UN appeal for Tajik winter aid

Some Tajiks have had to choose between food and fuel

The UN has issued an appeal for donor aid to help the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan.

A severe energy crisis coupled with an unusually cold winter is affecting the lives of millions of people.

The UN says it needs $25m (£13m) to help Tajikistan deal with the worst energy crisis it has ever experienced.

Much of the country has been left without heat and electricity, and the main hydropower stations do not have enough water to run their turbines.

In many places the temperatures are well below zero, and frozen pipes have left people without drinking water.

Power rationed

As people spend more on fuel and wood to keep warm, they have less money left to feed themselves with.

There are severe food shortages and the UN says additional fuel and food supplies are key.

But with roads blocked by snow, it will be impossible to deliver those supplies to the tens of thousands of people who have been stranded in mountain villages.

Power supplies to industry are tightly rationed and the government says the crisis has already cost the economy hundreds of millions of dollars - and it could get worse in the spring.

With the snowfall heavier than ever before, there is also a serious threat of spring flooding.

It is a dire situation, and millions of people have already been affected, but the UN says that the effect of this crisis could be minimised if the international community acts quickly.