Bishkek, 24 June, 2010 – Today, the World Bank Country Office announced the winners of the Civil Society Fund competition (former Small Grants Program) 2010 in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The World Bank’s Civil Society Fund Program was established in the Kyrgyz Republic in 1996. The program supports initiatives to broaden the dialogue on socio-economic issues, develop civic partnerships, empower citizens, and engage marginalized and vulnerable groups in civic activities. The Program supports local civil society organizations. Between 1996 and 2010 the World Bank in the Kyrgyz Republic awarded 147 small grants totaling US$ 425 thousand.
This year, applicants from all regions of the Kyrgyz Republic submitted a total of 103 proposals in the highly publicized Civil Society Fund Program competition. In 2010, the total sum of grants provided by the World Bank within this Program in the Kyrgyz Republic made US $ 55,000.
The following 13 NGOs were awarded grants:
| NGO | Project |
| Public Union "Vostochnyi" (Batken) | “Institutional Development and Social Integration of Local Communities in Sulukta town”. |
| Kyrgyz Society of Blind and Deaf (Bishkek) | “Creating a mechanism of adaptation and rehabilitation for people with disabilities”. |
| Movement of Young Disabled People (Bishkek) | “Social and labor mobilization of young disabled people”. |
| Public Fund "Miralina" (Bishkek) | “All in Your Hands”. Civic engagement events for orphans from orphanages of Bishkek and Chui Oblast. |
| Public Fund "Zionis" (Chui) | The Youth Project”. Civic engagement events for unemployed youth of Chui-Tokmok raion. Awareness raising of local authorities to youth problems and advancement of youth ideas. |
| Public Fund "Kelechek-Sary-Kol" (Issyk-Kul) | “Hit the Books”. Social integration of disabled children. |
| Public Fund «Meerim Bulak» (Jalal-Abad) | “Helping ourselves and helping others”. Development events for children with disabilities, engagement of their parents, medical workers and communities. |
| Public Fund "Adis Basyz" (Naryn) | “Obtaining child identification documents”. Series of trainings for young parents in remote mountainous villages of Naryn Oblast on the need of obtaining birth certificates for their children. Lack of identification documents cuts the immediate rights of such children for medical and social services, and civil rights in their future. |
| Public Fund "Bayastan" (Naryn) | “The Right of Each Child for Education”. Integration of children with disabilities in regular high schools. Engagement of parents and teachers to advance the idea of inclusive education. |
| Public Fund "Bios" (Osh) | “School Racket”. Public awareness raising to the problem of school racket. Engagement of parents, teachers, and representatives of law enforcement bodies in preventive measures. |
| Public Fund "Family for Each Child" (Osh) | “To the Future Through Education”. In the city of Osh, about 500 children under 16 are working full time. The project will assist the existing Center for Working Children with a goal to raise public awareness about this problem, engage stakeholders to address it. |
| Center for Development of Public Initiatives «Aikol» (Talas) | “Partners for the Rights of Children”. Enforcement of children's rights through an awareness campaign among young parents in remote villages of Talas Oblast on the need of obtaining birth certificates for their children. Promotion of partnership of various stakeholders to address this problem |
| Public Fund "Eurasian Unity" (Talas) | “Liquidation of Legal illiteracy in order to consolidate local communities”. Villages of Talas Oblast face a threat of substitution of state system of justice with the norms of the religion, as well as old customs and traditions. The project aims to hold legal consultations to the inhabitants of 16 villages in order to raise legal literacy, and eradicate the spreading practice of resolving local everyday conflicts by using the norms of religions nature or mob law |
