UN Women and the Government of Japan will support women affected by COVID-19 in Kyrgyzstan

With the contribution of USD 270,000, the one-year project will aim to enhance women’s access to basic services; support them in restoring their economic activities and livelihoods; strengthen security, rule of law and social cohesion; and support migrants and displaced people impacted by the crisis. The main goal of the project is to improve access to livelihood opportunities, skills development and gender-responsive policies for rural women affected by COVID-19 crisis in Naryn, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions. 

“We will work closely with women’s groups, civil society organizations, national women ́s machineries, state and non-state actors. The project will build on existing partnerships and current programmatic work in the country, especially related to the specific services and support to survivors of gender-based violence, policy reforms and other reform initiatives led by UN Women,” said Ulziisuren Jamsran, UN Women Country Office representative in the Kyrgyz Republic.

500 women from poor and vulnerable households, including migrant women, women living with family members with disabilities, women with more than 5 children, ethnic minorities and rural women in vulnerable communities from the three regions are expected to benefit from the project.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that overall unpreparedness to crises in Kyrgyzstan is having devastating consequences for social and economic wellbeing and livelihoods of rural communities, especially women. Movement restrictions could be the cause of disruption of production and processing of food during the agricultural season, posing severe risks to the incomes and livelihoods of farming women, who already face economic insecurity due to limited financial resources and climate change.

In response to COVID-19, the Government of Japan is providing emergency support to UN Women in the Europe and Central Asia, Asia and the Pacific, Arab States, Eastern and Southern Africa regions. Kyrgyzstan and Moldova are receiving support in Europe and Central Asia.