UNDP Khujand AO was established in 2000. Since it began operations, the office has implemented 18 projects and over 350 sub-projects totaling nearly US$ 9 million in all 14 districts of the Sughd region. The number of direct and indirect beneficiaries is estimated at approximately 1.8 million people or roughly 80% of the population of the Sughd region. Projects implemented in the region have addressed critical challenges including the drinking water supply, agriculture, local economic development, disaster risk management, health, education, governance, and conflict prevention.

Considerable investments have been made to address these challenges including:

• Drinking water sector investments of US $1.5 million through the implementation of 80 sub-projects;
• Agricultural sector investments of US $1 million through the implementation of 40 sub-projects;
• Local governance sector investments of US $2 million;
• Conflict prevention sector investments of US $600 thousand through implementation of more than 15 projects;
• Local economic development (including export promotion)sector investments of US $4.4 million;
• Health and education sectors investments of US $500 thousand;
• Employment sector investments of nearly US $ 1million to create jobs and income generating opportunities.

Presently Implemented Projects/Programmes

At the moment, since January 2011, Khujand Area Office has been implementing the following projects and programmes:

Rural Growth Programme

Funded by DfID (US $12 million), GIZ Tajikistan (US $3.7 million) and UNDP Tajikistan (US $3 million). The programme has started as of January 1, 2010 and will come to an end at December 31, 2012. Geographical coverage of the programme is 14 districts of Sughd Region. Other sub-implementing partners of the programme are IOM, MSDSP, Ministry of Economic Reforms, Ministry of Finance of Tajikistan, Regional, District and local administrations of Sughd Region etc;

Aid for Trade Project

Funded by the Government of Finland. The first phase (2009-2011) budget US $414.585 and the second phase (2011-2012) budget around US $340.000. Geographical coverage of the project is Sughd Region, through branches of Association of Entrepreneurs of Sughd Region. Beneficiaries of the project are trading institutions, SMEs, ADFs etc;

The Sughd Region shares borders with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. As such, UNDP pays a great deal of attention towards addressing challenges related to cross-border relations. In 2003, the first phase of the cross border cooperation project jointly with UNDP Kyrgyzstan was implemented. Building on the success of the first phase, the second phase was launched in 2004 which lasted through the end of 2005. The cross border projects have helped to establish good neighborly relations between the bordering communities of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and to establish dialogue between the district and regional level authorities of both countries.

UNDP Khujand AO has built positive relations with the local authorities at the Jamoat, district and regional levels, as well as with civil society and private sectors representatives in the region. In order to contribute to better partnership between the three sectors, District Development Councils (DDCs) were established and supported in three target districts of Isfara, B. Gafurov and J. Rasulov. Since UNDP has begun working through the Jamoat level as an entry point to implement poverty reduction and development endeavors, it has supported 15 Jamoat Resource Centers (JRCs), which provide support in the implementation of UNDP projects. All JRCs are registered at the Ministry of Justice and are legal entities. Currently, the heads of 12 JRCs are on the Board of Founders of the Micro Loan Fund (MLF) “Sugdmicrofin”, which has a portfolio equal to US$ 670,000. The MLF serves 12 jamoats in Asht, B. Gafurov, J. Rasulov, Isfara and Zafarabad districts. Since the establishment of the MLF in July 2007 the number of clients has reached over 3,000 people. 

The given projects have been supported by following donor organisations and agencies as: SDC, ECHO, USAID, EU TACIS, the Governments of Japan and Germany, DFID, GCPP, SIDA and UNDP.

Facts and figures (Sughd Region)

The Sughd region borders with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and shares 1,401 km of the border, of which 906 km is with Uzbekistan (Samarkand, Jizzakh, Tashkent, Namangan and Ferghana oblasts) and 495 km is with Kyrgyzstan (Batken oblast). 
- Territory of the oblast is 26.1 thousand square km (18.2% of the country);
- Over 40 nationalities and nearly a third of the country’s population (31.3%) reside in Sughd. The population of the region is over 2 million people (of which 26.3% is urban and 73.7% is rural);
- It consists of 14 districts and 4 cities; 
- Administrative center of Sughd Region is Khujand city, with population of more than 250 thousand people;
- Region generates 40% of the industrial and 30% of the agricultural production of the entire country. The GDP breakdown for the region is: industry – 47%, agriculture – 27%, construction – 5.4%, trade – 2.6%, transport and communication – 7% and other productions and services – 11%. 

List of Partners:

1. Government at Oblast level
2. Government at District level (11 District Hukumats of Sughd Oblast)
3. Local administrations at Jamoat level of 11 districts
4. District Development Centers and Jamoat Resource Centers in Sughd Oblast
5. UNDP Programmes and Projects
6. GIZ
7. MSDSP
8. IOM
9. UN Women
10. OSCE
11. UN WFP
12. ILO
13. MLF “Sughd Microfin”
14. TEPC (Trade and Export Promotion Center)
15. UPCT (Union of Professional Consultant of Tajikistan)
16. NABWT (National Association of Business Women of Tajikistan)
17. AAT (Association of Agribusiness of Tajikistan)
18. PO SAS Consulting
19. Free Economic Zone “Sughd”
20. ICPO “Jovid”
21. UBASO (Union of Business associations of Sughd oblast)
22. Public Organizations in Sughd Oblast 

Donor Agencies:

The United Kingdom Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), UNDP, Government of Finland, and Government of Luxemburg

Delivery status of UNDP Khujand AO

UNDP KHUJAND AREA OFFICE STAFF LIST

For more detailed information please contact Gulshod Sharipova, Programme Analyst by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it