As part of the Development Solutions Partnership (DSP) on addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV), UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) and UNDP Kyrgyz Republic organized a web-based seminar on providing integrative support mechanisms for GBV survivors in Kyrgyzstan on 29 January 2019. The webinar was the first joint activity between USPC and UNDP Kyrgyzstan that connected government and institutional partners from both countries, marking the beginning of a triangular cooperation for GBV initiatives.

USPC’s DSPs are collaborative programmes that place value on the sharing and exchange of knowledge and experiences to help build effective tools tailored to the specific national context of each country. Through a series of knowledge-sharing and country-level activities with Korea, the DSP with Kyrgyzstan aims to increase the capacity of the country’s existing community-based crisis centres. Additionally, it complements the initiatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of Kyrgyz Republic to enhance social protection to the most vulnerable groups.

Accordingly, DSP thrives on and brings together multiple partners for dynamic knowledge exchanges. The webinar began with an overview of Korea’s government-funded, one-stop service centre for GBV survivors, known as the Sunflower Centre, which will serve as an example when discussing policies and tools that can help reinforce Kyrgyzstan’s support mechanisms. Sunflower Centres are housed in hospitals and provide harmonised support, including counseling, medical, and police-investigation services. Key aspects including the centre’s management structure, operation processes, and funding mechanisms were shared with the Kyrgyzstan counterparts. The presentation emphasized the centre’s goals towards providing integrated victim-centered services, especially for children or those with disabilities.

In turn, UNDP Kyrgyz Republic followed with a presentation on the current support mechanisms for GBV survivors in Kyrgyzstan. The country’s existing community-based crisis centres were discussed, with specific focus on the strengths and challenges of providing effective, integrated support for GBV survivors. “Undoubtedly, the initiative of this project to introduce a unified and manualized intervention model for our crisis centres is very important to us; as the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, we are ready to provide assistance in the implementation [of integrated service mechanisms]," said Ms. Janyl Alybaeva, the Deputy Minister of Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development.

Next steps for this programme will include developing a concrete, strategic workplan and mapping specific areas for knowledge and experience exchange. It is expected that the partnership and triangular cooperation will deepen engagement and encourage further discussion amongst the two countries.

UNDP Seoul Policy Centre’s (USPC) Development Solutions Partnership (DSP) is a programmatic approach to share Korea’s innovative policy tools with other countries through the UNDP’s global network for the attainment of SDGs. USPC’s DSP on gender-based violence was launched in September 2017 to share Korea’s experiences for systematic knowledge and facilitate dynamic exchange of lessons learnt as suitable to the needs and contexts partner countries.