An unprecedented cold wave has battered Central Asia since the beginning of January. Tajikistan is especially hard hit, as the harsh winter has caused severe energy shortages and resulted in a deteriorating humanitarian situation. Populations in Tajikistan are forced to face an extreme cold that threatens their access to electricity, clean water, and heating. Sanitation, food security and agricultural productivity are also at risk.

ACTED has been present in Tajikistan since 1996 through its poverty eradication programmes, and has now launched emergency operations with the support of the French government. ACTED's intervention will assist the most vulnerable populations lacking familial support in the country's three principal urban centres: Dushanbe, Kurgan Tube in the Khatlon province, and Khujand in the Sughd province.

ACTED will distribute heating stoves, chlorine tablets and water storage containers at 15 care facilities for the elderly and handicapped, as well as ensure three months of the stoves' gas supply. Each beneficiary will also receive a personal hygiene kit and will be trained on its use and the importance of hygiene. In total, 5.000 elderly and handicapped persons will benefit from the project, which works to meet the facilities' daily heating and cooking needs as well as maintain minimum sanitation standards during the cold wave.

ACTED plans to widen the intervention's scope by assisting not only the victims of the harsh winter, but also those likely to be affected by the long-term consequences of the cold wave and resultant energy crisis.

Press contact: ACTED Paris / +33 (0)1 42 65 33 33 / press@acted.org