US freezes all foreign aid in Tajikistan

The US Embassy in Tajikistan informed all its aid recipients that the allocation of aid to European, Eurasian and Central Asian countries has been suspended. The embassy in a statement said that the order includes all non-returnable aid distributed through the US Embassy’s Community Outreach Section.

It has also been said that the decision includes contributions from American organizations that are funded by the United States of America authorities. It further stated that this restriction will continue until they receive updates from Washington on the resumption of the aid activities.

“We are required to notify you of this restriction because this order was issued as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order to overhaul and reform the United States’s foreign aid system and freeze aid payments to foreign countries for up to 90 days,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the representative of the American organization “Internews Network” in Tajikistan, whose activities are funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced that it has postponed the implementation of all its projects. “We have been forced to suspend all of our activities conducted through US foreign funding,” the agency’s office said.

US cut fund to support journalists in Tajikistan

Nuruddin Qureshiboev, head of the Independent Media Association of Tajikistan had expressed his concern about the suspension of US financial aid allocation.

“In November, we signed a funding agreement with the US Embassy in Tajikistan for the project (ensuring the safety of activities of bloggers and journalists in Tajikistan), but now it has been stopped,” Qureshiboev told Harici.

Qureshiboev said that his project was about providing legal and security grounds for such people and safe ways of their activities. And more importantly, the other goal of this plan was to expand the process of freedom of expression in Tajikistan, he added.

“This project was meant to safeguard the safety of journalists and their works, but now the cut in financing has severely affected this project,” he added. He said that the employees of this project are jobless and they are looking for another job to support their family members.

Nabi Yusufov, the founder of the analytical site “Nuqta.tj”, says that in 2016, when Donald Trump first became the president of the United States, such a decision was made, which caused concern in the international community.

US stopped paying fees of people worked in different US-funded projects in Tajikistan

“Although at that time there was neither the war in Ukraine nor the war between Israel and Hamas, people were a little dissatisfied and then continued their activities as before. This time I am sure this foreign aid will be resumed,” Nabi Yusufov added.

Rustam Golov, a representative of Tajik civil society, says that he has recently approached several institutions in the framework of his activities but the officials of these institutions said that the United States has stopped funding their projects and that is why they are unable to pay his fees.

He added: “The United States is an independent country and has the right to help another country or not. But most of the poor countries of the world are used to receiving such aid, and now the delay in the transfer of such aid is a big concern.” The United States wants to regulate the process of allocating aid to foreign countries. This is up to the US authorities.

The cut in US foreign aid can serve as warning, securing domestic resources should be priority

On the contrary, the underdeveloped countries should accept this order as a warning that from now on they should think about securing their own resources to implement these projects.

It is said that Tajikistan’s relations with the United States have taken a stronger and more consolidated course in the recent time.

These two countries are looking for cooperation to improve the lives of people in Tajikistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan considers strengthening cooperation with the United States as a priority of the country’s foreign policy.

The United States claims to have provided Tajikistan with more than $1.8 billion in economic and democratic reforms and integration into the international community in the more than thirty years since independence.

According to Tajik officials, in 2024 trade relations between the two countries will be worth about 100 million dollars, 70pc of which includes the import of American goods to Tajikistan. The United States also provided $17 million in humanitarian aid to Tajikistan last year.