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CONTEXT

Tajikistan is grappling with significant humanitarian and developmental challenges primarily stemming from climate change and limited economic opportunities. The nation is widely acknowledged as highly vulnerable, contending with frequent extreme weather events that wreak havoc on land, crops, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Climate change exacerbates these issues, manifesting through glacier melting, shifting rainfall patterns, and prolonged droughts. The agricultural sector, employing 53% of the population and relying on rainfall for over 80% of its lands, faces additional threats. Inefficient resource management and limited investment heighten risks to livelihoods, food security, socio-economic development, and social cohesion.

Economic progress is impeded by labor out-migration, with remittances constituting over 30% of the national GDP and a dearth of diversified income-generating opportunities in rural areas. Despite the government’s recognition of potential business benefits and support for innovation, focused efforts are crucial. Civil society organisations, vital for Tajikistan’s development, encounter challenges, with limited government engagement hindering effective cooperation on governance, economic issues, and gender-based violence. Enhanced technical capacity and financial sustainability in civil society are essential.

ABOUT THE 3ZERO HOUSE

Creating inclusive economic opportunities in Tajikistan

The 3ZERO House Tajikistan is dedicated to promoting inclusive economic opportunities by providing support to MSMEs and start-ups, as well as civil society organizations, through capacity building. It also initiates citizen-driven climate actions, with a focus on energy conservation and the utilization of renewable energy sources.

In Tajikistan, Acted concentrates on three core areas of expertise and intervention: (1) Climate Change Adaptation through integrated natural resources management; (2) Fostering Sustainable, Inclusive Economic Growth through skills development and creating an environment for entrepreneurship; (3) Developing and enhancing local civil society and social accountability mechanisms through civil society empowerment, localization, and building capacities of communities and local authorities.

Established in December 2022 by Acted Tajikistan, 3ZERO House Dushanbe serves as a unique collaborative space connecting actors from diverse sectors. This includes civil society organizations, public and private sector representatives, and other agents of change, all working towards a world with Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, and Zero Poverty. The hub emphasizes innovation and impactful solutions for local challenges related to climate change, economic development, and inclusion of vulnerable populations.  

Functions of 3ZERO House: Connect, Unleash, Innovate

• Connect: This function brings diverse actors together to foster actions favoring a 3ZERO world, encouraging innovative partnerships to collectively address local challenges related to climate change, poverty, and exclusion. 
• Unleash: Focused on unleashing human potential, 3ZERO House empowers a community of changemakers to guide the transition towards a 3ZERO world. Local changemakers are trained and motivated to promote the 3ZERO goal within their communities. 
• Innovate: This function promotes experimentation and testing of solutions to accelerate promising 3ZERO projects. The resulting innovations are showcased locally and globally through national 3ZERO forums and an annual global forum in Paris. 

3ZERO House partners

Currently, powered by Acted, 3ZERO House Dushanbe hosts seven partners, namely:  a gender NGO Korvoni Umed which is running a social cafe named Café Chatr in Dushanbe, and that opened the Café branch at 3ZERO House; Bactria Cultural Centre, which runs educational and artistic initiatives; ROST – a business incubation and acceleration NGO; Oxus Micro Finance Organization, which is providing financial tools and solutions for all 3ZERO house partners’ initiatives; Tajik Community Based Tourism Association – an institution uniting 24 tourism sector actors from all regions of Tajikistan. 

All partners are empowering each other by providing relevant expertise and experience, close cooperation and cooperation, and creating intellectual and professional value chains to achieve holistic and the most comprehensive impact. 

Key figures

3ZERO House services and plans

In 2024-2025 3ZERO House will continue focusing on its main areas of intervention with additional services provided to development partners, local civil society, government institutions and business. List of services of 3ZERO House:  

Pillar I: Creating inclusive economic opportunities through:  

• Stimulating entrepreneurship supporting Micro Small Enterprises (MSEs), and startups via tailored incubation and acceleration programs, business tracking and mentorship, investment attraction and development of business ecosystems.  
• Career counseling, internships, job placement with a specific emphasis on youth and women; 
• Developing an entrepreneurial mindset and financial literacy with a focus on youth and women. 

Examples: training rural communities to develop tourism businesses, reintegration programs for survivors of gender-based violence.  development of a creative economy environment, and investment into creative start-ups. 

Pillar II: Strengthening Institutions and Civil Society Organizations through:  

• Holistic assessment and operational capacity strengthening of CSOs through GOCA approach  
• Securing the financial sustainability of SCOs via investment into their social business ideas.  
• Promoting dialogue between citizens, civil society and institutions/authorities/service providers through organization of platforms, fora, public hearings, etc.; 
• Conducting socio-cultural activities and events. 

Examples:  SCOs 3ZERO Award, Forest coordination platform, Tajikistan tourism platform, Pasture Networking Coordination Platform, gender CSOs capacity building programme and continue supporting the newly established Association of Shelters and Crises Centers. 

Pillar III:  Promoting citizen-driven climate actions and sustainable living practices, contributing to environmental stewardship and community well-being 

• Advocacy/communication campaigns in support of the SDGs and climate change commitments; 
• Support and promotion of local innovations and green businesses  
• Organization of public events (festivals, concerts, workshops, debates, etc.) on topics related to climate change, sustainable development and/or sustainable consumption and production; 
• Promoting household-level energy conservation and efficiency 
• Awareness raising on sustainable production and consumption 

 Examples: Climate change youth debate events, installation of green technology demonstration plots in highly attended spaces, social media green communication campaign; social and green art exhibitions.