Kyrgyzstan
 | Government-Community Leaders Dialogues to Reduce Tension in Central Asia: Phase IIIThe project Government-Community Leaders Dialogues to Reduce Tension in Central Asia: Phase III with support from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) was launched in May 2022. This 25-month project aims to strengthen collaboration at the interstate and intrastate levels to enable effective and innovative responses to […] |
 | Final Evaluation – Prevention of Violent Extremism in Central Asian Countries Through Strengthening Social Cohesion Among Labour Migrants, Returnees – June 2022The Prevention of Violent Extremism in Central Asian Countries Through Strengthening Social Cohesion Among Labour Migrants, Returnees, and their Families Project was implemented by Search for Common Group (Search) and its partners in three countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan) from February 2020 to June 2022. It had two main components. Within the first component, the project aimed at enhancing the social cohesion and resilience of labour migrants to violent extremism (VE) by capacitating key state and non-state actors. The second component of the project focused on rehabilitation and reintegration mechanisms for returnees from conflict zones by capacitating key actors in case analysis, management, and monitoring at the individual and community levels. Rehabilitation and reintegration of returnees from the conflict zones is a recent phenomenon in Central Asia. The project created a unique opportunity for Central Asian countries to exchange their knowledge and best practices in this field. The final evaluation has identified the project interventions as relevant to the context of government and civil society efforts in providing rehabilitation and reintegration support to returnees and working on the issues of labour migrants. |
| Final Evaluation – Enabling Central Asians to Protect Religious Freedom as a Preventative Approach to Addressing Violent Extremism – March 2022The project Enabling Central Asians to Protect Religious Freedom as a Preventative Approach to Addressing Violent Extremism was implemented in four Central Asia countries: Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. The project was funded by DRL. This report presents the evaluation findings of the project Protect to Prevent: Enabling Central Asians to Protect Religious Freedom as a Preventative Approach to Addressing Violent Extremism implemented by the Search for Common Ground (Search) Central Asia, in partnership with IDEA Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), Center for Human Rights Protection Kylym Shamy (Kyrgyzstan), Marifatnoki (Tajikistan) and Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (Kazakhstan). The project has applied a dual level approach to effectively respond to violent extremism in a whole-of-society manner; targeting both state and inter-state level, and community level in 6 target locations, two in each country: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The action’s overall aim was to prevent radicalization that leads to violence by strengthening society’s capacity (state and non-state actors) to reduce discrimination on religious grounds in Central Asia. The evaluation was performed by an independent evaluator between February-April 2022 using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods and on principles of action research. The analysis consisted of a review of project related documents and external policy and research papers related to religious radicalization in four target countries. |
 | #IDemilge: Youth-Led Civic Campaign for Cohesive Communities in KyrgyzstanContext Search for Common Ground Kyrgyzstan’s Youth Led Civic Campaign for Cohesive Communities in Kyrgyzstan was a eight month project from April 2021 – December 2021 in partnership with Jash Niet, Peace Initiatives, Steps to Success, and Talas Regional Youth Council (TOSM) that laid the foundation for youth’s […] |
 | Strengthening the Rule of Law Framework to Support Religious Freedom in KyrgyzstanThe project Strengthening the Rule of Law Framework to Support Religious Freedom in Kyrgyzstan was launched in September 2021 and is a 22-month project to improve the rule of law framework around religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan by strengthening local capacities to address violations of religious rights and improving policies and legislation that strengthen religious freedom in the country… |
| Final Evaluation – TaasirLink: Citizen Narrative Campaign in Kyrgyzstan – March 2021In response to the growing problem of radicalization and recruitment through social media, Search for Common Ground (Search) Kyrgyzstan implemented a project called “TaasirLink: Citizen Narrative Campaign” aimed at increasing resilience among youth at risk of radicalization (aged 14-36) and recruitment through implementing counter-messaging campaigns built on positive deviance approach of behavioral and attitude change involving network influencers identified via social network analysis. The project supported by the Global Engagement Center (GEC) under State Department. The project involved positive role models – celebrities, opinion leaders, content creators, and local influencers in the community to counter the narratives of violent extremism among youth. Search has run online and offline public awareness campaigns that resonated with targeted communities at risk of radicalization and recruitment, and positively affected them. |
| Final Evaluation – #JashStan: Supporting the Next Wave of Youth Peace Leaders in KyrgyzstanThis is a final evaluation of the JashStan: Youth as Agents of Peace and Stability in Kyrgyzstan project that Search Kyrgyzstan implemented with the financial support of the UNPBF. Search implemented Phase II of JashStan from 2018-2020 and aimed to empower youth and involve them in decision-making processes, create an enabling environment for the at-risk youth, solve the issues and grievances youth experienced, and deter youth from possible radicalization. The vast majority of JashStan participants who took part in the survey, reported that before their participation in the project they were personally affected by physical fights, and 49% were personally affected by bullying, racketeering and extortion. Additionally, the project provided opportunities for at-risk youth to increase knowledge on how to mobilize, voice their grievances, and implement local initiatives. Separate sessions for parents/caregivers proved successful in terms of turnout and interest. The sessions were integrated into the second phase of JashStan based on the lessons learned from the first phase. |