The awarding ceremony was organized in the framework of the "Strengthening Voice and Accountability: Citizens’ Participation and Oversight of Budgetary Processes" project. The project aims at ensuring participation of citizens in budgetary processes and strengthening the capacity of municipalities to improve services delivered to citizens. It is implemented by the Development Policy Institute with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 

The competition for grant support has been announced among all municipalities of the Chuy province. In total 33 applications were submitted, out of which 15 projects with the highest scores were selected by the committee. According to the conditions of the competition, grant funds are allocated to local budgets and used exclusively for financing of the projects aimed at addressing local issues and improving living conditions of local communities. 

“In 2017, 9 out of 15 supported projects are meant to improve conditions for children of preschool and school age. These projects were voted and chosen by local communities of 15 municipalities at their village gatherings organized by municipalities," - said Bekbolot Bekiev, manager of the project.

“I hope that citizens will continue to be involved in the budgetary processes at the local level, since local development should be a joint effort of citizens, municipalities and stakeholders at the national level,” - said Danielle Meuwly Monteleone, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in the Kyrgyz Republic.  

The list of winning municipalities is as follows: 

The Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) purchased the medical equipment for the emergency departments of hospitals, basic equipment and cars for the family medicine centers for the total amount of 800’000 CHF within the project “Health Facilities Autonomy” supported by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.

“It is so important that our contribution within our health projects gets the strong support of local authorities and personnel of the health facilities. I am very impressed by the level of commitment of all stakeholders, in particular the family doctors, the nurses and the management of the health facilities and also by the support of local authorities” – said Véronique Hulmann, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Republic.

The “Health Facilities Autonomy” project is a contribution to the national programme "Den Sooluk" which has been implemented since 2015.  The project aims to improve access of rural population to medical services and to enhance the effectiveness and quality of health care services by increasing the autonomy of health care organizations and optimizing referral systems. The project implements activities for efficient use of infrastructure, financial, personnel and logistical resources. During this trip, the Swiss Ambassador also inaugurated laundry facilities of four hospitals. This is part of another project on infection control.

Around 50 doctors and 250 nurses provide medical care to more than 190 thousand people in these three rayons. The new medical equipment will improve efficiency and quality of medical care for the local population as well as access to medical services.