For a better tomorrow for all Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the Kyrgyz Republic

Newsletter № 46 (December, 2009 - January, 2010)

1. Our Events

To Support Kyrgyz Roads On January 25, 2010, minutes of discussion on a preparatory stage of a new Grant Aid Project to pro- vide road maintenance equipment was signed in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications by JICA, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Within the framework of this Project, there are plans to supply 144 units of equipment for road repair operations (in- cluding holes patching and asphalt-concrete pavement overhaul), snow clearing, disaster clean-up operations and transportation of goods, for the total value of around 10 million US dollars and intended to service From left to right: Mr.K Mamaev, State Secretary, the MTC of the KR, roads in the Issyk-Kul and Chui Oblasts. Also, it is Mrs.D.Shaidieva, State Secretary, the MF of the KR, and Mr.Maruyama Hideaki, Resident Representative of JICA in the KR planned to set up 2 asphalt plants in the Issyk-Kul Oblast (near Barskoon village) and the Chui Oblast (near city). The overall length of the road sections that this equipment will be used to service will comprise 662 km. By the way, in 2007 the Government of Japan already implemented one Grant Aid Project to pro- vide road maintenance equipment for the Oblast that included an asphalt plant and a stone- crushing plant for the – Naryn – Torugart road. To finalize the signing of the Grant Aid Project, Japan’s Cabinet of Ministers’ consent is required, and this should happen no later than March, 2010. We are just hoping for a positive outcome! (ALELEKOVA Svetlana)

“School Forest – A Valley of Happiness!”

On January 22, 2010, a new billboard depicting a twig and white doves that symbolized global environment and friend- ship was established at the entrance to the pilot area of the Joint Forestry Management in the village of Jany-Pakhta, the District. Oksana Schwabauer, an 11th Grade stu- dent of the Jany-Pakhta Secondary School and the author of the picture’s original idea, was smiling shyly as she ob- served the large poster with her picture being erected in the open air. All pupils of the school had taken part in the com- petition that was held in the end of the expiring year. The Oksana is proud of her picture competition, organized by the Project for the Support of Joint Forest Management in the Kyrgyz Republic (SJFM) aimed at raising the schoolchildren’s aware- ness of practices in greenery planting in their native village, as well as in taking care of the school garden that they set up with their own hands last October.

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 1 As the winner in the competition, Oksana received, along with a Large Antique History Encyclopedia, the title of the billboard’s “Designer in Chief”. JICA’s SJFM Project has been active in the village of Jany-Pakhta to demonstrate and disseminate Joint Forest Management methods in this District. The school forest is one of the main components of this pilot project. Pursuant to the three-party Agreement on Joint Forest Management that was signed in the end of 2009, the Frunze District For- estry Administration, the Jany-Pakhta Ayil Okmotu, and the Jany-Pakhta Secondary School have been jointly responsible for proper management over the school for-

Schoolchildren took an active part in the competition est, and will be allocating forest produce profits in the future. The SJFM Project will continue to play a signifi- cant role as a mediator and coordinator aiming at strengthening the close relationship among the three parties. (MACHIDA Ryota, ALELEKOVA Svetlana)

Towards realization of Barrier Free Society for Persons with Disabilities and All

On 2nd of December, the eve of International Day of Per- sons with Disabilities which is commemorated on 3rd of De- cember every year, Symposium entitled: ‘Towards realization of Barrier Free Society for Persons with Disabilities and All’, was held at the Applied Art Museum Hall in Bishkek. It was organized by The State Agency on Social Security under the Government of Kyrgyz Republic and Japan International Cooperation Agency as part of the activity of the Project for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities into the Society in Kyrgyz Republic. Over 70 persons participated in the event and listened to the 8 speakers including representatives of Disabled Peoples’ Organizations, government officials. They shared their good practices on re- moving different kinds of barriers existing in the society that person with disabilities faces in their everyday life. It was realized by the speakers and audience that there are many kinds of barriers in the society for persons with disabilities to fulfill their needs and rights which is ensured by the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on the Rights and Guarantees of Persons with Disabilities. Yet there have been many steps taken to break through those barriers not only by governments but also persons with disabilities themselves as well as civil society. Persons with Disabilities were encouraged to further cooperate with the Agency of Social Security and other government agencies as well as civil society for successful removal of those

The Symposium participants discussed urgent subjects. existing barriers we have for today. (HIRAMOTO Minoru, JICA Expert)

Reflection from a resource person of the day A symposium took place on December 2 2009 at the Applied Art Museum in Bishkek on the eve of "International Day of Persons with Disabilities". The event turned out to be a kind of review of posi- tive results achieved by joint efforts of government agencies and non-government sector. Throughout the year 2009, non-governmental organizations of person with disabilities made many good deeds to remove barriers in our society to realize their equal participation.

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 2 It should be noted during the event, the speakers have clearly presented their achievements. For example the Chairperson of the Public Association “Ravenstvo” Ms. G. Kazakunova noted that they built ramp at the entrance of the building of oblast administration (akimiat) in city. Mr. M. Asangariev, the Chairperson of the Public Association “Movement of Young Disabled Persons” told the participants the importance of making public building accessible through dialogue with City administration of Bishkek. There were many other such examples, too. For us, it is encouraging that state officials are to meet Disabled Peoples’ Organizations. I also shared an example that the State Committee on Employment and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic for approving Business project that train 8 visually impaired persons to be engaged in massage business. At the symposium, excerpts from a documentary video were also shown to show the barriers that persons with disabilities face in their everyday life. In response to the com- ments by persons with disabilities, the representative from Bishkek Mayor’s office noted that their office would pay more attention to the physical access to such facilities for persons with disabilities in future. Many things were discussed during the symposium. Now whether those remain only in words or be realized will depend on us - the persons with disabilities and leaders. I believe on whole, we, participants from non-government sector and government bodies, showed through this symposium that we are committed to build ac- cessible society for PWDs and all. As you know in Kyr- gyzstan we have the law “On rights of and guarantees for persons with disabilities” and other standard acts protect- ing and representing the rights and interests of persons with disabilities. To my mind these laws serve as a “foundation” to build equal society for per- sons with disabilities. It would be impossible to achieve equality in the society without legislation. Now, I think we need to work one more step – proper execution of all these laws for the sake of the persons with disabilities. (SULTANALIEV Iskendar, President of Public Fund "Phe- Our leaders! nomenon")

2. Japan’s Volunteers

Sport Event in Bokonbaevo! Here now the six months have passed since I was sent to Bokonbaevo village, the Issyk-Kul Oblast, as a volunteer for children with disabilities at the NGO “Beipil”. There are many kids here with various types of ailments such as po- liomyelitis, Down’s syndrome, and quite a few children with bodily deviations and backward mentality. Recently, two of my senior comrades came to Bokonbaevo and together we went to visit several houses where our kids lived. It was in November. For us to somehow liven up the dullness of the days we decided together with the NGO

Oi Satomi – JICA Volunteer and a girl “Beipil” to or- ganize a sports tournament on December 15. Notwith- standing the difficulty of getting in touch with staff members and the kids, we finally managed to assem- ble ourselves, 18 people in number – four kids, four staff members, seven relatives, and the three of us volunteers. Naturally, at first we were worried that people would not come together on time, but as the tournament went on, we were amazed of how we had managed to create an atmosphere full of glee.

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 All participants received self-made medals 3 I could see so many joyful faces thanks to my two senior comrades who had considerably contributed to this business of ours. It would be most remarkable, if the local staff continued to or- ganize such kind of events to exhilarate the kids and make them attracted to physical action. One more wish is that the Director and the relatives could associate more often. Thus, by virtue of constant exchange of opinion there grows the possibility for successful growth of the organization on the whole. (OI Satomi, JICA Volunteer)

New JICA Volunteers

It has been a month since we have come to . Never in my life before I have seen such a snow-white landscape around us. The capital – Bishkek – turned out to be much bigger than I imagined. People are quite responsive. While not quite used to local traditions and having certain difficulties with it, we, the 11 volunteers, are nevertheless are having great fun in Bishkek. First of all, I would like to introduce my colleagues who have come to work in Bishkek. YAKUWA Akiyoshi (programming) will work at the National University’s Faculty of Internet and Information Technologies. He will teach programming. EJIRI Kojiro (youth activities) will work at the Kyrgyz Republic Japan Center. He will introduce young people to Japan’s culture. Mainly, playing the Japanese drums and doing theatrical arts. OSAMURA Hiroshi (youth activities) will handle management issues at the Bishkek Arts Center. And SUZUKI Takae (occupational therapist) will work at the Rehabilitation Center of Bishkek and attend to children with backward mentality. And now about my colleagues who will work in places around the Chui Oblast. OSONOE Ayako (youth activities) will work at the Petrovskaya residential school developing communicative skills of its residents through the sounds of music. KOBAYASHI Chiho (handicrafts) will work at the Jaiyl boarding house for mentally retarded women. She will instruct in knitting, so they could carry off their vacant hours in this establishment enjoying themselves. This time, for the first time ever, our volunteer will go to work in Talas. And it is AWASA Shino. She will work at the boarding house in Bakai- Ata. She also plans to conduct various activities for people with disabilities. Finally, my colleagues who are heading to the Issyk-Kul. KUDO Masakane (occupational therapist), will work in the city of Karakol at the “Equality” NGO for people with disabilities. Together with the NGO members, he will work on various Japanese crafts, cards, etc. NOMURA Misato (rural community develop- ment) will work not far from Karakol, and mainly

Here are our new volunteers! she will engage in soap production within the framework of the One Village - One Product initiative. Also, SHIRAI Masahiro (vegetable growing) will work in the village of Kyzyl-Suu closely with JICA’s project on biogas. He will introduce new agricultural technologies that employ it. IGARASHI Daisuke (animal husbandry) will work in close cooperation with the same biogas pro- ject in the village of Kyzyl-Suu. And he plans to begin with building a local bathhouse that will use biogas technologies. Each of the 11 volunteers has a reach personality, and we will observe with much interest what fruit will come resulting from their activities in Kyrgyzstan within these 2 subsequent years. (NOMURA Misato, JICA Volunteer)

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 4 3. JICA Alumni Association Page

The Granite of the Japanese Science

Japan is famous not only for its timeless history of the samurai, or skyscrapers of no limits, but also for its outstanding education, culture, and traditions. Within the frameworks of the Japan’s Grant Aid Program for the Project on Human Re- source Development Scholarship (JDS), repre- sentatives of various ministries and agencies (21 people all in all), such as CADII, the President’s Secretariat, , the SMFA, and the MF, have suc- cessfully completed their studies, received their

Master’s degrees at the leading universities of Newly fledged alumni and representatives from the Japanese side Japan (Kobe University, the Ritsumeikan Univer- sity, the International University of Japan, etc.), and come back to Kyrgyzstan. On December 18, 2009, a reporting meeting of the alumni with the JDS Project Managing Commission took place in the Testing Center of the State Human Resource Service of the Kyrgyz Republic. The ex-scholars briefed the other party on their academic achievements and scientific research done in the course of studies in Japan and exchanged opinions on how they were going to use the knowledge they had acquired in their future work. According to the reports, the ex- scholars had literally ‘plunged into an abyss of education, partaking of the most recent achieve- ments’, which, in its turn, would make, in the Managing Commission’s own words, ‘a priceless con- tribution to the reforms’ currently underway in the Public Administration sector. The JDS Project has released the brochure “The Report of the Scholarship Holder Returnees № 1” whereby it provides brief summaries of the ex-scholar’s Master’s theses and impressions of Ja- pan. The brochures have been distributed among the participants of the reporting meeting. We remind that the JDS Project has been underway in Kyrgyzstan since 2007 and is aimed at public and municipal employees’ capacity development. (DOSALIEV Ermek)

The Alumni Working Groups – First Steps Made on Their Own On December 14, 2009, the 1st Alumni Seminar on “Japan’s experience in conventional telecommunication networks design and implementation: potential applica- tion possibilities for the Kyrgyz Republic” was held at the Kyrgyz National Technical University (KNTU). It had been organized by the “Promotion and Market Economy (ICT, Business, Investments) working group of the JICA Alumni Association under supervision of one of the IT and telecom sector leaders – A. Abakirov. The seminar was conducted by D.Yanko, the Associa- tion’s member. More than 70 people attended the seminar, 50 of Dmitry Yanko has learned much in Japan them - students, i.e. would-be experts in the field. However, alongside with the students there were public service employees: University teachers, government staff members, representatives of the Bishkek City Telecom Network and other mobile communication companies.

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 5 The goal of the seminar was to highlight the specificity of telecommunication business in Japan, which could be possibly adapted to the conditions of Kyrgyzstan. Attention was brought to the spe- cifics of communication lines setup, design and main- tenance of technical documentation, issues of equip- ment selection, quality control management, as well as work process organization in Japanese companies. All participants paid attention and asked many ques- tions. They also expressed their opinion and com- mented on the practice of holding such seminars and conferences. On the whole, they were pleased with the seminar and expressed their willingness to learn more in the future. The Association members, in their turn, expressed their readiness to conduct such seminars, presentations, and conferences in the fu- ture with the aim of overall development of Kyr- The audience listened with much attention

gyzstan. (IBRAEVA Burul)

Beds for Kids! On December 24, 2009, on the brink of the New Year, a ceremony took place whereby beds were transferred to Chil- dren’s Tuberculosis Hospital №1 by JICA’s Alumni Associa- tion members. Earlier, on October 3, 2009, with the aim of providing as- sistance to children staying at this hospital, there took place the 1st Charity Relay Run of “Ekiden”. During the event, money was raised to purchase furniture (child beds) for Children’s Tuberculosis Hospital №1 that treats children aged 2 to 16. More than 800 people took part in the

Kids were happy for the new beds charity relay which was held through the support of the Bish- kek City Mayor’s Office, the National Olympic Committee, the Track-and-field Athletics Federation, companies “Shoro”, “Kyrgyz Concept”, “Inter Alliance”, SIDOK, and others. The money raised in the course of the relay was used by the Association to place an order for a set of child beds with the Public Association “Young Disabled Movement” who were also eager to help the hospital kids. As a result, 10 beds with mattresses, along with other New Year gifts from the Association members, were passed on to the kids. The Association members expressed their intent to provide further assistance to this hospital. Everyone who were present at the cere- mony, were glad: children – for the gifts, physicians – for the support, the Association members and other Apart from the beds, there were other gifts participants – for helping the kids. (IBRAEVA Burul) ______The purpose of this Newsletter is to introduce all interested readers to JICA's activities, to extend an invitation for partici- pation in its programs, to promote friendly information exchange among graduates of JICA courses. The Newsletter is circulated among individuals interested in JICA's activities in the Kyrgyz Republic. For posting of information in the Newsletter, as well as for any general enquiries about JICA's activities in the Kyrgyz Republic, please use the following e-mail address: [email protected] Contact details of the JICA office: the Kyrgyz Republic, 720040, Bishkek, Chokmorov St. 115, tel.: (+996-312) 900 270(- 7), fax: (+996-312) 900 279, Alelekova Svetlana, Public Relations Manager.

JICA Kyrgyz Channel, December, 2009 – January, 2010 6