Caritas Switzerland signed an agreement with the Agency for Hydrometeorology of Tajikistan on the joint implementation of the initiative “Use of weather, water and climate services for sustainable livelihoods and well-being of rural communities” (WWCS).
The project is co-financed by the Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Caritas Switzerland.
The goal of the WWCS initiative is to increase the density of weather observations by deploying low-cost weather stations throughout the country to produce and deliver reliable local weather forecasts.
It will also provide a range of weather, water and climate services (eg when to plant, when to water) to support farmers and better early warning systems for extreme climate events.
These investments are based on memorandums of understanding signed in 2019 between the governments of Switzerland and the Republic of Tajikistan on integrated water resources management and on climate change and disaster risk reduction.
A higher-level agreement on WWCS between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Caritas Switzerland, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Committee for Environmental Protection and the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense will soon be signed.
These agreements will form the basis and support for an even closer and deeper working relationship between Tajikistan, Switzerland and Caritas.
Caritas Switzerland: Swiss non-governmental organization founded in 1901 and headquartered in Lucerne.
Caritas Switzerland provides assistance to people in need in more than 50 countries around the world, as well as in Switzerland. Caritas Switzerland has been operating in Tajikistan since 1996.
The Country Program Strategy 2021-2025 develops and institutionalizes contextually relevant approaches for inclusive, efficient and sustainable weather, water and climate services to tangibly improve human and environmental well-being in rural communities.
The Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan represents the Swiss government and oversees projects funded by that country and implemented in the country.
Switzerland funds projects in the following areas: water, infrastructure and climate change, governance, human rights and service delivery, inclusive and sustainable economic development.
Source: asiaplustj
