KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

second risk is that the government could abuse its Department on NGO Relations and
use it for a different purpose, such as intervening in and controlling activities of the
NGO sector. The third risk is that NGOs and their representatives might not want to
collaborate with the Department out of fear of potential state control.
Despite these risks, for the time being establishing this department is the best option
that the government has to improve the government-NGO relationship in Kyrgyzstan.
As has been made plain, the problem is that the government does not have an overall
policy on working with NGOs, so government institutions tend to work with NGOs in
an uncoordinated and unplanned manner. Furthermore, the previous attempts of the
government to establish such a policy has shown that there is a need for an institutionalized
mechanism which would coordinate the development and implementation of legal
documents on working with NGOs. The State Department on NGO Relations would serve
as this mechanism and ensure that the proper legal documents on the government-NGO
relationship are developed and implemented. Furthermore, it would also disseminate
information both to all government institutions at all levels and the NGO sector so that
both actors are aware of them. Finally, the Department would keep the government
institutions informed about NGOs and their activities by collecting information for its
NGO database and disseminating it to government institutions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the government and NGOs in Kyrgyzstan have made some positive
steps towards effective collaboration over the last decade. Nevertheless, there are
some barrier, which hinder the development of a more productive government-NGO
relationship. The key problem is that the government does not have a unified and
coherent policy on NGO collaboration, which would provide the government institutions
in all areas and at all levels with basic principles on NGO collaboration. Currently, the
relationship between these actors happens mostly within donor projects and, all in all,
the state-NGO relationship can be characterized as selective, chaotic and fragmented.
The government tried to create a NGO support programme in the past. However,
it came to naught due to the lack of government commitment to and control over the
implementation of its initiative. Taking all this into account, this policy brief has suggested
creating the State Department on NGO Relations. The main aim of this institution would
be to ensure that the legal basis for the government-NGOs relationship is in place and
implemented accordingly. It would coordinate the development and implementation
of legal documents such as laws, concepts, policies, decrees on government-NGO
collaboration and provide government institutions in all areas and at all levels with
information about and consultation on the above-listed legal documents.
To contribute to establishing more successful cooperation between the government
and NGOs, the State Department on NGO Relations would also inform NGOs about the
legal documents on the government-NGO relationship so that they can refer to them
too when working with the government institutions. It would also provide information
about NGOs to all government institutions by maintaining an NGO database to keep
them informed and open to all collaboration with NGOs.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Mr. Nokatbek Idrisov, Legal Consultant/Director of the
Representative Office of the International Centre for Not-for-profit Law in Kyrgyzstan.
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