Kyrgyz Republic

Country Projects

The Kyrgyz Republic is very vulnerable to climate change. This is because its water resources, mountain ecosystems, and agricultural systems are sensitive to extreme weather events. Since 2019, UN CC:Learn has been working with the government of the Kyrgyz Republic, and with many other stakeholders in the country, to build and implement a strategy that increases the individual skills and institutional capacities needed to foster green and climate-resilient development.

 

Building a National Climate Change Learning Strategy

The Kyrgyz Republic is taking a strategic and results-oriented approach to climate change learning. Our project is working towards strengthening the human resources and skills needed to meet key climate change commitments, such as the Nationally Determined Contribution and the National Action Plan.

Our work in the Kyrgyz Republic is aligned with major national policy initiatives that recognise the need for greater capacity, knowledge and skills. These include:

  • The Paris Agreement and the Kyrgyz government’s commitment to enhancing its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
  • The planned development of a National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which requires a set of particular competencies and capacities.
  • The adoption of a Green Economy National Programme, which recognizes capacities for a green economy as an underlying cross-sectoral condition for green development in the country.

Our work in the Kyrgyz Republic was officially kicked off with an inception workshop during the Green Economy Week in Bishkek in November 2019.

A two-part National Planning Workshop held in July and August 2020, and led by a Technical Working Group, laid the groundwork for the development of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Strategy, named Kyrgyz Republic Comprehensive Plan of Measures on Climate Change Learning.

Key steps to the finalisation of the Strategy involved:

  • Development of a background report on existing climate change capacity building priorities and initiatives (February-May 2020).
  • Identification of priority areas at the National Planning Workshop (30 July and 26 August 2020).
  • Assessment of learning needs and capacity to deliver learning conducted in August-September 2020.
  • A Mid-term Workshop (conducted online on 19 November 2020) organized to inform stakeholders of project progress, the outcomes of the learning needs assessment and collectively identify the priority learning actions for pilot implementation.
  • Drafting, review and finalization of the Comprehensive Plan of Measures on Climate Change Learning (January – April 2021).
  • High-level launch event on 23 April 2021.

Turning the Strategy into Actions

The Kyrgyz Republic launched its National Climate Change Learning Strategy – Comprehensive Plan of Measures on Climate Change Learning – at a high-level event in April 2021. The Strategy focuses on three priority areas:

  1. Capacity building and training for decision makers/public officials from different economic sectors, as well as at the local level.
  2. Integration of climate aspects at all levels of formal and non-formal education.
  3. Public access to up-to-date information about climate change and enhanced awareness and involvement of youth on climate issues.

The implementation of the Strategy is already under way. Some the activities organised so far are:

  • Training Programme on Climate Change for Civil Servants

Held in partnership with the Academy of Public Administration under the President (APAP) of the Kyrgyz Republic, it aimed at the development and piloting of a training programme on climate change, which is to be included as a mandatory training for civil and municipal servants.

In total, 20 municipal servants and 24 civil servants from different provinces and government organisations have been trained on climate change in two trainings, using tailored materials and UN CC:Learn’s “Climate Change: from Learning to Action” e-course. In addition, as a key part of the trainings, they worked on the development of applied projects on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

A short video from the training is available here.

  • Integration of Climate Change Aspects into Education

This learning action was led by the Kyrgyz Academy of Education and implemented in collaboration with an expert team from the Kyrgyz Academy of Education, Kyrgyz National University, Kyrgyz Pedagogical University and Public Association “Institute for Regional Development”.

Among the activities undertaken, a curriculum analysis of school subjects to identify the presence of climate issues was carried out, a training for developers of standards and curriculum was organised, a teacher’s and student’s guide on climate change in four subjects was prepared, and a training for teachers of pedagogical universities (future teachers) of Bishkek and Chui oblast on the integration of climate change into the subjects of geography, chemistry, biology an physics was held at Kyrgyz National University (46 teachers and recent graduates trained).

  • Online Climate Knowledge Platform

An online knowledge platform – www.climatehub.kg was created as a hub for information and experience-sharing on climate change in the Kyrgyz Republic. The platform aims to raise the awareness of key stakeholders on climate issues and to improve information exchange between the public and the Government, thus contributing to a better-informed decision making.

  • Youth Climate Dialogue

A Kyrgyz youth dialogue was organized on 24 April 2021. It brought together more than 200 (100 offline and 100 online) young people representing various academic institutions and organizations.

  • Social Media Campaign and Video Creation

A social media campaign on climate change was launched in May 2021 to inform and raise wider public awareness on the topic. The campaign aimed at building public understanding on the science and politics of climate change, on national plans and contributions (NAP, NDC), and on the role of consumers and citizen behavior.

The campaign took place on Facebook and Instagram led by the Climate Finance Center and went for three months. Short, animated videos in Russian (Video 1, Video 2) and Kyrgyz (Video 1, Video 2) languages were produced and disseminated through popular platforms.

  • Public Awareness and Training on Climate Change

UN CC:Learn and the NDC Partnership are currently supporting the Kyrgyz Republic to update the Comprehensive Plan of Measures on Climate Change Learning, develop capacity building programmes for government officials, women, youth and private sector representatives, as well as design an awareness raising plan and implement a series of communication activities.

Our National Partners

Our work is currently coordinated by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision. Other stakeholders involved include the Climate Finance Center, the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry, the Ministry of Education, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A technical task team comprising of key ministries, academic institutions, students and civil society organizations was set-up to support the development of the country’s strategy and the implementation of identified priority actions. 

Project News and Activities

UN CC:Learn Launches New Project in the Kyrgyz Republic
30 November 2019