Dushanbe, Tajikistan, April 9, 2020 - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Food for Peace program, in collaboration with the public organization, Avesto, and the American organization, Resource and Policy Exchange, Inc. (RPX) delivered 56,280 kg of food assistance worth more than $171,000 to the Government of Tajikistan. This food assistance will be distributed to more than 100 health and social protection facilities in Tajikistan including facilities that are providing quarantine services related to COVID-19, to patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) on long-term outpatient care, to TB, oncology and psychiatry institutions, to the National Red Crescent Society, the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense and the Agency of the Republic of Tajikistan for State Reserves.  More than 33,000 Tajikistan citizens will benefit from this assistance.

The shipment contains a mix of dehydrated vegetables and legumes enriched with vitamins and minerals, which will be used in health and social protection facilities and vulnerable households.  The public organization, Avesto, will deliver food to the beneficiaries and monitor its distribution and usage.

Since 2007, this program has delivered nearly 700 tons of food aid worth more than $1.3 million to Tajikistan.  In addition to this emergency assistance, USAID, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, has provided high-quality evidence-based and cost-effective medical services that have resulted in improved health outcomes. This includes long-term efforts to combat the spread of TB and HIV/AIDS, and improvements to the health of women and children by providing better maternal and child health and nutrition services.

The woman-led public organization Avesto works in the area of improving the health status of women and children as well as providing assistance to vulnerable populations in the Republic of Tajikistan.  The main objective of RPX is to improve healthcare standards and access to information through the provision of technical and in-kind assistance, such as food and pharmaceuticals.

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. To learn more, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and USAID/Central Asia’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia

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For more information about novel coronavirus disease COVID-19, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19