The Peremena Public Foundation was founded in 1999 with the aim of promoting the development and formation of democracy and an open society in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The main project of the organisation is entitled 'Capacity Building of Human Rights Defenders in Central Asia Against Ethnic and Religious Discrimination'. It is funded by the Equal Rights Trust, the European Commission and the Kazakhstan Bureau for Human Rights. The project is focused on building a strong anti-discrimination movement in Kyrgyzstan to combat the various forms of discrimination and disadvantage which persist in the country.
Main areas of work
- Producing a comprehensive report on discrimination and inequality in the country which makes evidence-based recommendations for reforms to laws, policies and practices.
- Training civil society activists and lawyers on international standards of equality, non-discrimination, advocacy, and litigation techniques.
- Establishing Kyrgyzstan's first Equality Forum which brings together civil society to agree priorities for legal reform on equality and non-discrimination.
Since the organisation was founded in 1999, it has conducted more than 1300 training-workshops, 1146 debates, 8 youth camps, eleven round tables, and a number of conferences and forums on different topics. It has also implemented more than twenty projects aimed at human rights, electoral rights, advocacy, conflict resolution and prevention, and the improvement of communication skills. It has published more than 10 handbooks for young people and trainers on open debates, civil education and human rights.
Since 1999 it has reached more than 16,000 project participants who have been trained in workshops and have taken part in the conferences. From 2008 to 2010 the organisation has implemented 6 civil education projects which focused on topics such as the creation of simulation games on conflict resolution, and a youth network for conflict prevention.
The Peremena Public Foundation has also been conducting research on the Civil Society Organisation Sustainability Index (CSOSI) in the Kyrgyz Republic for two years. This project is funded by USAID.
By using standard indicators and collecting data each year, the CSOSI enables users to track developments and identify trends in the CSO sector over time whilst allowing for cross-country and cross-region comparison. It is used by CSO advocates, development partners, and academics to assess international and regional trends in the civil society sector and to identify common obstacles impeding the sector's sustainability such as the legal environment, organisational capacity, and financial viability.
