The Less Covered Stories of Tajikistan’s Natural Disasters

Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains, primarily located in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan province, are amongst the highest in the world. In particular, Tajikistan has been experiencing repeated landslides and continuous harsh winters that have posed risks to the region. Families have been forced to evacuate and relocate, greatly impacting the socio-economic and cultural aspects of their lives. Eurasia Net captured the perspective of a local resident of Khorog when describing how the ongoing effects of the natural disasters occurring in the Pamirs have been dealt with. He stated, “it is always like this. Everybody waits for it all to be over and then for the international community to come and help. In our case, it is the Agha Khan Foundation”. Unlike Tajikistan’s majority population that practices Sunni Islam, the majority of residents in the Pamir region of Tajikistan follow Isma’ilism, a branch of Shiism. Aga Khan is the Imam, or spiritual leader of this Islamic sect, and his association with the Pamiri Ismailis has had a large impact on disaster relief aid in the region, especially since Tajikistan is ranked amongst the poorest post-Soviet nation. Has the involvement of Aga Khan’s spiritual Islamaili non-profit organization engaged more followers, trust, and a degree of reliance and expectations for future involvement in delivering relief? The foundation has provided aid beyond funding and has reached our to local communities and addressed their immediate needs by providing resources such as food, clothing, and healthcare.

In December 2015, Tajikistan experienced an earthquake ranking 7.2 on the Richter scale. The Aga Khan foundation was amongst one of the several organizations to respond and maintain its connection with the affected population and region even after the media soon lost interest in the disaster. Even with recurring environmental threats, especially in the Pamir region, it seems that journalists choose to focus on more sudden global disasters. Perhaps it is the concept of “them versus us” that is prompted by the “social distance between journalists and those in the population who are less affluent” (124) that John Hannigan describes in Disasters Without Borders. Regarding the US’s focus on Tajikistan’s environmental vulnerability, the lack of geographic proximity and language barrier certainly do impact news coverage of the region. However, the United States is a great power and an innovative world leader. What is its responsibility and role to help nations like Tajikistan that have fewer technological abilities and resources to adapt and to respond to disasters that continue to affect the region and its populations?

 It is apparent that Tajikistan’s economy has increased its vulnerability, especially when dealing with its natural disasters. I question the impact of the increasing role that NGOs has had in terms of disaster response in Tajikistan. The abilities of non-profit organizations to quickly recognize disasters and to engage and interact with affected populations could potentially undermine Tajikistan’s government’s influence and control when responding to disasters. But, because of Tajikistan’s economic status, has its government embraced the aid that NGOs such as the Aga Khan Foundation continue to provide?