KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

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a trend exists in which civil society organizations replace the state in providing social services and strengthening the social welfare of a country. Relevant legislation The national legislation of Kyrgyzstan is largely vague and inconsistent in defining the status of a civil society and its organizations. The law that regulates activities of non-governmental organizations is the Law on Non-Commercial Organizations, adopted on October 1, 1999. 5 This law does not define the widely used concept of “NGO,” but instead defines the nature of a “non-commercial organization” and points out its two main characteristics. These are a) making a profit is not a major objective and b) the obtained profit is not distributed among members, founders and official persons. 6 Unlike the earlier Law of Public Associations, this law is not applied to political parties, trade unions, religious organizations and cooperatives. However, according to this law, one can see what a non-commercial organization shall not be rather than what it shall be. It is well-known that no commonly accepted definition of NGO exists. The definition used by the World Bank is too wide-ranging but, since it is comprehensive, deserves full citation to offer a broad sense of what it is: “The diversity of NGOs strains any simple definition. They include many groups and institutions that are entirely or largely independent of government and that have primarily humanitarian or cooperative rather than commercial objectives. They are private agencies in industrial countries that support international development; indigenous groups organized regionally or nationally; and member-groups in villages. NGOs include charitable and religious associations that mobilize private funds for development, distribute food and family planning services and promote community organization. They also include independent cooperatives, community associations, water-user societies, women’s groups and pastoral associations. Citizen Groups that raise awareness and influence policy are also NGOs.” 7 Obviously, this description cannot serve as a working definition to enable analysis of the relationship between government and NGOs. Therefore, the author proposes understanding “NGO” as an organization that is officially registered in a form of public associations, foundations and institutions (i.e. in accordance with the Law on Non-Commercial Organizations of KR, 1999), is democratic in its organization, and attempts to serve the people without profit for itself. It is timely to mention another two problems that are important in understanding NGOs as independent actors within the public policy process. These are the issue of representation: i.e., whose interests NGOs represent and the more general question of NGO legitimacy. These two questions are interconnected and very theoretical. For the purposes of clarity, it is sufficient to suggest that NGOs may represent the interests of various groups of the population, but also exist as independent interest groups when they represent the general interests of the entire non-government sector. In this case, the problem of internal integrity and consolidation 5 For the on-line version of the law, see http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=220&lid= 1230&less=false (Accessed June 10, 2008). 6 Ibid., Article 2. 7 Accessed at “Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Development Cooperation,” by Prof. Bradford Gentry and Olena P. Maslyukivska, UNDP Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment, May 10, 1999 [http://www.undp.org/pppue/pppueold/library/files/maslyu01.html] 92
arises; this problem is now apparent and must be addressed by the non-governmental organizations of Kyrgyzstan. As mentioned above, the central problem is the absence of any comprehensive normative basis that regulates cooperation between government and NGOs. One good sign is that recently– on June 5, 2008– the Kyrgyz parliament adopted the Law on State Social Contracts, which was signed by the President on July 21, 2008. Some predict that problems will emerge during the stage of actual application of the law, but this is a matter that can and should be analyzed and evaluated later. At the moment, we can look to the experience of Poland to draw some timely lessons. Lessons to learn: At this stage of the development of government/NGO relations in Kyrgyzstan, it could be instructive to examine Poland’s normative documents. Its Law on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteerism was adopted on April 24, 2003. 8 This law is a good example of how to regulate relations between public sector and the third sector. In particular, this law a) provides a procedural framework for NGO cooperation with local government; b) establishes an NGO Council (an advisory body to decisionmakers on issues concerning public benefit status); c) sets forth basic provisions related to volunteering; d) introduces the “1 percent system” 9 in Poland, and e) provides for more liberal investment opportunities for public benefit organizations. 10 The procedural framework envisioned by this law may serve as a useful model for proposing cooperation at the national level. The domain of public tasks mentioned in the Law on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteerism of Poland (article 4), and the spheres of state social contracts realization of the Law on State Social Contracts of Kyrgyz Republic (article 5), are largely similar. Both normative documents regulate the relations between state and non-government (non-commercial) units to perform tasks that are for public benefit. Two additional documents that may serve as models for consideration by Kyrgyz NGOs are the Operations Standards of Non-governmental Organizations 11 and Charter of Principles for Non-governmental Organization Activity. 12 These documents are oriented toward improving the capacity and professionalism of the NGO sector, especially by more or less standardizing their activities. Such standardization of major principles and provisions of NGO activities would not only improve their accountability, legitimacy and capacity, but would also make their relations with government structures easier, more predictable and consistent. 8 The law can be accessed at [http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=220&lid=836&les= false] 9 This system means the transfer 1 percent of taxpayers’ income tax to organizations of their choice that serve the public good. The new Polish percentage system is intended to encourage citizens to play an active role in resolving social problems by contributing to the financing of such organizations. For more information, please see [www.onepercent.hu/Dokumentumok/Chapter_4_Golinski_Pl.pdf] 10 The data on the law is accessed at Igor Golinski, “Poland Adopts New Law on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteerism,” International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, May 9, 2003, [http://www.icnl.org/ knowledge/news/2003/05-09.htm] 11 The law can be accessed at [http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=220&lid=833&les= false] 12 The law can be accessed at [http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=220&lid=832] 93
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Social Research Center American Uni
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The Social Research Center (SRC) at
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What needs to be studied is whether
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policy, but on the politics of loya
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them set up with the sole aim of ac
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has been made. As democratization i
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For a country where the main active
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seemingly happen to form regionally
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• Support the development of self
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synonymous with civil society. Thes
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and to the fact that it is popularl
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in a politically-advanced society w
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Galina Plakhotnikova, Aida Kurbanov
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For such individuals, personal sati
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to focus on donors’ priorities, w
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Sheradil Baktygulov, Independent Ex
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By having good knowledge and unders
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In this context, the Kyrgyz state v
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6. Produce a training program for g
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among decision-makers and in genera
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Page 45 and 46: References and Sources 1. Bates R.
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Page 51 and 52: impossible. Even though the Moldova
Page 53 and 54: Summing up, it should be emphasized
Page 55 and 56: 24. Romedi Arkvint’s Speech//Kiev
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Page 75 and 76: and (2) the Law on Charity doesn’
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Page 83 and 84: Kanykey Jailobaeva, PhD Candidate a
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Page 97 and 98: Some believe and argue that Kyrgyz
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Page 123 and 124: Recommendations • Improve the imm
Page 125 and 126: In Kyrgyzstan, there are the Spirit
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Page 129 and 130: Timur Kozukulov, Senior lecturer, r
Page 131 and 132: 2. These problems are also typical
Page 133 and 134: Shakhnoza Madaeva, Candidate of phi
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standpoint of such an approach, one
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Types and scale of judicial corrupt
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The evidence demonstrates that the
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other indirect features of judicial
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albeit very unlikely. However, many
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Many factors contribute to this cor
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also collapsed, and the academic co
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To university students: 1. To chang
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protectionism, unfair competition,
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authority to levy tax backlogs with
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Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Independent
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On the subject of barriers, it is a
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and other similar is ten times grea
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participation in economic activitie
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• adopt laws that recognize and p
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Emil Nasritdinov. Discrimination of
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