News

On May 17, Osh city hosted a Youth Forum as part of the completion of the "Community Engagement and Social Accountability" project, implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in partnership with ARIS for the CASA-1000 Community Support Project.

The forum brought together young women and men from Batken, Jalal-Abad, and Osh Oblasts, along with a World Bank mission team led by Ms. Varalakshmi Vehmuru, Practice Manager for the Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice in the ECA region. Also, in attendance were representatives from partner organizations including IPD, GIZ, UNDP, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Marat Tagaev, and the ARIS CASA-1000 team.

During the event, the project's achievements in enhancing youth engagement through training and social accountability activities were highlighted.

Noteworthy project activities carried out from 2018 to 2023 included:

• Selection of young village leaders (between the ages of 18 and 35) with a gender balance of 50%, who served as youth facilitators for mobilizing village meetings and community reporters for conducting information campaigns and implementing social accountability processes.
• Training sessions covering eight topics for 308 youth facilitators and 308 community reporters.
• Holding 41 meetings with young people, resulting in the development of 41 Youth Development Plans that were integrated into local Socio-Economic Development Programs.
• Presentation of 41 forum-theater plays addressing current issues, performed by the youth.
• Conducting a total of 102 Climate Knowledge Days, attended by 8,707 residents, to provide information on climate change consequences and domestic energy efficiency.
• Raising awareness among the local population about climate change impacts and energy efficiency, with 77 focus villages organizing social accountability meetings (using community scorecards) to discuss the CASA-1000 Community Support Project.