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 memorandum of understanding foresees cooperation and commitment to promote the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda and its goal 16 aiming at the creation of peaceful, just and strong institutions, to support the implementation of the Strategy of Development of the Jogorku Kenesh in line with the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic.  

“Switzerland's rich experience with democratic governance can serve as a basis for exchange and collaboration between our two countries. I am very glad to announce that Switzerland has responded favorably to the request of the Kyrgyz Parliament to assist in strengthening parliamentary democracy and improving citizens’ engagement in decision-making processes,” – said Ambassador Holenstein.

With financial support of Switzerland, UNDP will implement a ten-year prospective project “Strong and Inclusive Parliamentary Democracy”, primarily aimed at further enhancing parliamentary democracy in the Kyrgyz Republic by making it more inclusive, accountable and responsive to the needs of the citizens. The first phase of the project foresees close collaboration and expert support to the activities of three parliamentary committees, namely the committee on constitutional legislation, state structure and judicial legal affairs, the committee on social affairs, education, science, culture and healthcare as well as the committee on finance and budget.

In addition, the project will work actively on enhancing capacity of Public Councils and will launch a special Civic Action Fund to provide citizens with an opportunity to participate in the decision- and policy-making process, ensure effective monitoring and influencing the performance of parliamentary and state accountability institutions. This will allow citizens to hold the Parliament and government accountable and benefit from a more accessible, effective and responsive government.

Contact information:

Aigul Baiburaeva, UNDP Policy Advisor, tel.: 0312 394140 (ext. 152), email:  aigul.baiburaeva@undp.org

Elena Zakirova, Program Officer of the Embassy of Switzerland, tel. 0312 301036, email: elena.zakirova@eda.admin.ch

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The Government of Switzerland provides assistance for the development of the Kyrgyz Republic and supports projects in areas such as health, private sector development, public sector reform, and infrastructure.