Chaired by the Agency for Hydrometeorology under the Committee for Environmental Protection of the Government of Tajikistan, the first National Climate Forum successfully concluded in Dushanbe on April 16.

The forum brought together partners from the Ministry of Agriculture, Committee for Environmental Protection, Emergencies Committee, Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation, Food Safety Committee, representatives from UN and International organizations, national academia, farmers and individuals from rural communities. Involvement of rural communities was an innovative aspect of this forum, not often practiced in other forums globally.

Through facilitated dialogue, backstopped by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), the event aimed to enhance sustainability of climate services through a better understanding of match between the need for services and efficacy in the delivery of demanded services.

The forum served as an important platform for identifying opportunities to improve weather, water, and climate services, shared insights from ongoing projects, and development of strategies to expand and enhance the provision of both public and privately affordable services.  A roadmap for national ownership and modalities for broad uptake were outlined for further discussion, with a desire for future establishment of a National Framework for Climate Services.  These efforts aim to better support effective measures for resilience to climate change and sustainable development.

Funding for this forum was provided through the Weather-Water-Climate Services (WWCS) initiative, a collaborative engagement that is equally financed by the Swiss Confederation - acting through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) - and Caritas Switzerland.

Caritas Switzerland (CACH) is an independent Swiss NGO, founded in 1901, with headquarters in Lucerne, Switzerland.  CACH is active in the fields of income, climate and migration within more than 20 countries abroad.  Within Central Asia, CACH been engaged in Tajikistan since 1996 and in Uzbekistan since 2023.