Bishkek, Kyrgystan
April 2010

Meeting with the Kyrgyz Working Group on Aid Effectiveness:
On April 6, seven members of the Kyrgyz Working Group on Aide Effectiveness attended a meeting chaired by Nurgul Djanaeva of the Forum of Women’s NGOs of Krygyzstan which discussed proposed Kyrgyz CSO initiatives on aid effectiveness for 2010. The meeting started with a background on CSO initiatives in aid effectiveness  and the Central Asia regional CSO workshop and multistakeholder consultation on AAA in 2008. This was followed by a brief discussion on the AAA country outreach programme. The working group reviewed its initial indicative plan submitted earlier to the RoA country outreach secretariat. Agreements were made regarding changes in the schedules of the country consultations. In addition, other activities were proposed such as provincial CSO consultations on aid effectiveness and development whose funding will be raised separately by members of the working group.

Another discussion focused on the country researches. The working group has signified its intent to conduct a country research on the impact of CSO involvement in the PD and AAA monitoring.  Likewise, there were suggestions for the members of the working group to submit relevant articles and information on CSO initiatives in aid effectiveness and have these uploaded to the RoA website.

During the people’s revolt, two members of the working group expressed possible changes in the CSO country plan, particularly schedules of the CSO-government consultations and the multi-stakeholder consultations given the current political instability in the country.

Observations on the Bishkek People’s Revolt:
There were no indications of any forthcoming political upheaval during the consultation. In fact, a member of the Parliament officiated the opening of the multi-stakeholder consultation and government representatives, including an officer from the President’s office, attended the said consultation.

The people’s revolt was a spontaneous response to the arrest of several opposition leaders in the afternoon of April 6. Apparently, the CSO working group either has no knowledge of the arrest nor of the growing unrest in the two provinces or did not find the issues very important while we were in the thick of discussing their aid effectiveness plan.

Our CSO partner stated that her group has no involvement in the mass protest and would come out with a statement addressed to the interim/caretaker government on issues such as poverty, human rights and good governance.