DUSHANBE, May 31, Asia-Plus - On Tuesday May 30, the National Association of the Civil Society Support Centers of Tajikistan held a meeting with donors, representatives from the government, businesspeople, as well as representatives from public associations and media.

  On the sidelines of the meeting, a presentation of a network of the civil society centers as one of structures for implementation of the civil society development programs in Tajikistan was held.     

Ms. Nodira Davlatova, Executive Director of the National Association of the Civil Society Support Centers of Tajikistan , noted that the main objective of the Association established in 2003 was in promoting formation and development of civil society. 

On the activity of the civil society support centers in the province, Ms. Fotima Sharipova, the head of the Civil Society Support Center “Women of the East” in the northern district of Panjakent, acquainted those present with the Association structure.  According to her, the Association groups seven civil society support centers provided with computers, resource units and libraries, and the majority of them are connected to Internet.  “Their activities cover practically the whole republic: the centers are located in Dushanbe , Gharm, Khorog, Khujand, Kulob, Qurghon Teppa and Panjakent,” Ms. Sharipova noted.  

The head of the Civil Society Support Center “Consortium of Initiatives” Ms. Dilorom Ataboyeva and the head of the Civil Society Support Center “Rasht” telling the meeting noted that priorities and the main directions of activity of the centers were to study social problems, train leaders of local communities, consolidating local resources, develop dialogue between civil society and state, facilitate prevention of human traffic, raise awareness among the population, etc.  

Attaching important significance to cooperation between the non-government organizations and state, the meeting participants named organization of Civil Forum as the first step to expansion of cooperation between the NGOs and state and one of main factors contributing to creation of mechanisms of open dialogue with authorities.