On the upcoming parliamentary election
“The work of the mass media in conflict situations"
Experts on the current situation and the forthcoming referendum
Multilingualism and tolerance How does self-censorship affect the coverage of political conflicts? Culture of Tolerance: The Problem of Formation
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Bakyt Beshimov:
“Kyrgyzstan: is democracy on the agenda for the country?”
Valentin Bogatyrev:
“Status of formal political institutes and interactions with informal political structures in Kyrgyzstan”
Muratbek Imanaliev:
“Informal institutes as “rules of a political game” in Kyrgyzstan”
The IPP has been active since September 2005. Until now, the main activities of the Institute have included:
For more, please click on the relevant sub-categories.
At this moment, the IPP has been involved in implementing the following projects:
Project title: Building-up Local Capacity for Political Analysis in Kyrgyzstan
The main goal of the project is to strengthen the local capacity for political research and analysis in Kyrgyzstan. In light of the significant processes unfolding in the country, the problem of lack of local quality research and analysis capacity is getting more visible. For these purposes, it is important to invest in local policy research and analysis to ensure better targeted research/analysis and to increase its impact on policy-makers.
Firstly, IPP will conduct series of trainings for students of political science and journalism. Political science students will be delivered workshops on political analysis, political research and other related issues. This would be a long-term investment to build-up local capacity for political analysis, since the targeted trainings will prepare local students for further post-graduate studies and professional political scientist career. Trainings for journalism students will focus on such issues as how to effectively cover political issues. The workshops will include information on both real political situation and international standards of journalism, particularly print journalism.
Secondly, special series of workshops will be delivered for political parties.
Thirdly, IPP conducts regular roundtable discussions on the pressing topics of public policy, once in two months. These roundtables will feature the country’s highest political figures, opposition members, representatives of political parties, research institutes, NGOs, media and so on.
The project pursues the goals of improved policy-making, effective governance and open and transparent dialogue on public policy issues with increased involvement of youth by offering unique educational opportunities for select groups of university students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The project promotes strong involvement of rural youth studying in capital city in policy-making and discussion and enables them to engage in a process of open dialogue on the most pressing issues in the country, generating wider public policy debate. In the course of the project, series of roundtable discussions and policy debates will be held on critical issues of public concern. Participants will also be delivered intensive trainings aimed at providing knowledge and skills necessary for current and future performance related to goals of good governance, open dialogue and informed policy debate. By examining a range of sample critical issues existing in the country, project participants are expected to understand the importance of policy alternatives, analysis and making of informed choices through discussion in daily decision-making.
Project title: Bishkek Press Club
The project is aimed to assist the development of professional journalism and provide for the mechanisms of constructive cooperation between media, government institutions, and the representatives of civil society.
The Bishkek Press club supports journalists by providing information resources and trainings for young specialists. The BPC is a meeting place for all participants of socio-political dialogue.
As an independent establishment, the BPC advocates pluralism of opinions and views by giving an opportunity to express different positions on important issues through press-conferences, roundtables, and publications. The BPC provides access to publicly significant information through online distribution of reliable news throughout Kyrgyzstan and the region on its web site, and also conducts a monitoring of foreign media publications.
The BPC has been implementing two training projects for beginning journalists, addressing the coverage of economic and Parliamentary issues. The value of these projects is related to the fact that no tradition of professional coverage of economic issues or Parliamentary activity has been established in local media. BPC trainers have developed a special set of workshops, discussion sessions and seminars aimed at strengthening the relevant skills of young journalists via interactive courses.
For more, please check the website of the Bishkek Press Club at http://www.bpc.kg.
Project title: Policy debate and good governance
The project aimed to build up capacity of selected representatives of governmental agencies, parliament members and political parties of various political orientations to engage in a process of open dialogue on the most pressing issues in the country, generating wider public policy debate. Fifteen project participants, selected among young officials working in ministries, the presidential administration, the parliament and political parties of pro-governmental, opposition and centrist orientations were delivered intensive trainings on good governance, open dialogue and informed policy debate. In the course of the project, series of roundtable discussions and policy debates were held on critical issues of public concern. The project strengthens agencies, decision-makers and institutions that these participants represent.
Project title: Capacity building for political parties in Kyrgyzstan
The project “Capacity building for political parties” was implemented by the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) from November 20, 2005 to February 28, 2006.
The project aimed to facilitate the process of political transition following the March 24 events in Kyrgyzstan and contribute to creation of a multiparty, issue- and platform-based democracy in the country by providing non-political, technical and institutional support to existing and emerging political parties and movements. For this purpose, twenty project participants were to be selected among young representatives of the most active political parties and movements in the country. In the course of the project, they passed through series of intensive seminars, lectures and workshops designed to deliver practical tools of party building. A special set of roundtables on most pressing political and social issues with participation of all interested sides gave the participants an opportunity to appreciate the necessity of open and healthy dialogue between different political groups. Upon the completion of the project, participants representing various political groups have gained common understanding of opportunities and dangers of the current political situation in the country and are able hold open communication between each other.
Project title: Promoting voter awareness among university students
In October-December 2005, the Institute for Public Policy implemented the project titled “Promoting voter awareness among university students”.
This short-term project aimed at promoting voter awareness among selected active student leaders of Bishkek universities. The project is deemed very important given the extent to which student body is used for various political purposes, especially during the election campaigns. With more than 200 thousand university students Kyrgyzstan ranks sixth in the world in terms of the ratio of students to overall population. The majority of students is aged 18-22, and has no or little voting experience. This makes student population, a key constituent part of electorate in the country, vulnerable for all sorts of political manipulation.
The project selected twenty five leaders of the student body from different universities and took them through series of intensive trainings on civic education and personal capacity building, meetings with politicians, academics, researchers, and roundtable discussions on most pressing political issues of these days. Overall, the project achieved its goal of increasing civic awareness of these young leaders, build-up their personal capacity and equip them with knowledge and skills for further multiplication of the project idea.
