The UN in Tajikistan

Democratic Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights

Sustainable and Equitable Economic Development

Social Development (health, education, and social protection)

Nutrition and Food Security

Inclusion and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups

Resilience and Environmental Sustainability

United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) was established in 1994 to monitor the country’s ceasefire agreement. Following the signing by the parties of the 1997 general peace agreement, UNMOT's mandate was expanded to help monitor its implementation. The mission successfully accomplished the assigned tasks and on 15 May 2000 its mandate was terminated.

Tajikistan has seen ambitious progress in food security and nutrition indicators. National child stunting averages have reduced since 2005 from 27 to 18 per cent, however some regions of the country still show high rates of malnutrition among children under five years of age. Food security, sustainable food systems, and nutrition continue to be priority areas for UN and government cooperation.

The Government of Tajikistan, with technical support from the UN, prepared its first Voluntary National Review Report in 2017 and its first National SDG Report in 2018. Both reports highlighted the government’s commitment to enhancing human rights, gender equality and inclusive economic growth to ensure no one is left behind. The UN is an active member of the National Development Council under the President of Tajikistan and works with the government on planning, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on achievement of the SDGs.

As a concrete result of the UN Reform process, UN agencies in Tajikistan have enhanced their cooperation and scaled up delivery of results through joint programmes for increased impact. The UN is implementing a record number of joint programmes on topics such as SDG financing, migration, health system strengthening, ending violence against women, responding to emergency needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, empowering youth and preventing violent extremism.

Access to water and climate change are priority issues for the country as challenges with access to water and sanitation facilities continue in some regions and climate change continues to melt Tajikistan’s glaciers. The Government has taken a leadership role globally in the Water Action Decade (2018-2028) and will organize, with the support of the UN in Tajikistan, a High-Level International Conference in Dushanbe in 2022. This conference serves as a preparatory event ahead of the UN Conference to review progress on the Water Action Decade in 2023 to be co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

The UN provided immediate support to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and its socio-economic impact on Tajikistan through the development of 61 million USD Integrated Socio-Economic Response Framework. In addition to essential medical equipment and pharmaceuticals for hospitals to treat severe COVID-19 cases, the UN also has provided essential health services to almost 2 million individuals, supported 1.5 million children to access distance learning, worked with government to strengthen social protection systems and protect inclusive economic growth.

Cooperation Framework between the Government of Tajikistan and the UN in Tajikistan for the period of 2023-2026 is signed in June 2022. The Cooperation Framework is a joint document setting out the national development priorities for the next 4-year period. The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is the most important instrument for planning and implementation of the UN development activities at country level. With its focus shifted from development assistance to development cooperation and integrated approach, the Cooperation Framework is in the center of UN reform. The goal of the UN Reform is to improve the coherence, accountability and effectiveness of the UN system to deliver better results for the people and support the Government of Tajikistan to achieve the goals and targets under the SDGs.