Better Shelter partnered with the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) initially to build 15 Structures for community infrastructure in Tajikistan. However, following the emergence of COVID-19 as a public health emergency, the Structures were reassigned to the Aga Khan Development Network’s COVID-19 response in Tajikistan to function as Search and Rescue (SAR) and triage centres.

The Structures were built in the remote mountainous regions surrounding Khorough in Eastern Tajikistan. Due to the urgency of providing safe spaces to account for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Structures were covered with tarpaulin and has withstood high exposure to the sun and harsh winter with heavy snow load in the Tajik highlands.

Planning for the future once the pandemic has slowed down, the AKAH intends to relocate the Structures within Tajikistan and upgrade with local materials to transform the Structures as permanent support shelters.

Read the Structure Pilot Report here.

For more information on the Aga Khan Development Network, click here.