VZCZCXRO8484
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHDBU #0062/01 0160716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160716Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1343
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNS/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC 0109
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY 0096

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AID/W FOR SCAA/FLYNN FULLER 
ALMATY FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID KHIV SOCI ELAB SCUL TI
SUBJECT:  Mission Investing in People Goal 
 
¶1. Introduction and Summary: A recent review of the Mission 
Strategic Plan provided a snapshot of what we achieved in the last 
year and our top priorities looking ahead. This is the third cable 
to provide a goal-by-goal look of what Embassy Dushanbe is doing. 
With our Investing in People goal we seek a healthy, educated 
workforce that supports economic growth, reduces the appeal of 
extremism and engages in civic affairs. We support public health 
system reform and policies to improve safe motherhood, newborn care, 
and management of childhood illnesses, HIV/AIDS, drug demand, and 
tuberculosis. We train teachers, boost community involvement in 
schools, expand exchange programs, and work to improve education 
finance, school curricula, and student assessment. We coordinate 
with other donors to leverage U.S. resources. Among our key 
achievements, we opened new health centers providing training in 
primary healthcare. We helped Tajikistan secure resources for 
HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. We made progress in improving educational 
finance, teacher training and primary school curriculums. We 
expanded exchange programs. In 2009 we will continue to open new 
health centers, train more teachers, expand education finance pilots 
and send more people on exchanges. Post will conduct the second year 
of mentoring for Tajik English teachers and we will use a regional 
English Language Teachers' conference in Dushanbe in June to improve 
English teaching methodologies and build networks among regional 
teachers. We will work to bring the Peace Corps to Tajikistan to 
support English education. High turnover in the health and education 
sectors is a major obstacle to achieving more progress. On the 
bright side, the government has supported getting more local 
ownership of health and education programs. End Intro and Summary. 
 
Achievements 
 
¶2. We executed Memoranda of Understanding with the Ministries of 
Health and Education on our assistance for reforms in the health and 
education sectors, including assistance with Global Fund and Fast 
Track Initiative grants. Our support for Tajikistan's TB and HIV 
applications to Global Fund resulted in conditional approval of 
awards totaling over $70 million. We helped improve hygiene and 
health facilities in eighty schools in the Khatlon region. With 
Mercy Corps, we launched a new multi-million dollar, multi-year 
program to improve maternal and child health. We opened new 
healthcare Centers of Excellence in Istravshan and Panjakent that 
trained doctors in those regions in family medicine and the delivery 
of quality healthcare services. 
 
¶3. We revised teacher training modules in math, biology, chemistry, 
language, and general education and submitted them to the Education 
Ministry. We helped 28% of the districts in the country to adopt new 
school finance mechanisms to expand per capita school financing. We 
started a Fulbright Foreign Student program for Tajikistan that will 
send six Tajikistanis to the United States for masters degrees this 
year. We increased professional exchange participants through Open 
World and Community Connections. We provided in-depth training for 
twenty high school teachers, including a three-week course with 
visiting experts from the University of Montana. We awarded ten 
four-year scholarships to talented Tajik students the American 
University of Central Asia. A Defense Department Civil Affairs team 
renovated the Qumsangir Boarding School for homeless children, the 
Qrenovated the Qumsangir Boarding School for homeless children, the 
Teacher Training Institute in Khujand, and secondary School #17 and 
the School for the Blind in Isfara Teacher Training Institute so the 
schools could function year-round. 
 
Goals 
 
¶4. After conducting baseline surveys in 2008, with USG funding Mercy 
Corps will open new maternal and child health sites in three towns 
in the Sughd region.  We will hand over quality assurance 
responsibilities for microscopy tuberculosis tests to oblast-level 
specialists. We will provide educational exchanges and material to 
heighten HIV/AIDS awareness in the armed forces and supply office 
and medical equipment for HIV/AIDS testing centers at the national 
and regional medical departments of the Ministry of Health. We will 
look at ways to strengthen coordination and oversight of the use of 
Global Fund monies to address HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. 
 
¶5. We will finish revising new curriculum modules for primary grades 
in math, Tajik language and general education, and we will train 
mentors. We will review the school management training module for 
school principals that includes guidance on per capita financing, 
budget formation, human resources, documentation, and strategic and 
business planning. We will assess needs and integrate innovative 
student-centered teaching methods into the teacher training 
curriculum. We will work with the Ministries of Education and 
Finance, World Bank, the Aga Khan Foundation and Education Finance 
Working Group to revise per capita parameters and approve budgets 
for pilot schools. We will launch the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program 
to bring a U.S. professor to Tajik university classrooms.  We will 
repeat the very successful 2008 summer camp program to share 
 
DUSHANBE 00000062  002 OF 002 
 
 
American values, teamwork, leadership, and basic English language 
instruction with Tajik youth from isolated rural areas. We will 
expand overall the number of participants in exchanges shooting for 
a target of 200. We will use the Central Asian Teachers of English 
Conference in June as a platform to promote English-language 
learning in the region, to identify and develop the most effective 
methodologies, build networks among regional teachers, and highlight 
the contributions of Peace Corps volunteers as English teachers in 
Central Asia. We will work to increase coordination among the 
stakeholders, donor community and international organizations in 
both the education and health sectors. 
 
Obstacles and Positive Developments 
 
¶6. All education programs - whether nationwide reform initiatives, 
exchange programs for U.S. professors or students, or informal talks 
by embassy personnel about U.S. society - require explicit approval 
from the Minister of Education.  This bureaucratic structure 
combined with our limited access to the Minister of Education 
affected our ability to move some education reform issues. There is 
some chance that the Minister will move on in 2009; if so we will 
work to build a strong relationship with his successor and to 
encourage more decentralized decision-making. High turnover in state 
structures and the low capacity of government staff at all levels 
limit what we can achieve. The Tajik government tends to focus its 
efforts on getting short-term humanitarian assistance rather than 
using development assistance to solve problems. On the bright side, 
the government is willing to work with the international community 
to strengthen the management of technical and financial support and 
the government has been willing to approve projects that promote 
local ownership and sustainability. Washington approved funds to add 
local staff which will allow us to increase activities and outreach 
with students and U.S. program alumni. 
 
JACOBSON