Tajikistan.

• Author: Hassan, S.K. Belal
• Position: 10 Stories the World Should Hear More About

Tajikistan is a land rich in culture and in mineral resources. Home to literary icons such as 10th century philosopher-scientist Abu Ali ibn Sina and poet Rudaki, it has also been the scene of civil war and strife between rival factions from 1992 to 1997, which left over 50,000 persons dead, 600,000 internally displaced and 60,000 as refugees.

In June 1997, the signing of the historic General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord between the rival factions of President Emamoli Rakhmonov and United Tajik Opposition (UTO) leader Said Abdullo Nuri put an end to the five-year-long civil war and laid the foundations for peace. As Tajikistan learns to live with the destructive legacies of its recent past and warily plans for the future, it is working towards peace and progress, with the broad-based government of President Rakhmonov and Mr. Nuri. Since the Agreement's signing, the Government has also introduced bold reforms and tackled with fervour tough issues, such as poverty, human trafficking, health, education and landmines, and this has turned it into a democracy to be reckoned with by the international community in the years to come.

At the 2003 UN General Assembly session, President Rakhmonov reaffirmed his Government's commitment in the fight against poverty: "We are committed to making our economy up-to-date and competitive so that in the future, along with other accomplishments, we can eradicate poverty." After the end of the civil war, the Tajik Government has worked with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement poverty reduction initiatives. In June 2001, it was able to convince the World Bank to approve a $50-million loan to support sound economic reforms that would reduce poverty and provide economic stability in the country. According to the "Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper" prepared by the Government in June 2002 primarily with the World Bank and the IMF, Tajikistan has set targets to reduce the poverty level to 75 per cent in 2006 and 60 per cent by 2015, the target year for the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved.

The scourge of poverty and the desperate search for a way out of it breed human trafficking as victims fall prey, and the Tajik Government made an important decision to deal with the problem. On 4 May 2004. Frederic Chenais, acting Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Tajikistan, opened a national conference on human...