On July 9, 2015, the Kyrgyzstan Parliamentary Strengthening Program (KPSP) funded jointly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), held its program closure conference at the Jannat Hotel in Bishkek. The conference was attended by MPs and staff of the Kyrgyz Parliament (Jogorku Kenesh), representatives of the Prime Minister’s Administration and President’s Administration, and representatives of the international donor community and civil society. Over the course of five years, KPSP worked to strengthen the Parliament’s role in social and economic life of the country and to improve the quality of legislative bills. The program’s most notable achievements include:
- Creation of a Training Center for Legislative Drafting at the Kyrgyz State Law Academy;
- Standardization of legislative and other terms in the Kyrgyz and Russian languages, and development of a Russian-Kyrgyz Legislative Dictionary;
- Creation of a joint Jogorku Kenesh-KPSP Research Fund to support external analysis of draft bills;
- Introduction of modern HR practices and merit-based hiring within the Jogorku Kenesh;
- Establishment of the School of Parliamentary Journalism and provision of financial and equipment support to the press center of the Jogorku Kenesh;
- Creation of the Parliamentary Women’s Club, providing professional development opportunities for parliamentary women staffers;
- Organizing over 270 events, including public forums, conferences, study tours and trainings to support parliamentary committees and key areas of parliamentary strengthening.
Conference participants discussed the results of KPSP and solutions for legislative and institutional challenges facing the next convocation of Parliament. The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Asiya Sasykbaeva praised the professional approach of the project staff and thanked them for providing support at the critical time when the Parliament had to bring many laws into accord with the country’s new 2010 Constitution. The Head of the Parliament’s Administration, Radbek Eshmambetov stressed that such projects help strengthen the sustainability of the country and support international collaboration. He also noted that the project positive results were achieved through hard work and close collaboration of all the participants. “The parliamentary form of governance has established itself in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Parliament has become a center of decision-making,” said the Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on International Affairs, Kanybek Imanaliev. He also noted that, thanks to the program’s regional events, the parliament developed closer ties with the country’s citizens.
The USAID/DFID Kyrgyzstan Parliamentary Strengthening Program has been working with the Kyrgyz Parliament since September 30, 2010. KPSP officially concludes on September 29, 2015.
