Dushanbe, Tajikistan, October 30, 2014 – United States Ambassador Susan M. Elliott and Akbar Pesnani, the Aga Khan Development Network Resident Representative, signed a new global development alliance entitled Economic and Social Connections: A Multi-Input Area Development Financing Facility for Tajikistan to be implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF).

The alliance will promote sustained improvements in the quality of life for people living along the Tajik border with Afghanistan.  AKF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will each contribute just over $6 million to the alliance over five years, for a total commitment of $12.1 million.

This new alliance will focus development resources on major sectors that influence quality of life:  economic growth through enterprise development; household financial security; governance and civil society; health; and education.

Simultaneously, the alliance will invest in private sector companies in Tajikistan in order to create jobs, promote regional trade, and thereby stimulate the Tajik economy as a whole.

In her speech delivered at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Elliott said, “This alliance directly supports the U.S. Government’s New Silk Road Initiative, which enhances links between Central and South Asia through regional energy markets, trade and transport routes, improved customs and borders, and connecting businesses and people.”

A portion of the returns generated by the investments will form the foundation of a trust fund mechanism that is dedicated to supporting social development activities along the Tajik-Afghan border for decades to come.                                                                                                                    

Officials in the region have praised the unique nature of the development model, which captures both social and economic development, as an effort that works to improve peoples’ livelihoods and encourage sustainable growth.