Kyrgyz Republic News

Five New University Courses Created on Inclusive Green Economy in the Kyrgyz Republic

September 28, 2021

Continuing on from work established in 2020, PAGE, together with the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), has developed five Inclusive Green Economy courses to be delivered by the five universities in the Alliance of Universities for Green Economy and Sustainable Development (AVZUR). The topics of the courses were selected in a collaborative process, developed by AVZUR member universities, and are now co-owned by the Alliance members. In 2020, the priorities for these courses were identified together with AVZUR — Economics of climate change in Central Asia (OSCE Academy); Green and sustainable finance (International Alatoo University); Agriculture and green growth (Kyrgyz National Agrarian University); Green economy and international trade (AUCA); and Introduction to green economy (Kyrgyz Economic University).

Further, through this partnership, country-tailored courses have been developed on green economy modelling and green jobs assessment building on existing PAGE resources and expertise. PAGE’s Green Economy Modelling course has been translated into Russian and made available to Alliance members. So far, this course will be delivered in at least one university in the next academic year. There will also be a training on green jobs assessment organized for university professors, led by the ILO.

Complementing this project, a youth engagement campaign was led by UNITAR to create projects that raise awareness on green economy issues — after a competitive process, seven eco-projects received funding support through Youth Green Idea Competition.

Learn More:

AVZUR e-learning portal website

Green Youth Brochure (EN)

Kyrgyz Republic Launches National Climate Change Learning Strategy

April 27, 2021

On Friday 23 April, the Kyrgyz Republic held a high-level event, with approximately 100 participants, to officially launch its National Climate Change Learning Strategy, through its "Comprehensive Action Plan for Climate Change Education" document. A major milestone for the country, the Plan was presented to attendees from government, academia, the private sector and civil society as well as international organizations, giving an overview of the strategy and next steps to come for implementation.

The learning strategy was specifically developed to aid the Kyrgyz Republic in its efforts to be more ecological and climate-resilient in practice, taking a systematic approach to strengthening the capacity of government officials and communities. The focus on learning aims to ease the transition — and together with UNITAR since 2019, Kyrgyzstan has been analyzing existing priorities, initiatives and strategy documents that include training and capacity-building on climate change; assessing needs and institutional capacity; and identifying priority areas for training and capacity-building.

The major result of these efforts is the development of the Comprehensive Plan — which lays out a clear strategy to strengthen learning and skills to help address climate challenges and promote a green economy across sectors in the Kyrgyz Republic.

With support from UNITAR and the Swiss Government, the Climate Finance Center of the Kyrgyz Republic (CCF) led the development of the document, engaging representatives from the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry — with additional input and guidance from non-governmental organizations, educational and training institutions.

PEER LEARNING: MONGOLIA AND THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC COLLABORATE TO ENHANCE GREEN FINANCE

February 27, 2021

On February 17, 2021, the Kyrgyz Republic and Mongolia launched a virtual South-South partnership, with Mongolia sharing its experience in generating green finance.

The South-South Triangular Cooperation between the two PAGE Partner Countries is providing a space to build and strengthen mutual exchange on sustainable finance, in particular utilizing the Mongolian experience in establishing the Mongolian Green Finance Corporation (MGFC) and attracting green finance to the country.

This first exchange gathered key stakeholders from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Union of Banks of the Kyrgyz Republic and resulted in an agreement to organize a regular two-way exchange and learning, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding.

A PAGE country since 2013, Mongolia has already achieved significant results, particularly in the realm of sustainable finance and can offer a model for best practices in institutions such as the MGFC, which specializes in attracting green finance. With the Kyrgyz Republic at the starting point in promoting sustainable finance for its development agenda, the experience of Mongolia can offer significant support. Among the priorities of the Kyrgyz Republic, finance for sustainable development is included in its Green Economy Development Programme as a priority action.

UNITAR Continues to Grow Education Alliance for Green Economy in the Kyrgyz Republic

November 24, 2020

Following the creation of the University Alliance for Green Economy and Sustainable Development (AVZUR) in 2019, led by the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), PAGE has worked with AVZUR to integrate green economy learning into the curricula of various university degrees - building the capacities of current and future decision-makers and ensuring the sustainability of PAGE interventions. UNITAR has committed to support the development of courses including Economics of Climate Change in Central Asia (OSCE Academy); Green and Sustainable Finance (International Alatoo University); Agriculture and Green Growth (Kyrgyz National Agrarian University); Green Economy and International Trade (AUCA); and Introduction to Green Economy (Kyrgyz Economic University).

To further spread awareness of green economy in Kyrgzstan, AVZUR, with support from UNITAR are holding a competition among youth to create projects that highlight issues of a green economy in Kyrgyzstan and seek to increase general knowledge on sustainability through innovative uses of media. The programme will run from October 2020 - March 2021 and submissions will be judged on criteria including the novelty of the project, creativity and presentation of information and the long-term sustainability of the project.

Click here more information on the contest.

PAGE Receives 9 Additional Country Proposals for Green Recovery Support

November 24, 2020

Following the successful selection of five countries to receive targeted green recovery funds in November, PAGE has received additional applications from 9 partner countries. These additional program proposals have been submitted from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Indonesia, Ghana, Barbados, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uruguay.

Themes within these proposals include policy assessments for fiscal support to green businesses; assessing and developing policy strategies to support sustainable consumption and production practices; green economy educational development and awareness-raising among youth; and technical support to create enabling environments for high potential SMEs in the sustainable agro-processing industry.

Funding support for green recovery through PAGE was first announced in June at the High Level Political Forum, as a further contribution from long-time PAGE partner, Germany, through the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

The process for developing these proposals has engaged across five UN agencies along with UN Resident Coordinators and government ministries. All proposals have been developed with country-specific needs at the forefront, targeting actions that will fuel green and inclusive recoveries from the impacts of COVID-19.