In this issue:

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

CENTRAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME:

• Presentation of Monitoring and Assessment System for ICT sector in Kyrgyzstan

SOCIAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME:

• Round Table on Social Passport System and Interaction of Ministries and Departments in Poverty Reduction
• First Central Asian Summer School on Gender Studies: from West to East

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND

• World Population Day 2002

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

• First meeting of the National Council under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on counter-trafficking and counter smuggling

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

CENTRAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME:

Presentation of the Monitoring and Assessment System for ICT Sector. A substantive step was made by UNDP in supporting the Kyrgyz Government (Ministry of Transport and Communications) by providing assistance in creation of the Monitoring and Assessment System for ICT development.

Presentation of the Monitoring and Assessment System for ICT Sector held within the framework of UNDP Central Governance Programme on July 15, 2002 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bishkek. Through this event the following targets were achieved:

• Close partnership with major stakeholders in ICT field in the country - M&A ICT Working Group was created in cooperation with UNDP major counterparts – the Ministry of Transport and Communication and National Statistical Committee, and includes representatives of the Presidential Administration, Kyrgyz National University, Association of Communication's Providers, and private sector – Areopag – the most effective in ICT field and other partners;
• Results oriented approach. Major outcomes and tasks of the Monitoring and Assessment System for ICT are not only to track progress in the field but based on high potential of all involved are intend to develop practical recommendations, milestone and time-tied based indicators for comprehensive analysis of situation;
• Holistic approach for developing countries. Used approach in M&A was based on methodology designed by UNDP following recommendations of regional (CIS countries) meetings took place in Tbilisi, Tashkent, and Tallinn;
• Created transparent and opened framework for further specific and detailed assessments in ICT in order to coordinate activities of private consulting companies operating in the field of public opinion polls and support them methodologically.

During and after comprehensive introduction of methodology, assessments on six major directions in ICTD - e-Government, e-education, e-economy, utilization of ICT in society, network access to global resources, governmental policy in ICTD participants of the event worked out the following list of recommendations:

• More impact should be put on recommendations and practical steps for strategy/programs in ICTD field based on assessments results;
• All sides involved into the Working Group have to closely cooperate with the National Statistical Committee. Developing and promoting of NSC statistical form (set of indicators to be collected at national level) will help in creation reliable and simple (understandable in all levels and regions) form for collection the basic indicators;
• ICT Council representative in cooperation with Ministry of Transport and Communication and other partners would develop instructions on improvement data collection process in ministries and state agencies;
• IT industry survey (which will cover spheres of investment and education) would be one of the substantive steps in developing actions on e-economy;
• Participatory approach and interagency cooperation are the most applicable in supporting government in ICTD field and has to be continued.

In general, all involved parties expressed a desire to be actively involved and further informed on the Strategy implementation steps undertaken by UNDP. Substantive report which includes M&A ICTD system approach, methodology, e-readiness assessment, conclusions and recommendations will be prepared and distributed among all interested parties in the nearest future.

Contact: Dinara Rakhmanova, Cluster Task Manager, UNDP Central Governance Programme. Phone: (996 312) 66-50-55, 66-46-34; email:

SOCIAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME:

Round table on "Social Passport System and Interaction of Ministries and Departments in Poverty Reduction" held in Bishkek. Within the framework of cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, UNDP supported the initiative of the ministry in conducting the Round Table on "Social Passport System and Interaction of Ministries and Departments in Poverty Reduction".

The main objective of the Round Table which will be held in Bishkek on 24 July is to identify the forms of participation of all ministries and state agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic in applying the Social Passport system for vulnerable groups.

An output of the Round Table will be the draft programme document on the framework of inter-sectoral collaboration and development of a National database of social passports. It is expected that information collected from social passports will be input to the National database. This data will serve as a good reference point for the ministry's interventions and activities.

All Ministers, Heads of departments and representatives of NGOs and donor organizations including UNICEF, DFID, ADB, Every Child, Save the Children and others are invited to take part in the Round Table. The UNDP Social Governance Programme has been involved in the process of developing the form of the social passport by providing the formats of monitoring and evaluation tools (e.g. village baseline study, household baselines, etc) and organising study tours for the specialists of the ministry to the target villages with a purpose of familiarizing with the component activities.

First Central Asian Summer School on Gender Studies: from West to East. Within the Gender Mainstreaming Component of the UNDP Social Governance Programme, it is planned to collaborate with UNFPA and the Soros Foundation in promoting gender studies in local higher educational institutions.

As a first step in launching joint activities, the Coordinator of Gender Mainstreaming Component, Gulmira Asanbaeva, is participating at the First Central Asian Summer School on Gender Studies: from West to East, organized by the Almaty Gender Studies Center with support from the Soros Foundation. Representatives of UNFPA and Soros Foundation are also taking part at the above-mentioned workshop which is being held between 14 and 21 July 2002.

The workshop is organized for key gender lecturers from all Central Asian republics, including 5 representatives of Kyrgyz High Educational Institutions and is facilitated by prominent gender experts from Elena Zdravomyslova (Russia) and Dr. Elena Gapova (Belorussia).

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND

World Population Day 2002 in Kyrgyzstan. On 11 July 2002, the World Population Day, the UNFPA Country Office in Kyrgyzstan held a round table meeting on Poverty, Population and Development. The representatives of the government institutions and international organizations discussed the problems of poverty, migration, education and health care in Kyrgyzstan. Among the reporters there were Mr. Zarylbek Kudabayev, Chairman of the National Statistical Committee, Mr. Leonid Komarover, Representative of the Office President’s administration, Ms. Jumabubu Doskeeva, Director of Chui Oblast Center of Family Medicine, Mr. Omurzak Mamuysupov, the Chairman of the State Commission on Religious Affairs, Mr. Boris Shapiro, Director of the National AIDS Center and etc.

Later that day, an art exhibition called “Poverty, Population and Development” was opened at the National Museum of Fine Arts. Along with the famous Kyrgyz artists: Yuristanbek Shigaev, Sabitjan Babadjanov, Nikolai Kotlyarevsky, Natalia Kopelovich, young and gifted students of the National Academy of Fine Arts and the College of Fine Arts exhibited their paintings and sculptures depicting the whole diversity of the population of Kyrgyzstan. Besides the famous photographers: Alexander Feodorov, Alimjan Jorobayev and Erkin Boljurov presented their works for the exhibition. By organizing the exhibition the UNFPA aimed to attract the attention of the general public to the problems of population of Kyrgyzstan through the means of art. The exhibition will be open till 31 July 2002.

Contact: Alexander Ilyin, UNFPA National Programme Officer. Phone +(996 312) 61-12-02. Fax: +(996 312) 66-12-04. Email: unfpa-

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

First meeting of the National Council under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on counter-trafficking and counter smuggling. Bishkek. On July 11, 2002, the first meeting of the National Council under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on counter-trafficking and counter-smuggling was held. Representatives of State Structures, Parliament, NGOs and other interested parties took part. Mr. Osmonakun Ibraimov, State Secretary of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Chief of the National Council, chaired of the meeting. The National Council members discussed the Plan of Action on implementation of the Measures to combat smuggling of and trafficking in human beings, approved by the decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. The National Council members are ready to take all responsibilities on practical implementation of Action Plan. The representatives of the General Prosecutors office, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh and also civil groups were involved in the discussion. The meeting demonstrated the Kyrgyz Republic’s aspiration for solving the problem.

Poverty and lack of economic opportunities are the main core of smuggling of and trafficking in human beings. These factors encourage women and men to seek work abroad, in situations where perhaps they might not otherwise do so. Methods of recruitment in the Kyrgyz Republic are similar to other parts of the world. Newspaper advertisements, tourist firms, friends or acquaintances, and the Internet are key instruments in the effective organized recruitment of women, girls and, recently, young men into forced labor, and often into sexual exploitation. The experience of the International Organization for Migration shows that women from province are potential victims of trafficking, since they have more limited access to information. A promise of better life abroad attracts them to go there. Women are enticed by false promises of highly paid work, nice housing and good labor conditions in the United Arab Emirates or South Korea. Cultural factors and lack of relevant legislation pose obstacles for female victims to pursue traffickers; accountability within some government structures demand attention to the legal environment for prosecution of traffickers.

Human trafficking is a new phenomenon for the Central Asian states. The IOM Mission in Kyrgyzstan is actively addressing the problem of trafficking in human beings. As Ms. Kakoli Ray, Chief of the IOM Mission in the Kyrgyz Republic noted at the meeting of the National Council, “Nowadays, IOM Bishkek supports Government and various kinds of NGOs in conducting detailed research on issues of trafficking in and smuggling of human beings. The data of the research will help to identify a real scale of the problem in the Kyrgyz Republic, will study a development tendency, will evaluate level of mass awareness about risks and dangers of illegal employments abroad, and will also define more effective ways in conducting public information campaign”.

In Kyrgyzstan, IOM expects to build upon its successful beginnings. In order to increase understanding of the dangers and consequences of trafficking among Kyrgyz young unemployed population and relevant authorities in an effort to discourage and prevent trafficking in human beings in, from and through Kyrgyzstan, IOM Bishkek starts a nation-wide information campaign. Protection, prevention, and prosecution require adequate legislation. This intervention will focus on improving the legal environment in Kyrgyzstan for combating trafficking in human beings. Not only will this help Kyrgyzstan, but it will also serve as a model for other Central Asian Countries.

Contact: Kakoli Ray, Chief of IOM Mission in Kyrgyzstan. Phone: +(996 312) 65-17-30, 65-17-31. Fax: +(996 312) 65-18-50. Email: