DUSHANBE, November 20, Asia-Plus  -- A two day workshop entitled, “Strengthening Governance at the Local Level in Tajikistan” has opened at the Institute for Professional Development of Civil Servants in Dushanbe.

Gulnara Petrova, coordinator of the conference, said the workshop’s aim is to build upon the efforts of the Government of Tajikistan’s Public Administration Reform Strategy (PARS) to strengthen governance at the local level and improve service delivery throughout Tajikistan.    

The workshop has been hosted by the Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP), a project of the Aga Khan Foundation, in partnership with the Urban Institute and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Geneva.  

The event participants include leaders of civil society organizations and local government officials from across Tajikistan. 

The objectives of the workshop are to demonstrate positive experiences how lower levels of government (i.e. district, sub-district) have been able to work with civil society organizations for the benefit of the broader public and how those lessons learned can benefit other areas of the country, by providing a model for sound working relations between various development partners.