue, awareness raising and information sharing, cooperation between border security forces and communities, and confidence building measures that may include, for example, joint youth initiatives, cooperation in natural resource management, immediate peace dividends through conflict-sensitive social infrastructure development and livelihood support.
The Project will particularly encourage the participation of women and youth in cross-border peace-building. In order to promote community participation and volunteerism, the Project will engage local monitors-mobilizes on both sides of the border to mobilize communities, support conflict monitoring, community dialogue, and the implementation of confidence building measures.
The Project was endorsed in December 2015 and is expected to be implemented in 2016- 2017 covering two districts of Sughd region — Isfara and B.Gafurov.