Sorry, this entry is only available in Russian.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Russian.

USAID partner freedomhouse.kg (working through its own local partner, the CSO “Ventus”) organized and supported conducting an event marking International Human Rights Day held on December 9, 2016 in Karakol at the Issyk-Kul Region Library. In attendance were 33 participants consisting of: human rights defenders; CSO activists; lawyers; victims of torture; a Karakol Vice Mayor; regional representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Prosecutor’s Office, Ombudsman’s Office, and National Center against Torture; and local print and visual mass media. The main focus of the event was discussing past cases of torture committed by law enforcement in the Region, discussing legal and other remedies available to victims and their families, and ways and means of preventing future instances of torture. At the conclusion of the event, Ventus led discussion of the attendees unifying and consolidating their efforts to prevent future cases of torture in the Region including through signing a memorandum of understanding and cooperation that all in attendance “clearly renounce torture as a tactic in the criminal justice process and commit to preventing futures cases in the Region”. It was noteworthy that the representatives from the state bodies during the course of the event’s discussions clearly, uniformly, and resolutely expressed their opposition to torture. Ventus will now direct its efforts in the coming days to securing signatures on the memorandum from each of the state bodies and CSOs represented at the event.

November 2016 – Women’s organizations of Nookat district are sounding the alarm in connection with an increase in suicide among women-victims of domestic violence. According to the information of “Women’s Peace Bank” PF, the main causes of suicide are: physical and mental abuse and sexual violence from family members, inability of victims of violence to protect their rights due to low legal literacy, and the lack of access to justice.

freedomhouse.kg supported the “Women’s Peace Bank” PF in the organization of an information campaign with the wide involvement of TV, radio and print media aimed at raising women’s awareness of legal measures for protection from domestic violence and techniques of relief from stress and depression of women, as well as promoting a discussion of the role of the authorities in the prevention of domestic violence and bringing perpetrators to justice.

As a result of this project, the work of Dialogue Platform was launched, with participation of the police, social and prevention centers, the city council and the Mayor’s office of Nookat city. Members of the Platform have developed and adopted a joint action plan for the prevention of family violence and suicide among victims. Local authorities are ready to allocate 110 thousand soms for implementation of the plan, and the district police department of Nookat city established a system for a quarterly report by district policemen to the local population on the measures taken to combat domestic violence.

“From the aiyl bashchy (village head), I received a brochure on where a woman can seek help if her husband beats her. I turned to Kalys Tagaeva, of the women’s council, and she, along with the Public Fund Women’s Peace Bank, helped me. They have created a commission in order to help me…” – says a resident of Nookat city, housewife Mahburathon Atakhanova.

“We have great hope for joint efforts with the civil sector in conducting comprehensive work to reduce domestic violence and prevent suicide among women.”
Deputy Mayor of Nookat city, Daniyar Tazhibaev.

According to the district police department of Nookat district, Osh oblast, 12 suicides of women were registered from January to June 2016, and 5 cases were registered over the project period from June 1 to present.

November 2016 – 193 UN member states, including the Kyrgyz Republic – have officially adopted a new program in the field of sustainable development, titled “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (SDGs). The pro-gram replaces the Millennium Development Goals, and governments, parliaments, local self-government authorities and civil society organizations all over the world are working on adapting the global program for use at the national level and creating real opportunities for the sustainable development of our countries.

With the support of freedomhouse.kg, the “Forum of Women’s NGOs of Kyrgyzstan” PO (Forum) started work on the integration of the global agenda into local development plans, focusing on the issues of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

The Forum conducted a public campaign on training, informing and joint discussion of steps to adapt the global development agenda at the local level. Together with the local authorities and gender organizations of the Nookat, Kara-Suu and Issyk-Ata districts, the Forum developed Plans of development of local self-government, including the implementation of the fifth goal of SDGs – to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Funding for implementation was also considered.

“We have long been waiting for such a project. For the first time in-formation on global and national development programs have reached our village. Moreover, we believe that the authorities were informed about our aspirations and they will be taken into account.” – says a resident of Issyk-Ata district, Gulmira Umetalieva.

The Forum plans to promote the execution of goals to achieve gender equality at the level of national legislation. The head of the organization discussed these plans with Member of Parliament, A. Altybaeva, who has expressed her support for this activity.