KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

– The willingness of government bodies to cooperate with NGOs (although in
the process of such cooperation, some difficulties with understanding and
interaction may arise);
– The possibility of media involvement to inform the population about the
implementation of CDS and its regional programs;
– The interest of some donors in bringing NGOs into the monitoring and
evaluation process.
However, a full solution of this issue requires additional conditions. For this reason,
the NGOs are not yet engaged in the process of monitoring and evaluating the CDS
and its regional programs. To ensure NGO efforts in this direction, it is necessary to
resolve some problems that relate to NGOs themselves as well as other participants in
this process.
First, NGOs are not yet ready to effectively monitor and evaluate the CDS and its
regional programs. They need additional knowledge and practical skills. Organizing
training sessions and seminars requires resources, especially financial. In any case, a
major problem is the insufficient number of qualified teachers of these skills, especially
in rural regions.
Second, there are still no clear interactions between NGOs and government agencies
in joint monitoring and evaluation of the CDS. Governmental authorities prefer to act
independently, without involving NGOs. There is no established network between
NGOs, government bodies and other interested parties.
Third, NGOs are still unable to inform the public about the progress of the CDS,
because they do not have access to necessary information to make the results of
monitoring and evaluation of the CDS and its regional programs public.
Fourth, mechanisms for partnerships with the media have not been developed, and
the financial issues of joint activities have not been resolved.
Fifth, due to low activity by NGOs, donors are not yet interested in financing their
work in monitoring and evaluating the CDS and its regional programs. Neither have
NGOs yet approached donors with their suggestions and requests on this issue.
Sixth, monitoring and evaluation, as a category of NGOs activities, are not well
developed in our country. These need deeper examination.
Recommendations
– Given that the NGOs are not yet ready to monitor and evaluate the CDS, their
potential should be explored, and the professionalism of the representatives of these
organizations should be improved, through training, workshops and other activities.
– Introduce a contractual basis for NGOs partnership with government agencies for
joint monitoring and evaluation. The rights and obligations of each party need to be to
clearly defined.
– Initiate pilot projects that monitor and evaluate the CDS and its regional programs,
and establish contacts with donors interested in financing these projects.
– Organize roundtables, seminars and conferences with representatives of NGOs,
government bodies, the media and donor organizations on how to implement the CDS.
Also, public debates with the public participation should be organized.
– NGOs must establish partnership links with the media and use all their channels
to inform the public of the progress of the CDS and its regional programs.
– Create an association of NGOs involved in monitoring and evaluating the CDS
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