The goal of the project is to create a more conducive environment for the promotion of sustainable peace and development in cross-border areas of Kyrgyzstan and of Tajikistan. Peacebuilding interventions will focus on Batken oblast of Kyrgyzstan and Sughd oblast of Tajikistan with the aim to build a constructive dialogue between cross-border communities. In the framework of the project, cooperation on infrastructure development in the cross-border villages will be enhanced to ensure that disputes over access to natural resources are managed better. Such issues have in the past provoked several incidents.

The signed agreement provides a framework to implement activities related to the Kyrgyz component of the project while a similar agreement has previously been signed for activities in Tajikistan. The Swiss Government through its offices in Bishkek and Dushanbe provides equal contributions in the amount of USD 1 million to each of the national components of the project. The project is the next step in the implementation of the sub-regional program launched through seed funding from UNDP’s Bureau for Programme and Policy Support (BPPS) in response to cross-border tensions in 2014. The project will work in six geographic clusters of villages from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.