Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (September 19, 2012) - On September 18-19 in Bishkek, representatives of ministries and agencies involved in the “greening” the economy discussed the national capacity for the development of indicators of “green” growth in Kyrgyzstan. Experts reviewed issues related to the development of these indicators and the capacity for their further mainstreaming into the monitoring and statistics system taking into account the experience of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  As result of the discussion participants adopted a draft indicators matrix to monitor the “green” development.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (September 18, 2012) – On September 18, 2012 MDG Coordination Committee convened for its regular at the Ministry of Economy and Antitrust Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Economy – Mr. Mukanbetov. Representatives of ministries and agencies responsible for implementation of the MDGs in the country, as well as representatives of UNDP discussed the macroeconomic assessment of the resources necessary to achieve the MDGs in Kyrgyzstan.

Democratic Governance

June 11-20 – 40 representatives of the Parliament, Ombudsman’s office, Ministry of Justice and civil society organizations took part in training on legal and human rightsexpertise of laws. The training is aimed at strengthening professional capacity of staff working with examination of bills as well as helping civil society carry out independent examination of bills. Quality legal examination and control will help produce high quality laws. The trainings were organized with support of EU-UNDP New Legal Reform Project and OHCHR UN. Learn more from Ms. Gulmira Mamatkerimova, Project Manager ( gm@dgov.undp.kg).

Naryn, Kyrgyzstan (August 1, 2012) – Aga Khan Foundation CEO Shahid Punjani, UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan Alexander Avanessov and UCA Chief Operations Officer Robert Wheeler met with the First Deputy Governor of Naryn province Emil Alymkulov to discuss development issues in the region. They discussed issues of poverty reduction, infrastructure development, agriculture, education, civic engagement, local self-governance and ways to overcome challenges through cooperation between the two organizations and province administration.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (17 July, 2012) – According to official statistics, gross output of Kyrgyzstan’s gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 5.6 percent in the first half of 2012. This fact puts serious doubts on official forecasts of GDP growth for 2012 of 7.5 percent and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection of about five percent growth for the economy of Kyrgyzstan in 2012. The high base represented by the strong GDP growth rates reported in the second half of 2011 (Chart 1) will reduce positive effects on the possible 2012 boost in production in the second half of the year.

Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan (July 9, 2012) –  As part of the UNDP-UNEP Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI) on July 7-8 Issyk-Kul province hosted a workshop to lay a foundation for mainstreaming of a poverty-environment nexus into the strategic planning and budgeting processes in the Kyrgyz Republic. The meeting brought together experts of ministries and agencies that are responsible for strategic planning to discuss the problems of promoting of PEI in Kyrgyzstan and coordinating the activities of newly established expert and interagency task forces.

Democratic Governance

May 11–17 – An information campaign to launch activities within the new EU-UN “Operationalising Good Governance for Social Justice” Project took place in all seven provinces of the country. Representatives of the UN agencies participating in the project – UNICEF, UN Women, UNESCO and UNDP visited visited several rural municipalities and met representatives of state and local authorities, NGOs and local communities to discuss cooperation within the project in details. Learn more from Asylgul Akimjanova, communications specialist (asyla@socialjustice.undp.kg).

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22 June 2012—As a major and concrete legacy of the Rio+20 Conference, the Brazilian Government announced the creation of Rio+ Centre, the World Centre for Sustainable Development, at a ceremony this morning attended by Izabella Teixeira, Brazil’s Minister for the Environment and Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator.

The Rio+ Centre will facilitate research, knowledge exchange and promote international debate about sustainable development. It will bring together a broad international consortium of partners, consisting of government agencies, United Nations agencies, local governments (including the state government and municipality of Rio de Janeiro), NGOs, universities, think-tanks and the private sector.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20 June 2012—In a high-level forum at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development today the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) presented the conceptual groundwork for a  future “Sustainable Human Development Index,” which would recognize the cost of human development to future generations.

The UNDP forum  was prompted by the call made by many in  Rio for a UN-led examination of alternatives to purely economic measurements of national and global progress, said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, who moderated today’s panel discussion.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (June 19, 2012) – On June 18 UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic Alexander Avanessov met with the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Omurbek Babanov. During the meeting parties signed an Action Plan for implementation of the Country Programme for 2012-2016. Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) is a framework document that covers all areas indicated in UNDAF * and the UNDP Country Programme and contains more detailed and concrete actions for the achievement of its objectives and indicators.