TAJIKISTAN AND UZBEKISTAN
Civil Society Support Initiative

From 2003 to 2006, Partners has been working with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), under USAID funding, in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the “Civil Society Support Initiative (CSSI).”

The goal of CSSI was to transform the NGO sectors in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from a disjointed group of grant-dependent organizations to a credible sector of mission-driven community-oriented NGOs. This was accomplished through seven Civil Society Support Centers (CSSCs) in each country, and a National Association uniting them as a network. Each CSSC provides services to civil society organizations in their respective regions, including training and consultation, information resources and access to international grant opportunities.

When the program started, the CSSCs offered standardized programs without regard to the particular needs of their clients and without a strategic plan for their own organizational sustainability. Partners’ worked with the CSSCs to develop products and services that local groups needed and were willing to support, creating a diverse, adaptable and sustainable funding base for each Center. By using trainers from the Partners Centers in Central and Eastern Europe, PDC provided a global pool of peers, case studies and best practices that CSSCs drew upon to develop their analytical skills, management and fundraising systems, and build their own approach to supporting civil society. The Director of the “Fidokor” CSSC in rural southern Tajikistan says that “We have started to meet the needs of our region. Organizations began to feel that they can be served here. They come and ask for what they need, not just take what the CSSC offers.”

In Uzbekistan, the program was particularly challenging because of the increasing restrictions placed on the activities of international and local NGOs by the Karimov government. IREX’s offices in the country were forced to close in 2005. Nevertheless, the Uzbek CSSCs developed innovative strategies to continue working legally towards the CSSI goal of “strengthening democratic culture.” For example, by re-structuring as a commercial organization, Samarkand CSSC was able to organize a conference on inclusive education for disabled children, to which they invited educators, students, disabled activists and government officials. As a result, one school principal, who spoke out against inclusion at the beginning of the training, offered to be the first model inclusive school at the end of the training. The success of the conference illustrates how, by focusing on specific sectors and practical local activities, the Uzbek CSSCs have surmounted governmental obstruction.

In contrast, the CSSCs in Tajikistan have had great success establishing partnerships with local and national government, a development which would have seemed highly unlikely three years ago. The women’s NGO “Malika,” which received a grant and training to run a small advocacy project to increase citizen’s involvement in government decision-making, said, “There has been a big change in the attitude of local government towards NGOs. For the last year, local government and the President have been talking about NGO activities, and now they invite us as partners and advisors.”