Outcome KGZ_D_2.1

SN Outcome 2/UNSDCF Outcome 4: By 2027, all people in the Kyrgyz Republic enjoy the benefits of fair and accountable democratic institutions that are free from corruption and apply innovative solutions that promote respect for human rights, and strengthen peace and cohesion.

Despite positive Kyrgyzstan’s macroeconomic outlook for 2024, in political domain there has been a decline in human rights and the rule of law in the Kyrgyz Republic continued, which in the medium term will negatively affect socio-economic development, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups. The shrinking democratic and civic space, along with existing and newly proposed restrictive laws targeting freedom of expression, mass media, freedom of association, and public participation, as well as the growing harassment of political opponents, journalists, and activists, underscored the need for promotion of inclusive public participation that UN Women continued to do through a series of platforms and dialogues facilitated. This has been done starting from the local level in Batken province in building an inclusive system of governance and ensuring voice and participation of the most vulnerable and underrepresented groups in decision making, to high level policy and public advocacy events such as National March Forum at the premises of National Parliament, Beijing +30 review process based on a wide consultation process with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs, and the Central Asia Women Leadership Caucus, uniting women groups from the whole region to address the issues of Women, Peace and Security and women economic development. Civil society, as both as service providers and as promoters of accountability, will remain critical partner of UN Women to safeguarding civic space and delivering services to the most vulnerable. The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2024 ranked Kyrgyzstan 77 th out 163 countries, back up by several places compared to 2023. 10 It ranked 101 st out of 163 countries in the Positive Peace Index (PPI) 2024, nearly unchanged. 11 The Fragile States Index (FSI) 2024 ranked Kyrgyzstan 65 th out of 179 countries, back up by four places. Interstate armed conflict was still perceived as a risk, in the Global Risks Report 2024. 12 I n 2024 UN Women Kyrgyzstan CO continued implementation of Strategic Note (SN), during which the Country Office made some progress toward achieving this Outcome. In this context, local partners accessed innovative tools to facilitate a gender-responsive and human-centric approach to local development, fostering peace, social cohesion, and enhanced local adaptation to climate-related risks. Following the administrative territorial reform in Batken, which consolidated municipalities and reduced their number, efforts were focused on 7 out of 9 target Local Self-Governments (LSGs) across Batken and Leilek districts. These LSGs enhanced the efficiency of their development planning processes and strengthened collaboration with communities through innovative methodologies such as "speed dating" consultations in three municipalities of Batken as Suu-Bashi, Toguz Bulak and Tortkul. 15 members of the LSG working group from three municipalities applied ‘speed dating’ tool to meaningfully engage community members in local development and peacebuilding issues. As a result a diverse group of 223 participants, including representatives from government institutions, NGOs, activists, residents, religious leaders, ethnic minorities, and 57 Local Self-Government (LSG) officials (140 females and 83 males), actively enhanced their awareness and understanding of the nexus of gender, climate, and peace. They systematically identified and prioritized pressing community needs, generating actionable data for evidence-based planning. This process led to specific recommendations to integrate community priorities into local development plans, advancing inclusive and sustainable governance. Strengthened collaboration between LSGs and community members boosted their collective capacity to address community challenges.

SN Outcome 2/UNSDCF Outcome 4: By 2027, all people in the Kyrgyz Republic enjoy the benefits of fair and accountable democratic institutions that are free from corruption and apply innovative solutions that promote respect for human rights, and strengthen peace and cohesion.

The year 2023 was the first year of SN implementation and therefore the CO has made only some progress in achieving this Outcome. Within this Outcome area local partners accessed innovative tools to ensure gender responsive and human centric local development process for promoting peace, social cohesion and increasing local adaptation to climate insecurities. 9 target Local Self Governments (LSGs) of Batken and Leilek districts improved the efficiency of their LSG plans development process and strengthened interaction between communities and LSGs using the tools of "speed dating" and "design thinking". Further, LSG working groups used those innovative tools that allowed them to conduct a constructive dialogue with community residents, gather more ideas and discuss community concerns, producing the following results: 38 civil society organisations contributed to the development of the Vision to strengthen engagement between authorities and communities for joint action to promote Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and jointly foster the community culture of peace, social cohesion and create a safe and prosperous society 149 LSG representatives (9 localities) increased their understanding of "How?" to engage community members in the local development planning (LDP) process and integration of gender and climate security priorities into the local plans and budgets 764 (495j/269m)- 617 community members and 147 LSG representatives participated in dialogues by applying innovative tool of ‘Speed Dating’ which enabled local partners to improve the quality of community engagement. 173 (130w/43m) - 142 community members and 31 members of LSG working groups from 9 LSGs used the Design Thinking method and jointly developed project ideas for inclusion in local development plans. 9 LSGs integrated 136 project ideas in their LDPs, taking into account priorities on gender equality, climate change adaptation and security.