Norak, Tajikistan, May 5, 2017 – U.S. Ambassador Elisabeth Millard and First Deputy Chairman of Norak, Mr. Asozoda Dilshod Alimurod celebrated the opening of a new drinking water system in Daldakhuron village of Norak district.  USAID representatives, district and municipality officials, village leaders, and residents also participated in the ceremony.  The system provides 353 residents with clean drinking water.

The USAID Local Governance Project designed and constructed an entire drinking water system and supplied individual water taps in each household, a school, and a medical center, totaling 43 taps.  To ensure sustainable management of the system, USAID assisted in establishing a water management unit under the neighborhood committee, and developed a business plan with defined water fee rates.  In 2015, USAID built and handed over a similar drinking water system for the 635 residents of a village in the Dukoni jamoat of the Norak district.

The USAID Local Governance Project focuses on enhancing the capacity of local governments to provide improved social services, particularly clean drinking water, and strengthens citizen participation in local government decision-making.  To date, the project has installed 13 drinking water systems across Tajikistan, delivering clean drinking water to 34,053 people.
This water infrastructure project is a part of the USAID Local Governance Project, which works in 10 districts and 20 municipalities to improve the quality of local governance and service delivery.  Over the last 25 years, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe has provided more than $1.8 billion in programs that support Tajikistan’s security, democratic institutions, social sector, and economic growth.  Throughout 2017, Tajikistan and the United States will celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations.