LocationsStrengthening the Role of Public Consultative Councils in Building Peace and Unity in Kyrgyzstan
September 21, 2025
Members of the Public Advisory Councils in Uzgen
Since 2023, UNDP has been helping Kyrgyzstan build and strengthen its “infrastructure for peace” at both national and local levels. This work enables authorities and communities to prevent conflicts, strengthen social cohesion, and promote intercultural tolerance.
In partnership with the National Agency for Religious and Inter-Ethnic Affairs and UNESCO, UNDP engages local leaders to involve citizens in planning and implementing social, economic, and cultural initiatives across both urban and rural areas. All efforts are aligned with the National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic 2018–2040, which prioritizes peace, stability, and social unity as cornerstones of the country’s long-term development and the concept of civic identity development - Kyrgyz Jarany. This concept serves as the basis for the country's long-term development and includes priorities that promote inter-ethnic harmony, the formation of civic identity and the assurance of stability.
The “infrastructure for peace” connects government institutions, civil society, and communities with the networks, skills, and resources needed to lead dialogue, prevent disputes, and resolve conflicts peacefully. In Kyrgyzstan, this operates at multiple levels: from the President and expert councils on national unity, to inter-agency commissions on civil identity and tolerance, to local administrations, municipalities, and Public Consultative Councils (PCCs). These councils bring together women’s and youth groups, media, veterans, ethnic minorities, elders, community activists, and religious leaders.
A major breakthrough came with legal reforms that formally assign peacebuilding and social cohesion responsibilities to local governments, embedding these functions into everyday governance.
Today, 347 people serve in PCCs nationwide — 35% from ethnic minorities and 31% women. Their role as mediators is tangible: disputes that once escalated into inter-district conflicts are now resolved at the table, with PCCs facilitating dialogue, drafting agreements, and ensuring peaceful solutions.
During the meetings of members of the Public Advisory Councils
For citizens, this means conflicts are resolved through dialogue, communities trust local authorities, women and youth have a voice, and grassroots issues reach decision-makers directly. Trust — both among diverse groups and between citizens and the state — has become the foundation of peacebuilding.
UNDP strengthens PCCs by developing regulations, model work plans, and by investing in training and peer learning. In 2024 alone, over 400 people were trained in conflict sensitivity, 122 women and 125 youth leaders were equipped with skills on diversity and inclusion, and more than 800 people took part in community dialogues.
Peacebuilding in Kyrgyzstan is not just about preventing conflict — it is about building trust and active participation. Public Consultative Councils are proving to be sustainable platforms for dialogue, where communities learn to cooperate, solve problems peacefully, and influence governance. UNDP will continue supporting them as vital tools for peace, trust, and citizen engagement.
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