November 12, 2021, Bishkek - Yesterday a round table on the strategy for the Association of Reconciliation Services in the Kyrgyz Republic: Community-building and Violence-prevention was held. It focused on training in group conflicts and the establishment of the Association of Reconciliation Services of the Kyrgyz Republic.

UNDP project "Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism in Asia” (STRIVE Asia, EU-UN Joint Partnership) contribute to the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia through a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach, including governments, security actors, local governments and communities, civil society, academia, media, and the private sector.

Rustem Maksudov, Chair of the Russian Association for Restorative Mediation, made a presentation at the round table on Restorative Approach and Violence Prevention: the Role of Reconciliation Services in Community Development in Kyrgyzstan. He noted: "Today's conflicts in the world have a group character. It is important to equip specialists working in youth and community conflict prevention with skills to work with group conflicts, to give skills to prevent escalation and hostility between different conflicting parties.”

Trainer Rustem Maksudov together with specialists from the League of Child Rights Defenders conducted a series of trainings in the last 2 weeks to train specialists in Karakol and Bishkek in working with group conflicts using the "Community Circle" technology.

The events were attended by inspectors of the Issyk-Kul oblast DCI, social teachers, head teachers, school principals and students, deputies of local councils of Batken oblast and border districts, representatives of the Child Assistance Centre of Tyup AO, Chairman of the Aksakals Courts Association and participants of the School without Violence program.

Participants of the training seminar noted that they learned absolutely new approaches in the education of adolescents and young people, these methods are innovative, they help young people to acquire values to solve conflicts in a non-violent way to prevent interethnic and border conflicts, emphasizing the value of reconciliation.

Nazgul Turdubekova, Director of Public Foundation "League of Child Rights Defenders" noted: "New skills of working with group conflicts on the basis of "Community Circles" technology are necessary for preventive measures to eradicate violence. They enable the conflicting parties to be heard at an early stage and thereby prevent escalation of conflicts.”

Participants in the two training workshops decided to form a Reconciliation Services Association to develop a sustainable conciliation service in the country's schools and local communities. During a project session on developing strategic guidelines for the development of reconciliation services in the regions, participants stressed the importance of joining forces with other organizations specializing in conflict prevention work.

Experienced experts informed participants on how to use active listening skills to deal with criminality and group conflicts. They also learnt about different games, and at the end, they plotted and planned future activities.

The event was organized by the Public Foundation "League of Child Rights Defenders" with the support of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic (STRIVE Asia project, EU-UN Joint Partnership), UNICEF and OHCHR for Central Asia.