Everywhere AKF works we meet community-minded individuals who are strengthening the fabric of civil society. These community weavers are unsung heroes who volunteer their time and expertise, mobilise others, and bring diverse groups together to bring about transformative change within…
Everywhere AKF works we meet community-minded individuals who are strengthening the fabric of civil society. These community weavers are unsung heroes who volunteer their time and expertise, mobilise others, and bring diverse groups together to bring about transformative change within…
In the Kyrgyz Republic’s urban areas, only 34% of children attend kindergarten, whilst in rural areas the number is even lower at 20%. Despite proactive measures by the government, such as reinstating state-owned kindergarten buildings into functional kindergartens, offering tax…
Browsing social media one day, Mendayim Suyunbai Kyzy – a then-eighteen-year-old IT student in Osh, Kyrgyz Republic – came across an advertisement about a training for young aspiring entrepreneurs that would profoundly change her life. “I signed up for training…
The quality of education in Kyrgyz schools has always been an issue of national concern. Experiences from around the world suggest that the engagement of local communities in the management of schools brings transparency and accountability. This, in turn, leads…
Rewiring education means thinking differently. For many years the global community has worked tirelessly towards the Sustainable Development Goals, yet the very best of intentions and millions of dollars spent has not changed the education landscape significantly enough for many…
In the remote mountainous villages of northern Tajikistan, clean water can be hard to come by. In the sub-district of Khistevarz, which is home to more than 60,000 people, securing clean water is an expensive business that has taken its toll on people’s health and on their relationships with regional neighbours. However, with funding from…
The EU Civil Society Forum is a platform for dialogue involving representatives of civil society, media and experts from the region and the EU to discuss the implementation of the EU Central Asia Strategy, adopted in 2019. The Forum brought together around 70 participants in person, while 300 participants joined online, representing grassroots civil society, the…
For farmers in the Kyrgyz Republic, keeping livestock is a vital source of income. Over the last 20 years, the cattle population in the country has increased by 60 percent, and whilst this has improved the socioeconomic standing of farmers…
The sudden and dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw the emergence of the independent states of Central Asia. For a landlocked and historically interconnected region, the formalising and hardening of new national borders – once open and…