12th March, 10:30, Dushanbe Eparchy

Talking Points by Dr. Pratibha Mehta, 

UNDP Resident Representative

Your Excellency, Ambassador, Mr. Igor Lyakin-Frolov

Head of Eparchy Father Pavel,

Distinguished Guests, colleagues and friends,

It is my pleasure the welcome you at the ceremony of handing over the equipment and learning  materials to the Slavonic Cultural and Educational Center and I am very grateful for the support of the Russian Federation for financing this initiative.

In Tajikistan one of the main targets related to human capital development stipulated in the National Development Strategy is to promote social inclusion by improving access to quality services, including education, health, social protection, water supply and sanitation.

Tajikistan is lagging behind in many aspects of education system, and the gap is much bigger for small and marginalized communities.

Poor level of education, limited access to IT resources and education materials makes women and youth more vulnerable to social and economic challenges, they have very limited opportunities for jobs and participation in decision making processes.

This project supported by the Russian Federation will help to improve access of more than 400 youth from vulnerable families in Dushanbe to education materials and knowledge services provided by the Cultural Educational Center under Dushanbe Eparchy. The Cultural Educational Center was constructed from the donations of Russian citizens to improve access to cultural information and education materials in Russian language. The Center consists of 8 study rooms, canteen, meeting hall, administration rooms and sanitary facilities and provision for a gym facilities. We hope that young people will take full advantage of these facilities and will improve their knowledge and skills.

I would like to once again express deep appreciation to the Government of Russian Federation and its people for commitment and support to this project and valuable contribution to enhanced socio-economic development of Tajikistan, especially to provide education, cultural and IT learning opportunities to young people from vulnerable families.