From Chris and Margo’s blog: If I lived here, I’d be proud to have the Aga Khan’s photo on my wall too July 1, 2009
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Excerpts from candmwanderings blogspot:
In town, we met a very talented young Vancouverite, Aliaa, who was staying in a village near Ishkashim for a year, with a family that and all but adopted her, as she gathered material for her Ph.D. in anthropology. She was Ismaili, and she filled us in on bits of local culture and recent history which helped us interpret what we had seen over the past weeks.
The day after meeting Aliaa, and just as a ride to Dushanbe had been expediently arranged for us, we had the honour of meeting 86 year-old Dr. Ali Mohammad Rajput, a retired professor of mathematics from Birmingham (UK) who spends four months of the year in Khorog. Not only is he the venerable patriarch of the Pamir Lodge, but he played a key role in the recent history of Gorno Badahkshan Autonomous Oblast as we had just learned it from Aliaa. He was one of the three key people who came to GBAO to assess the situation in the early 1990s after the civil war..
He reported to the Aga Khan (with whom he had connections having started his academic career on an AK scholarship from Pakistan) and a decade of food aid and much more began. Aga Khan projects can now be seen everywhere in GBAO, and there is an AK Foundation office in Khorog. There are cynical stories of other aid programmes that have been mismanaged, with vast sums spent and no improvement in the lives of locals, but the Aga Khan Foundation has made and continues to make a huge difference here.
If I lived here, I ‘d be proud to have his photo on my wall, too.
Read at source: http://candmwanderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/khorog.html
UCA’s School of Professional and Continuing Education Teaches Critical Skills for Central Asia Economies June 29, 2009
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29/06/2009
In June, students at the University of Central Asia’s (UCA) School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE), Central Asia’s first provider of formal, university-based, non-degree educational programmes, received certificates and awards for a number of disciplines, including accounting, mountain guiding and the teaching of English. The ceremonies in Dushanbe and Khorog also marked several milestones. SPCE’s first graduation in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, was held. The third graduation ceremony at the Khorog campus was also held, with 138 learners receiving awards and certificates – 27 of them from Afghanistan.
Established in 2006, SPCE is UCA’s first operational academic programme. Its mission is to foster economic development in mountainous regions of Central Asia. It offers courses that improve employment and income generating opportunities for youth and adults and professional development opportunities for mid-career professionals
Read at: http://www.akdn.org/blog.asp?id=771
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly on AKDN in Tajikistan June 16, 2009
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–excerpt– VIENNA, 15 June 2009 – Visiting the future Khorog campus of the University of Central Asia, President Soares commented:
“Through education, energy, health and communications projects, the Aga Khan network is investing in the future of Tajikistan. Such long-term assistance is crucial to developing a secure and prosperous region.”
President Soares welcomed co-operation between the OSCE and the Aga Khan Development Network in Tajikistan.
via OSCE Press release – Press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Osh oblast governor meets with Prince Rahim Aga Khan June 10, 2009
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9 June 2009 AKIpress
Osh oblast governor Aaly Karashev on Saturday met with Prince Rahim Aga Khan, who made a working tour of Osh oblast.
The discussions during this meeting focused on implementation of the Aga Khan Foundation projects on development of mountainous regions, mini-loans for the population, early childhood development programs, the governor’s spokesman said.
Aaly Karashev thanked the Prince for assistance provided under the bilateral agreements and proposed cooperation in agricultural processing, including diary products and honey. The governor also asked to support remote Alaikuu mountainous area as part of social projects of the Aga Khan Foundation.AKIpress
Foreign Minister Sarbaev, Prince Rahim agree on closer cooperation under AKDN programs June 9, 2009
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8 June 2009 AKIpress
Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbaev on Saturday met with Prince Rahim Aga Khan to discuss the issues related to implementation of the projects of the Aga Khan Development Network in Kyrgyzstan, reported the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kadyrbek Sarbaev expressed his hope that the joint agreements in support of mountainous communities, micro-financing, tourism, telecommunication technologies, functioning of the Kyrgyz Investment Credit Bank, support of folklore musical groups will be implemented effectively.
As a result of discussion of cooperation prospects the agreement was reached regarding closer coordination of actions under existing programs of the Aga Khan Development Network in Kyrgyzstan.AKIpress
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PRINCE RAHIM AGA KHAN VISITS GORNO BADAKHSHAN
5 June 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
Small and medium-sized projects should target vulnerable families, says Tajik FM June 8, 2009
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DUSHANBE, June 4, 2009, Asia-Plus — Visiting Prince Rahim Aga Khan, the eldest son of His Highness the Aga Khan, yesterday held talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi. Resident Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (in Tajikistan) Munir Merali also attended the meeting.
According to the MFA information department, Zarifi pointed out the importance of the AKDN projects for enhancement education, health, socioeconomic and cultural sectors in Tajikistan.
For his part, Prince Rahim said that the purpose of the visit was for him to review the AKDN projects in the country and study opportunities of further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Prince Rahim Aga Khan arrives in Tajikistan tomorrow on a three-day working visit June 2, 2009
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01.06.2009 15:25 Author: Avaz Yuldoshev
DUSHANBE, June 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — Prince Rahim Aga Khan, first son of His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, is arriving in Tajikistan tomorrow on a three-working visit, the MFA information department reported.
During his stay in Tajikistan, Prince Rahim will review programs of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Tajikistan. Prince Rahim is also expected to hold talks with a number of Tajik state officials, the MFA information department said.
PamirEnergy – Customer Service Center Opens in Khorog May 25, 2009
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25 May 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
KHOROG, May 25, 2009, Asia-Plus /Iftikhor Mirshakar/ — A new center for serving customers of the Pamir Energy Company (PamirEnergy) was opened in Khorog, the regional center of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region on May 22. Speaking at the center-opening ceremony, the PamirEnergy Director General Daler Jumayev noted that the company’s customers now had an opportunity to apply to the center on all issues related to power supply. The center is provided with up-to-date equipment and 12 trained specialists, working with the center, are available to answer the queries of the visitors of the center, he said. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Governor of Gorno Badakhshan Ibroimbek Ghozibekov, CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Tajikistan Yodgor Fayzov, representatives from local authorities, international organizations and media. The PamirEnergy director general noted that the company has yielded positive results in providing the region with electrical power in recent years.
Aga Khan Foundation’s MSDSP Builds Dormitory for Orphanage in Rushan May 18, 2009
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15 May 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
KHOROG, May 15, 2009, Asia-Plus /Shonavruz Afzashoyev/ — A new building of dormitory for orphanage in GBAO’s Rushan district, which is currently house for 80 orphan children from the whole region, was put into commission yesterday. Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the orphanage chairperson, Ms. Kaboudsor Amaldodova, said the new dormitory would allow them to accept more vulnerable children. According to her, there are more than 1,700 orphan children in Gorno Badakhshan; 115 of them have neither father nor mother. The new dormitory has been built by the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP) with support from foreign sponsors. The engineering projects program manager Khujamyor Khujammyorov told Asia-Plus that foreign sponsors had provided 300,000 U.S. dollars through the Great Britain national Zarrina Heraj (phonetically spelled).
He added that earlier, the center for rehabilitation of children with limited opportunities in Khorog, school in Shugnan district and kindergarten in Darvoz had been built with support from Ms. Zarrina Heraj. MSDSP is a locally registered organization and a non time-bound project administered by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Tajikistan. MSDSP works in several areas in rural development, spanning community development, enterprise development, natural resource management, engineering and policy and evaluation. The Programme currently operates in several regions of Tajikistan.
High adventure: crossing Tajikistan | Seattle Times May 10, 2009
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By Tiffany Kary Sunday, May 10, 2009
–snip–
Tajikistan, the poorest of Central Asia’s post-Soviet republics, is surprisingly safe, despite sharing a border with Afghanistan and suffering a 2007 bombing attributed to Islamic terrorists.
–snip–
To reach the Pamir region in eastern Tajikistan, we caught the Dushanbe-Khorog flight, infamous for a tight passage between peaks that prevents it from flying in anything but cloudless skies. Some of the world’s tallest mountains are in the Pamir range, including the 24,590-foot Ismoil Somoni peak, in what’s called the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
While the rest of Tajikistan is Sunni, in Pamir the Ismaili Shiites — many of whom are blue-eyed blonds who claim descent from Alexander the Great — revere the Aga Khan, spiritual leader to a branch of the Shia faith, hanging photos of him in every room. In Khorog, the region’s capital, the luxurious Serena Inn, owned by an Aga Khan company, was hosting a music festival. Teenagers in jeans and trendy T-shirts danced and snapped photos of a Dushanbe rock group on their cellphones.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2009197295_trtajikistan10.html
Tajikistan relies on Aga Khan Development Network in social programs implementation May 9, 2009
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7 May 2009, 13:21 CA-NEWS (TJ) – Tajikistan is counting on support of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in implementation of social program to support poor families and vulnerable population.
Last Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Hamrokhon Zarifi met with the Permanent Representative of AKDN in Tajikistan Munir Merali, reported the Information Department of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
via CA-NEWS : Tajikistan relies on Aga Khan Development Network in social programs implementation.
Tajikistan: Cooperation between NGOs and Media to be discussed in Dushanbe next week April 29, 2009
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27 April 2009 – Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
DUSHANBE, April 27, 2009, Asia-Plus /Daler Ghufronov/ — The Dushanbe-based NGO Umedbakhsh organizes a training seminar for local journalists on problems of cooperation between NGOs and media. The seminar is part of the civil society interest promotion project, which is implemented under support of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Tajikistan. Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the project coordinator Ilhom Narziyev noted that the seminar would discuss the most efficient and socially significant projects implemented by NGOs as well as “typical mistakes in cooperation between NGOs and media.” A special attention will be given to practical training, including specificity of coverage of subjects, preparation of press releases, holding of news conferences, etc. Lecturers from Russian-Tajik Slavic University (RTSU) will act as trainers in the seminar that will be in the Sharqi Ozod building from April 28-29.
Press Release: Agreements Reduce Natural Disaster Risk in Tajikistan April 10, 2009
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Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 9 April 2009 – Every year communities in the mountainous regions of Tajikistan are subject to natural hazards such as landslides and debris flows. In an effort to reduce the resulting risk run by those communities, the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Tajikistan and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) signed an agreement to hydro-insulate a water channel in the district of Roshtqala and rehabilitate a debris flow channel in the district of Ishkashim.
via Press Release: Agreements Reduce Natural Disaster Risk in Tajikistan.
Earlier related
A Journey to the Roof of the World and Back – by Kiva.org Fellow in Central Asia March 31, 2009
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Khorog is an interesting town because it contains one of the best educated populations of any town in Central Asia. In general, Pamiris are well known for their pursuit of education. They live in a very difficult environment with little arable land, so knowledge is one of the few resources that they can pursue and achieve. It’s also the home to one of the campuses of the University of Central Asia, one of the top International Universities – founded and sponsored by several Central Asian governments and the Aga Khan Development Network.
Tajikistan’s CCI, MSDSP sign cooperation agreement March 26, 2009
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25 March 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
DUSHANBE, March 25, 2009, Asia-Plus /Mavjouda Hasanova/ — Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and the Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP), a locally registered organization and a non time-bound project administered by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Tajikistan, signed a cooperation agreement on March 19, according to the CCI press service. The agreement was inked by the CCI head Sharif Said and the MSDSP general manager Kishvar Abdulalishoyev. Speaking at the agreement-signing ceremony, he CCI head noted that under the conditions of the global financial crisis a role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in expansion of trade and economic cooperation was becoming decisive. According to him, this is conditioned by the fact that SMEs respond quicker to market opportunities.
For his part, Abdulalishoyev expressed satisfaction with joint efforts taken to support development of SMEs in the country and noted that the MSDPS was dedicated to support development of mountain areas in Tajikistan, the press service said. The agreement reportedly provides for joint measures to organize training, workshops, business conferences, etc.
Japanese Embassy, Focus Humanitarian Assistance sign agreement to reduce the risk of communities in Tajikistan to natural hazards March 26, 2009
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March 25, 2009, Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
DUSHANBE, March 25, 2009, Asia-Plus — Every year communities in the mountainous regions of Tajikistan are subject to natural hazards such as landslides and debris flows.
In an effort to reduce the resulting risk run by those communities, the Embassy of Japan in Dushanbe and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) on March 20 signed an agreement to hydro-insulate a water channel in the district of Roshtqala and rehabilitate a debris flow channel in the district of Ishkashim, press release issued by FOCU Humanitarian Assistance said.
FOCUS will implement these activities in partnership with the Government of Tajikistan and the communities in these districts. The agreement is signed under the auspices of the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grass-root Human Security Projects and is a continuation of the long-standing partnership between the Government of Japan and FOCUS to reduce the risk of communities in Tajikistan to natural hazards.
Since 2001, FOCUS, with the support of the Government of Japan, has implemented a variety of disaster risk reduction projects in the Republic of Tajikistan.
Tajik trade chamber, Aga Khan Foundation programme sign cooperation accord March 24, 2009
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20 March 2009 BBC Monitoring Central Asia
Excerpt from report by privately-owned Tajik Avesta website on 20 March
Dushanbe, 20 March: A ceremony to sign a cooperation agreement between the Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry [TCCI] and the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP) of the Aga Khan Foundation took place in Dushanbe yesterday.
A source in the TCCI’s press centre told Avesta that the agreement had been signed by the chairman of the TCCI, Sharif Said, and the general manager of the MSDSP, Kishvar Abdulalishoyev.
Sharif Said thinks that in conditions of the global financial crisis the role of small and medium-sized businesses is becoming decisive in developing trade and economic cooperation.
“It is happening because of the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises adapt to market conditions more easily, they are less bureaucratic and more responsible for products they manufacture,” the TCCI’s chairman thinks.
For his part, Abdulalishoyev expressed his satisfaction with joint efforts made by the TCCI and the MSDSP programme to support small and medium-sized business.
Source: Avesta website, Dushanbe, in Russian 0934 gmt 20 Mar 09
Pictures from the Aga Khan Park – Khorog March 23, 2009
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CCI, MSDSP intend to cooperate in supporting development of SMEs in Tajikistan March 17, 2009
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16 March 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
DUSHANBE, March 16, 2009, Asia-Plus /Mavjouda Hasanova/ — Issues related to development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tajikistan was the focus of a March 12 meeting of Deputy Chairman of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Asanali Karamaliyev, with General Manager of the Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP), K. Abdulalishoyev, according to the CCI press service. In the course of the talks, the two underlined the necessity of concluding a cooperation agreement between CCI and MSDSP and determining specifics tasks for the sides to support development of SMEs in the country. The agreement is expected to provide for joint measures to organize training, produce advertising-information materials, hold business forums, purchase office equipment and other organizing tasks, the press service said. During the meeting, it was also proposed to work out a working plan to the agreement for 2009-2010.
MSDSP is a locally registered organization and a non time-bound project administered by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Tajikistan. MSDSP works in several areas in rural development, spanning community development, enterprise development, natural resource management, engineering and policy and evaluation, all of which are explored below. The Program currently operates in 18 districts in three regions of Tajikistan, with a target population of more than 730,000 people
Book about the funeral ceremony of Ismaili Muslims in Gorno-Badakhsan brought out in Dushanbe February 28, 2009
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24 February 2009 Asia-PLUS Daily Blitz
KHOROG, February 24, 2009, Asia-Plus /Iftikhor Mirshakar/ — 1,000 copies of a book entitled “Sources of the “Charoghravshan” Ritual” have been delivered to Gorno Badakhshan. The book about the most important ceremony for Ismaili Muslims in Gorno Badakhshan is authored by Umed Mamadsherzodshoyev, the director of the branch of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS) in Khorog, has been published in Dushanbe. Charoghravshan (Chirag Rawshan), the funeral ceremony, is followed by Ismaili Muslims in Afghan Badakhshan and northern Pakistan as well, and book contains many written sources about this ceremony, the charoghravshan text, and views of Ismaili Imams, thinkers and poets of this ceremony. Charoghravshan is one of the most important ceremonies for today’s Ismaili Muslims in Gorno Badakhshan. The ceremony is strictly followed and people clearly enjoy today’s freedom of practice. Maddohs, the songs of praise, are performed during the charoghravshan ceremony.
These songs consist of different kinds of religious poetry, mostly written in the Tajik or Persian language. The poetry can be either of classical Persian mystic poetry (often related to the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz) or of modern poetry devoted to the veneration of the Ismaili Imams. Another important element of charoghravshan is the use of candle made from cotton stripes during the ceremony.
