10 December, 2021, Bishkek – Today, on the International Human Rights Day the Akyikatchy Institute (Ombudsman) presented results of monitoring of social in-patient and psychiatric institutions and penitentiary institutions in Chui, Jalal-Abad and Issyk-Kul regions.

In social institutions, 100 Kyrgyz soms per person per day are allocated from the budget for food and 12.5 soms for medicines. Underfunding was the main problem identified during the monitoring. The problem of prolonged detention of persons in temporary detention facilities, which amounts to cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, is particularly present in penitentiary institutions. Based on the results of the monitoring, recommendations to the relevant ministries and departments were developed.

The results were presented at a conference dedicated to the International Human Rights Day where representatives of state bodies, Jogorku Kenesh, President's Office, international organisations, human rights defenders and mass media took part.

In his welcome message to the conference, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan, Ozonnia Ojielo noted that this year's Human Rights Day is devoted to the theme of "Equality" enshrined in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. He stressed that: "The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has caused and perpetuated shocking inequalities that have affected the world's most vulnerable people. As COVID-19 continues to spread, we must work closely together to ensure that any response to the pandemic is rights-based, as we see how women and men, children, young and old, refugees and migrants, the poor, people with disabilities, people in detention, minorities and others are affected differently.”

The United Nations Development Programme in Kyrgyzstan provided technical and material support through rule of law project to develop a methodology and conduct human rights monitoring in social care and psychiatric institutions.

UNDP Kyrgyzstan actively cooperates with the Ombudsman Institute to provide timely legal assistance to protect human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and international commitments undertaken by the Kyrgyz Republic and earlier this year launched the Akyikatchy-bot 115 in the Telegram messenger, through which residents can receive information on the most frequently asked questions and leave requests online.

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Album with photos from the conference: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmXeSaPx 

Media contacts: Nurzhan Alymkanova, UNDP Communications Specialist nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org 0555068833