VZCZCXRO2488
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0649/01 1460846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260846Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2856
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5218
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2958
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2823
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3462
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1007
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3568
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000649 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  NGO FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED FACES 
REGISTRATION IMPASSE 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  The local NGO "Dayanch" provides moral support 
and technical assistance to visually impaired and blind people by 
publishing audio books and organizing reading sessions for them. 
Despite its affiliation with the state-run Library for the Visually 
Impaired, the NGO faces ongoing red tape in its efforts to register. 
 Previous Embassy grants have enabled Dayanch to expand its services 
and outreach.  Turkmen authorities do not provide high school 
graduation diplomas to blind and visually impaired people.  Dayanch 
is the only NGO to provide an opportunity for visually impaired 
people to informally continue their education.  It relies on the 
international donor community's support to continue its activities. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
ASSISTANCE TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE 
 
¶3. (SBU) On May 14, Lyudmila Nikolayeva, the Information Technology 
Specialist and Administrative Manager of Dayanch NGO (in Turkmen 
Dayanch means reliance), briefed Embassy Political Assistant about 
the organization's background and activities.  Working in 
affiliation with the State-funded Library for the Visually Impaired, 
Dayanch provides moral and technical assistance to visually impaired 
people by publishing audio books and loaning them free of charge to 
blind and visually impaired people.  Founded in 2000, the NGO is an 
unregistered organization, although it attempted to register in 2001 
and 2004.  The organization consists of ten staff members and 
operates on funding provided by donor organizations. 
 
NGO RELIES ON DONOR SUPPORT 
 
¶4. (SBU) Dayanch's activities includes publication of "talking 
books" audio books for blind and visually impaired people at its 
recording studio.  While previously the NGO recorded its audio books 
on tapes, the receipt of U.S. Government grants in 2002, 2007 and 
2008 enabled Dayanch to record its books on compact discs.  The NGO 
then loans its books to blind or visually impaired people free of 
charge. Currently, around 300 blind and visually impaired persons of 
various ages benefit from Dayanch's activity.  Dayanch also 
organizes reading sessions where its customers/listeners choose what 
books are read.  The NGO's literature includes laws, popular science 
literature, fiction books and detective stories. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Established in 2000 under the Library for the Visually 
Impaired under the Ministry of Culture, the NGO currently has three 
branch offices in Turkmenbashy, Bayramaly and Dashoguz in addition 
to its Ashgabat headquarters.  In 2002, the Canadian Association of 
Local Initiatives provided financial assistance to Dayanch to obtain 
office space and office equipment.  At present, the organization's 
staff includes three engineers, two book readers who receive their 
salary from the NGO, and volunteers such as Nikolayeva. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Nikolayeva described the results of three grants from the 
Embassy that Dayanch received in 2002, 2007 and 2008 for a total 
amount of nearly USD 10,000.  Thanks to these funds Dayanch was able 
to begin recording its books on CDs, to equip the library with 30 
DVD players for blind people to listen to "talking books" recorded 
on CDs, to train the disabled to use the DVD players and produce 350 
talking CDs and 1,000 talking tapes, as well as to buy MP3 players 
to keep in the group's office for blind people to use them in the 
office or borrow them for short periods of time.  As a charity 
contribution, local shops sold MP3 players to the NGO at a 
discounted price. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Dayanch would welcome an Embassy grant to buy an 
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to safeguard its equipment when 
power goes off (because they record a book for four hours non-stop), 
a chair with microphone and a desk, shelves for CDs and ten lamps. 
Currently, Nikolayeva is preparing a grant proposal to the Embassy 
for purchasing the above items for a total amount of USD 4,000. 
Also, Nikolayeva said that she has asked international donors to 
provide funding for the education of two or three blind youth at a 
 
ASHGABAT 00000649  002 OF 002 
 
 
school in Bishkek.  Because blind students do not receive a 
graduation diploma after finishing school, they cannot enter any 
higher educational institution to continue their education. 
According to Nikolayeva, this practice is a carry-over from the 
Soviet era when visually impaired students faced the same obstacle. 
 
REGISTRATION RUNAROUND 
 
¶8. (SBU) Dayanch faces ongoing registration red tape.  It applied 
for registration at Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in 2001 and re-applied 
in 2004, however, it did not succeed.  In 2001, the MOJ refused to 
register the NGO because in its registration application, Dayanch 
did not include the date of a group meeting approving their charter 
and because one section of the charter did not correspond to the 
provisions of various laws.  The MOJ did not respond to Dayanch's 
subsequent registration application.  When asked her view about why 
the government does not register their group, Nikolayeva said, "The 
authorities are afraid of public activity.  Perhaps they think we 
might do something wrong." 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT:  Dayanch's registration problems, with its 
applications either denied on insignificant technical grounds or 
simply placed into bureaucratic limbo, is a familiar story among 
NGOs seeking registration.  It is telling about the government's 
mindset concerning NGOs that Dayanch, a group that is affiliated 
with the Ministry of Culture and that meets social needs that would 
otherwise be left unmet, still is unable to obtain registration. 
Its difficulties reinforce what we've heard from other unregistered 
NGOs that the government does not appreciate the role that NGOs 
could play in addressing social issues.  Until there is a change of 
perspective within the government on this issue, even social service 
providers with no political agenda will hit a brick wall on the 
registration issue.  END COMMENT. 
 
MILES