Bishkek, 25 November 2021 - The first roundtable meeting between representatives of higher education institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science, UNDP and the Public Foundation 'Education for Community Development' took place on 24th November in Bishkek, with support of the EU-UN Spotlight initiative, to discuss the upcoming development of training modules on gender violence prevention and their further integration into law school curricula of public universities.

Based on the results of national consultations, the Kyrgyz State University of Law, the Kyrgyz National University named after Zh. J. Balasagyn (KNU) and Osh State University (OshSU) and will take necessary actions.

In her welcoming speech, Nurai Mamytova, coordinator of the Spotlight Initiative project, noted: "The integration of gender perspectives into the education system is an effective measure to prevent gender-based violence. The implementation of this component will allow the country to implement one of the key recommendations of the UN on eliminating Discrimination against Women aimed at training legal professionals with the necessary competence to identify and prevent cases of violence.

Rimma Sultanova, gender expert at the Education for Community Development Foundation, stressed: "As part of this initiative, we will work to build the capacity of law school professors to eventually become knowledge holders themselves on women and girls' rights and the gender-based violence prevention. This approach will enable us to achieve sustainable, long-lasting results that will continue after the end of the project."

As part of the pilot project, international experience in the development of similar training modules for law students will be studied, on the basis of which the structure of the future training module for Kyrgyz universities will be created. It is also expected to conduct a series of trainings for the teaching staff of the pilot universities, which will lead to the creation of a group of authors-compilers who will develop the content of the module itself.

The meeting took place on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is annually marked on November 25 and marks the launch of the international campaign "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence", in which Kyrgyzstan has taken part since 2010.

On the joint EU-UN Spotlight initiative

In January 2020, in partnership with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, the EU and the United Nations launched a multi-year country programme under the global Spotlight Initiative to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The aim of the programme is to create an environment in which all women and girls in Kyrgyzstan, especially the most vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and ala kachuu. The programme includes a set of integrated policies and legislative measures, institutional strengthening, violence prevention, services for survivors of violence, quality data collection and support for the women's movement and civil society. The programme is implemented by five UN agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF and UNODC) under the overall leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Contacts for media

Chyntemir Kalbaev

UNDP Communications Assistant

chyntemir.kalbaev@undp.org

+996775767605