Kyrgyzstan

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$400,000
To strengthen the Kyrgyz unions through work with activists, as well as with university students and lawyers to address labor issues and promote compliance with the core ILO labor standards. The rights of migrant work­ers will also be addressed through work with union and NGO activists.

Center for International Private Enterprise
$213,447
To improve public-private partnership and coalition-based advocacy in ensuring a transition to an institutionalized democrat­ic system that will foster a market-based economy. The Bishkek Business Club (BBC) will strengthen public private part­nership by working through Kyrgyzstan’s Coordination Council to follow up on economic policy recommendations made to Kyrgyzstan’s Interim Government. BBC will provide additional policy recom­mendations and conduct a public aware­ness campaign to support the values of entrepreneurship and market economics.

Center for International Private Enterprise
$75,833
To improve the balance of power in gov­ernment decision-making and to strengthen the public-private partnership for demo­cratic and market economy development. BBC will help structure public-private dia­logue on Kyrgzystan’s constitutional reform process by organizing meetings of Kyrgyz­stan’s Constitutional Council and Coordina­tion Council. BBC will also provide policy recommendations and conduct a public awareness campaigns to promote entre­preneurship and protect property rights.

Center for Support of International Protection
$30,000
To monitor and advocate for adherence to human rights standards in southern Kyrgyzstan. The Osh based Center will provide legal aid and conduct a hu­man rights workshop for lawyers. The Center will also monitor human rights abuses, advocate for legislative improve­ments and prepare individual complaints and alternative reports to the UN Hu­man Rights Commission (UNHRC).

Human Rights and Democracy Center
$44,600
To encourage human rights and de­mocracy education in middle and high schools in southern Kyrgyzstan. The program will include trainings for middle school and high school teachers, en­abling them to teach human rights and democracy courses. The Center will also facilitate a Street Law program in twelve high schools, training high school stu­dents in the basics of human rights.

Human Rights Center “Citizens against Corruption”
$42,140
To increase citizen oversight of local gov­ernment. Citizens Against Corruption will form local transparency committees in four oblasts of Kyrgyzstan, carry out monitor­ing of local government activities, and inform the public of their findings through media and civic hearings. The Center will advertise its activities by publishing articles in the organization’s newspaper, Pluralism, and on its website, www.anticorruption.kg.

Institute for Public Policy (IPP)
$50,080
To enhance the capacity of civil soci­ety to respond to crisis situations in a professional manner. IPP will conduct a one week training course in methods of mediation and train young journalists in international and national standards of journalism. The trainings will focus on professional coverage of the revolution, the new constitution, and the parliamen­tary elections. The Institute will also hold a series of events to discuss emerging political issues and continue publish­ing analytical articles on its website.

Institute for Public Policy (IPP)
$20,444 (supplement)
To facilitate and coordinate interaction among the government, NGO activists, and journalists. IPP will hold trainings for journalists and will organize roundtable discussions on the role of media in politi­cal processes in Kyrgyzstan, improving cooperation between the media and state institutions, media and the international image of Kyrgyzstan, and online journalism.

Jalalabad Regional Human Rights Organization Spravedlivost
$59,500
To maintain its network of human rights NGOs in southern Kyrgyzstan. Based in Jalalabad, Spravedlivost will serve as a resource center for NGOs and human rights groups in the re­gion. The network will conduct detailed monitoring of human rights abuses and provide pro-bono legal services. Spravedlivost will hold roundtables and discussions, and publish a monthly bulletin, press releases, and reports for the United Nations and the Human Rights Ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$400,000
To help reengage citizens in Kyrgyzstan’s political process, NDI will strengthen political parties’ ability to identify and address issues of concern to citizens by helping parties cultivate new regional leaders and carry out projects around issues that resonate locally. NDI will support a coalition of leading civil society groups in promoting greater govern­ment accountability and transparency.

Public Association “House of Journalists”
$34,587
To provide training and support to media. The organization will train journalism students and media professionals, update its news website, www.issyk-kulpress.kg, create video pieces on local topics, publish a newsletter, and operate a resource center for media. The organization also provides legal consultations to members of the media facing government pressure for their reporting and conducts surveys to monitor the state of media independence and journalists’ rights in Kyrgyzstan.

Public Association Osh Media Resource Center (OMRC)
$27,350
To support the activities of three re­source centers for print and broadcast journalists in southern Kyrgyzstan. The Center will provide access to computer and technical resources and will con­duct educational seminars for journal­ists, journalism students, and media professionals. The OMRC will also commission radio, print and broadcast documentary projects on human rights subjects for use in local media outlets.

Public Fund “Door Media”
$38,238
To produce the weekly talk show “Ex­amination,” to be broadcast on nine local television stations located throughout Kyrgyzstan. These programs will pro­vide an opportunity for Kyrgyz citizens to interact with government officials and discuss pressing issues facing the country. Possible themes include women’s par­ticipation in decision-making processes, academic honesty and corruption in the universities, corruption in law enforcement agencies, and reforming local governments.

Public Foundation “Kylym Shamy”
$39,700
To monitor and report on the state of human rights and freedoms in Kyrgyz­stan. The program will support three rapid reaction groups to investigate and mediate emerging conflicts. The groups will be based in three cities in Southern Kyrgyzstan: Osh, Jalalabad, and Bazar-Kurgan. The organization’s priorities will be freedom of assem­bly and interethnic reconciliation.

Public Foundation “Golos Svobody”
$40,187
To conduct strategic litigation to bring former and current government officials to accountability for human rights abuses committed during the period 2005-2010. The cases will be selected by an advi­sory group of human rights activists for their precedent setting potential. Golos Svobody staff will coordinate the cases, work with partner organizations, as­sist victims of abuses, and advocate for legal and judicial reforms in the media.

Public Foundation to Support Economic Development and Education
$53,566
To prevent the spread of conflict in the Ferghana Valley. The organization will conduct training in conflict prevention and mediation techniques for Uzbek and Kyrgyz civil society activists. Three trainings, each involving a group of ten activists of mixed nationalities, will be conducted in Almaty. Each training will be six days long and will include components on conflict resolu­tion and reporting on conflict situations.

Institute of Constitutional Policy
$34,500
To conduct legal analysis and promote judicial reform, focusing on the role and powers of the Constitutional Chamber of Kyrgyzstan. The Institute will conduct an in-depth survey of new and existing legisla­tion and normative acts that govern the judicial system, identify weaknesses, de­velop recommendations for improvements, host roundtables, and publish a report.

Radio Almaz
$26,800
To expand the reach of its radio program­ming to include the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Almaz, which currently broadcasts in Bishkek and Naryn, will acquire the necessary equipment to begin transmitting its programming in Jalala­bad. Broadcasts will reach populations in the Batken and Osh provinces, and programming will address problems of co-habitation, cooperation, and tolerance between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek popula­tions that live in these areas in an effort to stop ethnic conflicts and promote peace.

Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG)
$68,250
To develop a national network for youth and youth organizations, sponsor lo­cal youth initiatives, and provide intern­ships in Bishkek. YHRG will use previous programs, which supported youth policy discussions and regional youth initiatives, as a foundation for this year’s activi­ties. YHRG will strengthen the political potential of Kyrgyz youth and empower them to advocate for their interests at the local, regional and national levels.

Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG)
$56,732
To conduct a conference in Bishkek to develop an agenda for democratic de­velopment. The conference will seek to include a broad set of political interests to jointly develop priorities for reform. The organization anticipates that there will be approximately 70 participants drawn from the Kyrgyz government, civil society, business, media, and academic circles.

The grant listings posted here are from the 2010 Annual Report, published in August 2011.