The average income in Tajikistan is about $1,080 per year. In 2012, of 1,000 live births, 43 children were expected to die before their fifth birthday, and 27% of children were stunted. 

The US Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Feed the Future initiative focuses on a particularly poor part of the country: the Khatlon province in the southwest. In 2015, USAID selected IntraHealth International to lead a multifaceted program to integrate high-quality maternal, newborn, and child health care at the family, community, clinical, and national levels.

The Tajikistan Heath and Nutrition Activity (THNA) works closely with the Tajikistan Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population and other stakeholders to improve services at district-level health care facilities, help families improve nutrition and adopt healthy behaviors, improve awareness of the importance of nutrition at the national and regional levels, and improve sanitation and hygiene at health care facilities and in communities.

THNA focuses on the thousand-day window of opportunity—between conception and a child's second birthday—to have a lasting impact on a child's growth, learning, and future productivity. We work in four areas: the quality of health care, dietary diversity, behavior change, and policy. 

Our interventions include:

• Working closely with district hospitals in Khatlon Province to build the capacity of health workers in antenatal care, essential perinatal care, and integrated management of childhood illnesses.
• Connecting communities to local health care facilities.
• Providing support for improved dietary diversity, household budgeting, backyard gardening, and essential hygiene practices.
• Helping upgrade sanitation and hygiene in health facilities and communities.
• Supporting advocacy and policy efforts on nutrition, health, and food security issues.

We work with 20 health care facilities and reach over 30,000 households in 700 villages with our 51 paid staff and 1,000 village volunteers. THNA is committed to improving health care and nutrition for expectant mothers and their babies now and contributing to lasting improvements more broadly.