Program Goal / Need: The goals of the TSDWP were to:
1) Increase access to a sustainable, safe drinking water supply in rural Tajikistan through support for improvements in supply infrastructure, enhanced local government capacity, and community involvement in the operation and management of this infrastructure
2) Build capacity among local health officials, community leaders, and the private sector to promote key improved hygiene behaviors and associated products with a focus on the geographic areas targeted for improved safe drinking water supplies.
Program Description: Building on the previous USAID achievements in Tajikistan in the support of the health sector, the TSDWP worked in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (GoRT) and with a significant number of rural communities, including both community based organizations and the local governments that serve the communities. The Project also worked with key host institutions such as the Technical University of Tajikistan that has unique potentials to contribute to and improve the long-term outlook for safe drinking water in rural villages across Tajikistan. In addition, the Project sought to mobilize the private sector in helping to discover and test feasible, acceptable and affordable point-of-use water treatment technologies that may be implemented in the future in Tajikistan.
Program Results: Over the past three years, USAID has invested more than $5.5 million in the overall project including a small project in-kind grant fund of $1.1 million which has been used to improve 29 safe drinking water systems that provide access to clean drinking water to more than 100,000 people in rural villages in USAID targeted districts across rural Tajikistan. During the same period more than 3,000,000 people have received health & hygiene behavior change messages via the innovative TSDWP mass media approach.