ASIA/TAJIKISTAN - Caritas launches a multi-year plan to meet the needs of the homeless, the disabled, the elderly

Friday, 23 August 2019 caritas   solidarity   human rights   human dignity   the elderly   homeless   disabled  

Caritas germany

Dushanbe (Agenzia Fides) - "Caritas Tajikistan team carried out a review of its strategic plan for the 2016-2019 period. We are in the last months of the three-year period and this review has had the purpose of assessing progress regarding the set objectives. The review showed that, overall, Caritas Tajikistan has carried out the activities of the plan launched in the last four years: 79% of these activities can be said to have been completed, 13% have not been completed and the rest is in a phase of realization. However, further progress will be made until the end of the year. Taking into account this verification and a new strategic framework, Caritas Tajikistan will develop its new plan for the period 2020-2024". This is what we read in a note sent to Agenzia Fides from the Tajika headquarters of Caritas, which takes stock of the work of the bishops' charitable organization in the country of Central Asia.
The activities of the past years, the note reads, have been developed since 2016 with the support of Fondation Caritas Luxembourg and, in particular, with the support of consultant Karl Amman.
In Tajikistan, the organization is engaged on several fronts: one of the main projects carried out concerns the support of the water distribution system in the Jomi district, an area in the west of the country, where the water supply conditions represent a emergency for the population. The Tajik volunteers also work for the reintegration of the homeless of the capital Dushanbe in society: "The homeless are a relatively new phenomenon, which appeared in society as a by-product of the market economy path undertaken by the country", reads the statement. The recipients of this project are guaranteed assistance, psychological and bureaucratic support to facilitate the process of social reintegration.
In addition, numerous activities are carried out to provide livelihoods for people with disabilities, while a project called "Supervision for success" allows the elderly to teach crafts to orphaned children.
The Catholic presence in Tajikistan has been registered since the 1970s: the first faithful were mostly Germans from Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania, deported to the country when the Soviet Union existed. Because of the communist regime, for years the communities of Tajikistan were completely isolated from the universal Church. The local Catholic presence dates back to the establishment of the Missio sui iuris, on September 29, 1997 thanks to Pope John Paul II. In this context, charitable actions were initiated as early as 1983 by small groups, which officially merged into Caritas starting from 2004. (LF) (Agenzia Fides, 23/8/2019)


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