KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

systems have been largely discredited by double standards and disrespect for the legal
framework. NGOs cannot hold the authorities accountable, as they do not have local
public workable mechanisms of checks and balances that would allow them to do so.
Another role assigned to NGOs was to promote knowledge of international human
rights standards and democratic culture among the population. They have implemented
numerous awareness-raising projects that consisted of training for different social and
professional groups (young people, lawyers, teachers, public officials) based on the
content of international human rights conventions. In their work, NGOs have relied
almost exclusively on international experience and political and legal discourse, based
on the specific language of human rights conventions. When there is no sound national
agenda on democratization, this discourse is difficult to understand for local recipients
due to the lack of experience in their own social environment and a lack of a liberal
political culture.
Promoting international standards and their monitoring is, indeed, an important
objective of civil society. The problem lies in the fact that the donor community formed
local NGOs that take this legalistic approach in promoting human rights and democracy,
without considering local political and social experience and the state of mind of the local
population. One cannot expect that newly created organizations that are not derived
from local social traditions will be able to liberalize the whole community, including
public authorities. This is especially true when the authorities do not take practical
initiatives to democratize the state and society. Developing a comprehensive framework
in which the rights of individuals to the common good and justice are protected is the
primary responsibility of the state, and cannot be achieved exclusively through external
stimulation.
Civil Society Institutions
The model of liberal civil society adopted in Kyrgyzstan consists mainly of formally
registered NGOs with paid staff; voluntary organizations, as a core component of civil
society, have not been developed yet.
So far, no effective attempts have been taken to “localize” the concept of civil society in
the traditional social network by establishing and rediscovering forms of social interaction
in the local community, which would help people organize themselves, address their
daily problems and take responsibility for their own lives. There are also no professional
organizations that defend the working rights of professional groups such as underpaid
public workers (i.e. teachers, medical staff or public transportation employees) and there
are no socially-oriented organizations providing community services such as facilities for
leisure time for children and no informal organizations such as reading and discussion
clubs that help various groups of people socialize. Several political clubs and forums
have been developed with the help of donors such as, for instance, the Women’s Political
Discussion Club. However, all their discussions are based around political topics that
target mostly a limited number of groups, such as the professional community of NGOs,
consultants and public officials.
NGOs lack accountability and representation of the population at which their
activities are aimed. 5 When it comes to the perception of NGOs, local people often seem
to assume that NGO workers have well-paid jobs in well-equipped offices, with many of
5
Portrait of NGOs in Kyrgyzstan: Opinions and Reality, pp.9-10, Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan,
Bishkek, 2006.
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