TURKMENISTAN: NGO FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED FACES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000649

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NGO FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED FACES
REGISTRATION IMPASSE


1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet distribution


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The local NGO "Dayanch" provides moral support
and technical assistance to visually impaired and blind people by
publishing audio books and organizing reading sessions for them.
Despite its affiliation with the state-run Library for the Visually
Impaired, the NGO faces ongoing red tape in its efforts to register.
Previous Embassy grants have enabled Dayanch to expand its services
and outreach. Turkmen authorities do not provide high school
graduation diplomas to blind and visually impaired people. Dayanch
is the only NGO to provide an opportunity for visually impaired
people to informally continue their education. It relies on the
international donor community's support to continue its activities.
END SUMMARY.

ASSISTANCE TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE


3. (SBU) On May 14, Lyudmila Nikolayeva, the Information Technology
Specialist and Administrative Manager of Dayanch NGO (in Turkmen
Dayanch means reliance),briefed Embassy Political Assistant about
the organization's background and activities. Working in
affiliation with the State-funded Library for the Visually Impaired,
Dayanch provides moral and technical assistance to visually impaired
people by publishing audio books and loaning them free of charge to
blind and visually impaired people. Founded in 2000, the NGO is an
unregistered organization, although it attempted to register in 2001
and 2004. The organization consists of ten staff members and
operates on funding provided by donor organizations.

NGO RELIES ON DONOR SUPPORT


4. (SBU) Dayanch's activities includes publication of "talking
books" audio books for blind and visually impaired people at its
recording studio. While previously the NGO recorded its audio books
on tapes, the receipt of U.S. Government grants in 2002, 2007 and
2008 enabled Dayanch to record its books on compact discs. The NGO
then loans its books to blind or visually impaired people free of
charge. Currently, around 300 blind and visually impaired persons of
various ages benefit from Dayanch's activity. Dayanch also
organizes reading sessions where its customers/listeners choose what
books are read. The NGO's literature includes laws, popular science
literature, fiction books and detective stories.


5. (SBU) Established in 2000 under the Library for the Visually
Impaired under the Ministry of Culture, the NGO currently has three
branch offices in Turkmenbashy, Bayramaly and Dashoguz in addition
to its Ashgabat headquarters. In 2002, the Canadian Association of
Local Initiatives provided financial assistance to Dayanch to obtain
office space and office equipment. At present, the organization's
staff includes three engineers, two book readers who receive their
salary from the NGO, and volunteers such as Nikolayeva.


6. (SBU) Nikolayeva described the results of three grants from the
Embassy that Dayanch received in 2002, 2007 and 2008 for a total
amount of nearly USD 10,000. Thanks to these funds Dayanch was able
to begin recording its books on CDs, to equip the library with 30
DVD players for blind people to listen to "talking books" recorded
on CDs, to train the disabled to use the DVD players and produce 350
talking CDs and 1,000 talking tapes, as well as to buy MP3 players
to keep in the group's office for blind people to use them in the
office or borrow them for short periods of time. As a charity
contribution, local shops sold MP3 players to the NGO at a
discounted price.


7. (SBU) Dayanch would welcome an Embassy grant to buy an
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to safeguard its equipment when
power goes off (because they record a book for four hours non-stop),
a chair with microphone and a desk, shelves for CDs and ten lamps.
Currently, Nikolayeva is preparing a grant proposal to the Embassy
for purchasing the above items for a total amount of USD 4,000.
Also, Nikolayeva said that she has asked international donors to
provide funding for the education of two or three blind youth at a

ASHGABAT 00000649 002 OF 002


school in Bishkek. Because blind students do not receive a
graduation diploma after finishing school, they cannot enter any
higher educational institution to continue their education.
According to Nikolayeva, this practice is a carry-over from the
Soviet era when visually impaired students faced the same obstacle.

REGISTRATION RUNAROUND


8. (SBU) Dayanch faces ongoing registration red tape. It applied
for registration at Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in 2001 and re-applied
in 2004, however, it did not succeed. In 2001, the MOJ refused to
register the NGO because in its registration application, Dayanch
did not include the date of a group meeting approving their charter
and because one section of the charter did not correspond to the
provisions of various laws. The MOJ did not respond to Dayanch's
subsequent registration application. When asked her view about why
the government does not register their group, Nikolayeva said, "The
authorities are afraid of public activity. Perhaps they think we
might do something wrong."


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Dayanch's registration problems, with its
applications either denied on insignificant technical grounds or
simply placed into bureaucratic limbo, is a familiar story among
NGOs seeking registration. It is telling about the government's
mindset concerning NGOs that Dayanch, a group that is affiliated
with the Ministry of Culture and that meets social needs that would
otherwise be left unmet, still is unable to obtain registration.
Its difficulties reinforce what we've heard from other unregistered
NGOs that the government does not appreciate the role that NGOs
could play in addressing social issues. Until there is a change of
perspective within the government on this issue, even social service
providers with no political agenda will hit a brick wall on the
registration issue. END COMMENT.

MILES