Vadim reports on neweurasia’s new Russian-language Tajikistan blog that the European Commission is preparing to wrap up its humanitarian aid program for Tajikistan. The Commission has concluded that with the Tajik Civil War over for nearly a decade now, the situation has improved enough that it is time to head home.

Its final program seeks to improve health conditions in Tajikistan’s most vulnerable communities.

The aid provided will focus on improving the health and living conditions of vulnerable communities and facilitate the establishment and functioning of a national medicine procurement system in order to reinforce local capacities. The emphasis in this final planned funding decision will be on linking relief to rehabilitation and development.

Vadim argues in his post that this exodus of humanitarian aid is a positive sign and marks an important step in development (my translation):

Generally speaking, the lest organizations like the European Commission in a country, the better; [the fact that these organizations are leaving] signifies that everything is normal, calm, and that we are no longer living at the level of poverty we were during the civil war.

I tend to agree with Vadim, although poverty is still rampant in Tajikistan, and the government should be sure to fill the vacuum left by the exiting humanitarian organizations to create some poverty alleviation programs of its own; with an average growth rate of 9% since 2000 (source: World Bank – World Development Indicators), Tajikistan’s government can afford it.