UN Resident Coordinator offered Speaker of Parliament to Re-Establish UN-Parliament Strategic Dialogue and Discussed Ongoing Partnership

Speaker of Jogorku Kenesh, Talant Mamytov thanked the UN for providing support to Kyrgyzstan in achieving national priorities in line with the SDGs and assured that Kyrgyzstan, which actively participated in preparing and passing the Agenda 2030, will continue to realize its commitments to the internationally agreed development goals  and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.  The Speaker informed that an action plan for the implementation of the National Development Program, where all SDGs are embedded, is being developed and said he looked forward to engaging with the UN in its implementation.

The Speaker informed that 30% quota for women in the party lists has been respected in accordance with the legislation, with 18 women becoming members of the parliament. The Speaker also provided the total number of women in the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic as 156, of whom 89 are experts and 11 are heads of departments of the Office of the Jogorku Kenesh.

The Speaker discussed the need for expanding the powers of the Women's Rights Council under the Toraga of the Jogorku Kenesh, as part of the implementation of the national gender policy and the SDGs, by transforming it into the Council for Children's Rights and Gender Equality and the importance of training programs and seminars for the staff and MPs of the Jogorku Kenesh.

Re-assuring of the Jogorku Kenesh’s commitment to gender equality, the Speaker informed that a comprehensive system of gender-oriented national mechanisms has been formed in Kyrgyzstan, including the Council for the Protection of Women's Rights and the Prevention of Gender-Based  Violence under the Speaker of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Forum of Women MPs, as well as National Council for Gender Development under the Cabinet of Ministers.

UN Resident Coordinator, Ozonnia Ojielo, congratulated the Speaker Talant Mamytov on his re-election as Speaker and MP Chingiz Aidarbekov on his election and his appointment as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group on SDGs. UNRC also congratulated the Speaker on the  upcoming 30th Anniversary of the Kyrgyz Republic becoming a member of the United Nations (2 March 1992) and noted a long history of successful cooperation that has grown deeper and wider since Kyrgyzstan gained independence. UNRC discussed with the Speaker the reform processes, including importance of Development Finance Assessment (DFA) and an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) as well the engagement with civil society in the country.

UNRC Ozonnia Ojielo offered to re-establish a strategic UN-Parliament dialogue which began in 2018 but was suspended amid the COVID-19 crisis. UNRC informed of readiness of the UN agencies to engage in research and capacity building work for the Parliament, under the coordination of UNDP. While discussing Kyrgyzstan’s commitments to international obligations and treaties and their compliance with international legal standards, the UNRC and the Speaker spoke about the UN’s support to the legal inventory process in the country. A list of 89 laws was highlighted by the UN which included laws pertaining to all key human rights and political issues relevant to the UN System’s mandate. The importance of these laws for the UN System is determined by their potential impact on the level of democracy in Kyrgyz Republic. 36 experts were contracted by the UN to work under the coordination with the Ministry of Justice.

UNRC shared that one of the most important tasks of the UN is to support the rights of children and programs to prevent domestic violence and offered support in organizing dialogues with women with special needs, including with women living with HIV, are disabled, and from minority groups. UNRC welcomed the decision of the Speaker to transform the current Council on Women's Rights into the Council on Children's Rights and Gender Equality. He emphasized that the Parliament’s role in overseeing the requirement for a gender quota among public authorities is crucial to the achievement and advancement of one-third  women in the public service.

UNRC also highlighted that Kyrgyzstan became the first country to officially end statelessness in 2019 (as part of the #IBelong campaign to end statelessness worldwide by 2024) and discussed the human rights commitments made by Kyrgyzstan in the fall of 2019 in Geneva to introduce the procedures for determining statelessness status and joining the protocol of the UN convention on statelessness.

UNRC and the Speaker also discussed potential institutionalization of the Movement for Better Nutrition Multi-Stakeholder Platform (SUN MSP), a platform consisting of 5 networks - government, academia, business, civil society, UN/donors, with UNRC offering support in re-launching the Movement for Better Nutrition Parliamentary Network.

They also discussed the ongoing partnership with the Council for Migration, Compatriots and Foreign Diasporas under the Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh. The UN provided technical support to the Council in developing legislative initiatives related to the Global Compact for Migration (GCM).  The UN plans to hold joint dialogues and consultations with the Council and other stakeholders on the development of a national voluntary report on the implementation of the GCM to be presented at the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in May 2022.