DUSHANBE, May 16, 2013, Asia-Plus – An article published in UNECE Weekly, No 529, May 13-17, notes that with housing construction doubling, key challenges in Tajikistan will include energy efficiency and management of multi-apartment houses.

A meeting to elaborate an action plan aimed at putting into practice the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Country Profile on housing and land management for Tajikistan took place in Dushanbe on May 14.

The launch event was organized by Tajikistan''s Agency for Construction and Architecture, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the World Bank (Dushanbe office) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The meeting brought together national and international stakeholders who discussed the policy recommendations on housing and land management as well as current and possible future cooperation activities.  The meeting reportedly decided to set up an interagency coordination group to monitor the action plan implementation.

According to the article, housing availability has been one of Tajikistan''s key challenges.  The country has a rapidly growing population, but limited land resources due to the mountainous landscape, high seismicity and soils prone to landslides.

Reform of the housing sector started in 2009 following a Presidential Decree on improvement of the administrative procedures related to construction.  A new Urban Code was adopted in 2012; and procedures have been streamlined for administrative tasks associated with construction.  The Government also issued a decree on energy efficiency in housing and communal services.

As a result of these reforms, housing construction doubled after 2009, with almost 100 thousand square meters of new construction each year.  The main challenges now for the Government are to put in place effective management of multi-apartment houses, establish working mechanisms for the housing financing, ensure an effective investment policy, create conditions for supporting homeowners, and fund the rehabilitation of the water supply and sewerage system.