TAJIKISTAN APPEALS FOR HUMANITARIAN AID

(IPS) Citing natural calamities and poor harvests in Tajikistan this year  President Emomali Rakhmonov, Tuesday appealed to the international community for food aid and other humanitarian assistance for affected populations in his central Asian nation.

Rakhmonov,  who heads Tajik delegation  at the Social Summit made the appeal during his address in the general debate on strategies for social development.

Despite the humanitarian problems and growing poverty,  made worse by recent civil war, he told the Special Session that the Tajik government would stick with its social development priorities although observers familiar with the situation in  the central Asian nation  believe that fulfilling the Copenhagen commitments can only be a long-term objective.

Rakhmonov said Tajikistan has achieved crucial aims of national reconciliation and peace, but conceded that in the aftermath of the civil strife some 80 percent of the country’s population remains in poverty..

Tajikistan, which covers 140,000 square kilometres borders China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and Afghanistan on its southern frontier.

One of five Central Asian republics, the country has been torn by civil war between former communists and Islamic fighters since shortly after achieving independence in December 1991.

The Islamic opposition signed a peace  accord in Moscow in June 1997 which gave Islamists control of one-third of  government posts. It also called for integration of Islamic Mujahidin fighters into the army.

The civil war incurred estimated material losses of some 7 billion dollars. As a result Tajikistan now is  among  the 20 poorest nations of the world. With average  per capita annual income of some $130 the vast majority of Tajiks now live below the poverty line.

Reflecting one of the concerns of the Summit,  the Tajik government regards poverty eradication and employment creation, notably in rural areas, as a major priority Rakhmonov said. For instance, the state has allocated 75,000 hectares of state-owned agricultural land to help farmers  increase output, he said.

The Tajik leader also vowed to combat gender inequality. Some 51 percent of the country’s 6 million population are women, and a presidential decree was recently signed to boost their role in Tajik society, Rakhmonov said, without offering details.

Tajikstan is the only country of the former  Soviet Union represented by a head of state at the Summit and analysts suggest that the high representation in Geneva was due to the fact that the country was hard pressed to receive increased external assistance. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan sent their labour ministers, while Uzbekistan assigned its permanent representative at the UN.

Uzbekistan, which covers 450,000 square kilometres has a population of 24 million, including some nine million urban dwellers. Uzbek officials argued that the country is gradually setting up its own ­

family-centred - model of social protection for its population. The welfare is paid not to individuals, but to families and households.

According to the government estimates, some 15 percent of the country’s households are considered poor and receive welfare support. However, Uzbek non-government activists  here insist that at least two thirds of the country’s population live in poverty. The activists say Uzbekistan has little hope of  getting international aid due to the country’s deteriorating human right record – (end)

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