VSO OPENS NEW PROGRAMME IN TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan, the poorest nation of the former Soviet Union, is set to benefit from a new programme opened in October 2007 by the international development charity VSO.
VSO, which works through skilled volunteers, is seeking health professionals to work in the new programme which will initially concentrate on developing the government’s new strategy focusing on health and social welfare as well as disability services in the small central Asian state. The charity recently closed its programme in Kazakhstan and much of its knowledge and learning from there will be transferred to Tajikistan.
Nesta Hatendi, country director of VSO Tajikistan said: “The World Bank estimates that the country’s health system is near collapse, and government health expenditure is just $1 per person per year. There is an urgent and critical need for skilled health professionals. The needs of the whole central Asian region are somewhat of a blind spot in the world’s vision, but in Tajikistan education and health indicators are all getting worse, and this is something that VSO, through its volunteers, can tackle.”
Nesta continued: “Many people think just of African countries when considering volunteering with VSO, but our central Asian work although small is vitally important. We hope health professionals will seriously consider the impact that they can have here, working with Tajikistanis to improve their health system.”
Applications are now open for placement starting in early 2008 in Tajikistan. VSO is particularly seeking people with experience in social work development and disability. See www.vso.org.uk or call 020 8780 7500 for information.
Five facts about Tajikistan
- It’s a land of extremes with temperatures reaching up to 42oC in summer and –12oC in winter.
- Tajikistan borders Afghanistan, China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The capital is Dushanbe in the west of the country.
- It is the smallest nation in Central Asia by area, and also the poorest in the former Soviet Union, currently ranked at 122nd on the Human Development Index (2005).
- The highest peak, Ismoil Somoni, at 7,495m was the highest mountain in the former USSR, and known then as Communism Peak.
- Life expectancy is 63 years.
ENDS
For more media information please contact Abigail Fulbrook in the VSO Media Office on 020 8780 7410 or Abigail.fulbrook@vso.org.uk
