DUSHANBE, March 5, 2015, Asia-Plus -- The authorities of Jilikul, Shahritous, Hamadoni, Panj, Farkhor, Shouroobod, Qubodiyon and Qumsangir districts of Khatlon province have been provided with IT equipment, including computers, printers, notebooks, digital cameras and projectors.

According to the UND CO in Tajikistan, the assistance was offered by UNDP in the framework of the project, Livelihood Improvement in Tajik-Afghan Cross-border Areas (LITACA), financed by the Government of Japan through JICA Tajikistan.

The main purpose of this activity is to support the administration of abovementioned eight districts of Khatlon province in introducing the element of e-governance.  That would help to simplify internal and external business processes as circulation of documents between the sectorial units and improvement of feedback mechanism between the administration and local population.  At the same time, it enhances technical capacity of working group members of District Development Programs to maintain their main functions.  Ultimately, it will lead to improvement of services provided by civil servants to local population in a transparent and accountable manner.

The Deputy Khatlon Governor, Mr. Radjabali Radjabov, reportedly highlighted that provided IT equipment will help the local authorities to establish favorable dialogue between civil servants and the local population and as a result, it will improve the quality of services provided to local population.  Additionally, it will facilitate the local authorities to enhance monitoring and evaluation processes of strategic documents as well as keeping the local community updated about implementation processes of District Development Programs in their districts.

The Livelihood Improvement in Tajik-Afghan Cross-border Areas (LITACA) Project is financed by the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the amount of US$10.7 million and is being implemented by UNDP Tajikistan in close cooperation with UNDP Afghanistan for the period of three years 2014-2017.  The LITACA Project helps the Tajik and Afghan people in the cross-border areas to actively improve their livelihoods, and strengthens their resilience that ultimately contributes to promoting regional security and stability.