The fierce outbreak of ethnic violence that hit southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 had a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of people of both Uzbek and Kyrgyz ethnicity. In response to the crisis, the UN system was requested by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic to urgently assist the Government with reconstruction and reconciliation in Osh and Jalal-Abad cities and regions in order to further strengthen peace and stability in Kyrgyzstan. The President of Kyrgyzstan has proposed a policy on Ethnic Development and Consolidation which outlines a seven-point action plan on: civil and political participation; social integration; language policy; multi-cultural and multi-lingual education; culture and mass media; regional integration and management of inter-ethnic relations on the level of local communities.
The policy complements other crucial political reforms initiated by the President and Government in 2010 which resulted in democratic reforms that have seen the transition of the country to a parliamentary democracy. A constitutional referendum (June 2010) to reduce presidential powers and strengthen democracy and parliamentary elections (October 2010) was successfully conducted. Presidential elections are scheduled for October 2011, while President Rosa Otunbayeva, as the interim president, will remain President until 31 December 2011. Furthermore, the Kyrgyzstan “International” Inquiry Commission (KIC) into the June 2010 violence released its report on 4 June 2010 which was considered by UNHCRC as giving considerable impetus to Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to combat impunity and address issues of accountability after the inter-ethnic strife in the southern part of the country in the summer of 2010.
In response the United Nations, in close collaboration with the Government and other national stakeholders, initially developed a short-term Interim Peacebuilding Strategy to support both the President and Government policy on reconciliation and ethnic consolidation The UN response identified three possible entry points for immediate UN action and support, namely: i) cultivating a foundation for peace; ii) administration of justice; and iii) strengthening critical stakeholders for peace (youth, women and media). In addition, it also demonstrates the overarching commitment for the UN to “deliver as one” in Kyrgyzstan and the leadership provided by the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Miroslav Jenca, on UN political engagement in Kyrgyzstan.
PBF Support to Kyrgyzstan
Since the June 2010 violence, limited support was provided by the international community for peacebuilding, despite the successful Flash Appeal and the international donors’ conference (July 2010) which mobilized US$1.2 billion for reconstruction. The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), as a risk tolerant, flexible and quick response instrument, initially approved $3 million from its Immediate Response Facility (IRF) for carefully devised activities on community-based reconciliation and to mitigate the risk of further violence through the project titled “Empowering youth, women and vulnerable communities to contribute to peacebuilding and reconciliation in Kyrgyzstan”.
Following the Secretary-General’s declaration in June 2011 of eligibility for Kyrgyzstan to access additional funding, a further US$7 million of PBF funding (bringing the total to US$10 million) was approved for six projects to support the following peacebuilding priority projects:
- “Infrastructures for peace in Kyrgyzstan ($3 million);
- “Cultivating Peace–Using water-based agriculture to facilitate reconciliation among multi-ethnic residents of Kara Suu”($400,000);
- “Administration of Justice”($1,799,997);
- “Strengthening Media Capacity to Promote Peace and Tolerance”($330,108);
- “Empowering youth to participate in peace-building and reconciliation”($910,000);
- “Women Building Peace, Trust and Reconciliation in Kyrgyzstan”($559,891)
Quarterly reports for each project are available on the MPTF-O Gateway site
