DUSHANBE, May 2, Asia-Plus  -- International organization ORA Tajikistan is waiting for official registration by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Ms. Katja Bittel, Country Director of ORA Tajikistan, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to her, if they fail to secure registration before June 7, the organization will not have the right to work in Tajikistan.  A three-month period given to ORA Tajikistan to put its paperwork in order expires on June 7.  

Ms. Bittel noted that some juridical mistakes had been made in their registration documents but they had already been removed and all necessary documents had been submitted to the MoJ.  

She also noted that suspicions that ORA Tajikistan is allegedly involved in religious propagation are unfounded and ORA Tajikistan is relief and development organization and “it is not involved in such activities.”  

ORA Tajikistan currently implements five projects in the country, supporting orphans and children with limited opportunities as well as promoting prevention of spread of HIV/AIDS and drug addiction among youth, the country director said.   

She added that at present, the organization is cooperating with 14 state boarding schools for orphans and disadvantaged children.  Over the past three years, ORA Tajikistan’s budget for implementation of all projects has amounted to $1.7 million.  

We will recall that following application of the Ministry of Justice, a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district in April ruled that ORA Tajikistan should remove all shortcomings in its documents within legally required time, otherwise it will be closed.         

ORA International is a non-denominational Christian relief and development organization that serves people in need around the world.  Its work consists of three main areas: development work; emergency relief; and sponsorship programs.  ORA International consists of around 300 voluntary workers in thirty countries around the world.

ORA Tajikistan has worked in the country since 1992, when a need was identified to support orphans in the existing system of the state boarding schools for disadvantaged and homeless children aged 7 to 16.  In 1996, ORA Tajikistan became involved in developing vocational training and self-sufficiency programs within the boarding school system.  Since then, the work of ORA in Tajikistan has greatly expanded.  ORA Tajikistan now has projects in the areas of children''s welfare and advocacy, training of social workers and family physicians, drug and HIV/AIDS education, disabilities, and youth centers.