On March 11, 2014 at 10:00 AM, the handing-over of the disaster package will celebrate the transfer of the Counterpart-administered U.S. Department of State pre-positioned disaster package to FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network. The disaster package is reserved for use in responding to natural or man-made disasters in Kyrgyz Republic. Due to the upcoming phase out of Counterpart’s Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program in the Kyrgyz Republic, the handover of the disaster package to FOCUS will allow for the continuation of effective disaster assistance in Kyrgyz Republic.
Kathryn Porch, Economic Officer, U.S. Embassy Bishkek; Gerald Oberndorfer, Director of Humanitarian Program, Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia, U.S. Department of State; Nashir Karmali, Executive Officer, FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance; Karl Goeppert, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Kyrgyz Republic; Goulmira Sydykova, Program Manager, Humanitarian Aid Program, Project Hope; and Counterpart staff will participate in the ceremony.
The U.S. Department of State disaster package pre-positioned in the Kyrgyz Republic has served as an emergency stock since 2006, designated for response to major emergencies. Counterpart has released over $593,000 worth of disaster supplies (tents, sleeping bags, bedding, medical supplies) responding to the following disasters:
- Civil unrest that broke out in the southern cities of the Kyrgyz Republic in June 2010
- Earthquake (magnitude of 6 degree Richter scale) in Batken Oblast that damaged 4,000 buildings, including 3,700 residential houses, 19 medical-obstetrical facilities, 5 kindergartens, 16 administrative buildings and 68 schools in Batken Oblast of the Kyrgyz Republic in January 2007.
- An earthquake that struck the Naryn Oblast of the Kyrgyz Republic damaged 6,037 residential houses in Kochkor Raion and 416 houses in Naryn Raion in December 2006.
Counterpart has been working in the Kyrgyz Republic since 1996. Through a network of nearly 1,000 partner organizations, Counterpart has distributed approximately $84-million dollars of humanitarian assistance to over two million vulnerable people in the Kyrgyz Republic.
