SURVIVING AGAINST ALL ODDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000328

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
EUR/ACE FOR GERALD OBERNDORFER AND JOHN POST

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: EAID PHUM SOCI UZ USAID
SUBJECT: SURVIVING AGAINST ALL ODDS

REF: TASHKENT 276

Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary. Despite the GOU's closure of the U.S. NGO
Counterpart International in June 2006, the organization's
Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program (CHAP) has been
able to continue operations, thanks in large part to its
local representative's re-registering as a private
entrepreneur. Since the entrepreneur's name is not included
as a consignee on any of the humanitarian shipments, the
containers have been distributed as planned to recipients
around the country. Since 1998, the CHAP program has
distributed over $82 million worth of assistance, of which
$3.5 million has been distributed since Counterpart's closure
last year. The Cabinet of Ministers has tacitly approved
this arrangement, which could serve as a success story in
other countries where the government has shut down NGOs but
continues to see value in allowing humanitarian assistance.
End summary.


2. (C) Despite the GOU's closure of the U.S. NGO Counterpart
International in June 2006, the organization,s Community and
Humanitarian Assistance Program (CHAP) has been able to
continue operating, due in large part to its resourceful
local representative, Kamol Khusainov, who registered as a
private entrepreneur. His firm, "Khusainov K.H.," which was
established in summer 2006, is authorized to provide
"information support services" and "documentation
processing." Khusainov emphasized that he is not the
consignee for any of the shipments, and therefore merely
oversees the delivery and distribution process. (Note: Since
1998, the CHAP program has provided over $82 million worth of
humanitarian assistance to Uzbek recipients, with the State
Department covering the transportation costs. End note.)


3. (C) Khusainov told the DCM that he has continued to meet
with Vladislav Bolkonov, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers
Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance, Health, and Social
Issues, who is responsible for approving all humanitarian
shipments. Bolkonov has been willing to work with Khusainov,
acknowledging that the consignee is the end recipient rather
than Khusainov. (Note: CHAP recipients include the
Republican Children's Fund, health departments, labor and
social protection offices, and local NGOs and associations.
End note.) Khusainov told Poloff that after becoming a
private entrepreneur he opened a new bank account at the
Korea Development Bank (KDB),where he receives his salary by
fund transfer in his capacity as a private citizen, rather
than in any company's name.


4. (C) Since Counterpart's June 2006 closure, Khusainov told
us that CHAP has shipped clothing and household items worth
over $3.5 million to Uzbek recipients. According to
Khusainov, two containers have so far cleared customs in
2007, with a further five awaiting clearance. On January
28-30, Poloff accompanied Khusainov and CHAP's Tbilisi-based
regional director Sergey Khomchenko on site monitoring visits
to hospitals, orphanages, schools, and Republican Children's
Fund offices in the Ferghana Valley (reftel). All assistance
was fully inventoried, documented, and accounted for. In
Namangan the program distributed clothing to several needy
families, who commented that with all their disposable income
spent on food, CHAP support enables them to adequately clothe
their children.


5. (C) Comment: The key ingredient in CHAP's ability to
persevere in such a restrictive environment has been a
quick-thinking local manager, who secured both his own
organization's confidence for this arrangement and the
government's blessing. This success story could have
applicability in other countries where NGOs have been shut
down, but where governments still see value in humanitarian
aid.

PURNELL