Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (April 22-27 2013) – Thousands of young people across Kyrgyzstan took part in the the Youth Week of Kindness in light of the Global Youth Service Day. They carried various out social activities under the slogan “Youth is Changing the World!” to help those in need of attention and support.

This year the “Youth Week of Kindness” is focused on development of voluntary actions by young people. Despite the fact that the number of volunteers in the country is growing, voluntary actions are still perceived as usage of free labour force. We want that young people understand the importance and applicability of such activity.  Since youth is more susceptible to negative influence from peers, this campaign will motivate the youth to bring benefit to society. We want to involve the youth in dynamic activities and deliver the message that the youth can and must improve the quality of life.

Democratic Governance 

September 28 – October 10 – The Kyrgyz Republic Ministry of Youth, Labor and Employment organized workshops on developing an implementation matrix of the National Action Plan for Achieving Gender Equality for 2012-2014 in all provinces of the country. Representatives of the government, local municipalities, regional offices of ministries and agencies, as well as civil society discussed and identified the role of territorial governance bodies in implementation of the National Gender Strategy and the National Action Plan (NAP) for Achieving Gender Equality for 2012-2014. They also developed an action plan on NAP at the local level. The workshops were organized with support of the joint EU-UN Nations “Operationalising Good Governance for Social Justice” project and UNDP “Capacity Development Facility” project. Learn more from Ainura Kaparova, CDF project coordinator (aka@dgov.undp.kg).

The rights of women, youth, minorities, people with disabilities, children and prisoners are of particular importance. Human rights activists say that the voices of these people must be heard in society, and their needs and interests shall be taken into consideration at all levels of decision-making. 

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (December 10, 2012) - 10^th of December is celebrated every year globally as a Human Rights Day, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on this date, back in 1948. 2012’s theme is dedicated to the principle of participation, through which the voice of every person counts. For this occasion, the round table on "Implementing the Recommendations of International Human Rights Mechanisms: Achievements and Challenges" will be organized by UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Central Asia, in close cooperation with the Office of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on 10^th December 2012 in Bishkek.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (November 6, 2012) - On November 25, 2012, on the day of election of deputies to local keneshes, all members of precinct election commissions will wear special uniform to be easily recognized.

“Members of precinct election commissions are the key persons, responsible for preparation and arrangement of election process on the election day (E-day) all over the country. They solve issues, occurring during the day, as well as provide assistance to voters, observers and mass media. On the day of election to city and village councils, members of precinct election commissions will wear special vests to be easily recognized”, noted Gulnar Dzhurabaeva, deputy chairperson of the Central Election Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (November 1, 2012) - 75 judges of city and district courts of Bishkek city, Naryn, Talas and Issyk-Kul provinces took part in a training on the Law on Elections of Deputies to Local Keneshes and resolving electoral disputes. The three-day training took place in the Training Center for Judges in Bishkek. Participants were trained by judges of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic as well as members of the Central Elections Commission.

Democratic Governance

July 21-28 – Experts discussed and tested a unique methodology of conflict-sensitive analysis of bills, which was developed with support of the UNDP project on support to new legal frame work. The methodology is able to reveal potential conflicts that bills can cause in society on stage of their discussion. Lawyers and conflictology experts approbated the methodology on few bills that were actively discussed in society. After discussions experts made some remarks and suggested changes to the methodology. The methodology was developed with support of the UN Peacebuilding Fund. Learn more from Ms. Gulmira Mamatkerimova, Project Manager ( gm@dgov.undp.kg).

New York, 27 September 2012 — Over 40 representatives of UN member states, donors and international development agencies met with the delegation from Kyrgyzstan led by Parliament Speaker Asylbek Jeenbekov, to discuss the current political, economic and social situation in Kyrgyzstan - the first country in Central Asia that has adopted parliamentary democracy in summer 2010.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (September 18, 2012) – Information and computer specialists of 30 rural municipalities from all provinces of Kyrgyzstan are taking part in a training on computer basics and Ayil information management system for village administrations. The training is taking place in Bishkek on 15-30 September 2012. Upon successful completion participants will receive certificates and will provide trainings for the rest of their village administrations staff on computer basics and Aiyl information system.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (September 17, 2012) – A training on the “Standards of Human Rights Expertise” will be held in Issy-Kul from September 18 to 21. It is organized by the joint project of European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) “Operationalising Good Governance for Social Justice” jointly with  EU-UNDP Legal Reform Project and OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia as part of the “Civil Monitoring for Human Rights Protection and Conflict Prevention” project funded by EU.

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).