The recent gains of democratic transformation do not appear to have solidified considering a highly volatile political situation. Significant risks to stability continue to emanate from growing nationalism, potential risks related to violent extremism, and authoritarianism. Ineffective governance and inefficient management of public resources is an everyday reality, due to significant weaknesses in democratic accountability of government at the national level, reduced managerial capacity, and limited monitoring and opacity of government at all levels. A large group of the population remains weakly integrated and consulted regarding decisions that determine their livelihoods. The Parliament, which is supposed to play a central role in a parliamentary democracy, falls short of ensuring sufficient oversight of government and conveying the needs of communities to government. 

Citizens benefit from responsive, inclusive and accountable institutions.

Three selected parliamentary committees:

• “Committee on Constitutional Law, State Structure, Judicial and Legal Issues and Internal Procedures”
• “Committee on Budget and Finances"
• “Committee on Social Issues, Education, Science, Culture and Health Care”

In addition, the Forum for Women members of parliament (MP); parliamentary staffers; CSOs; Public Councils; Government Apparatus and selected line ministries corresponding to selected parliamentary committees; Ombudsman Office; Chamber of Accounts.

• Parliament sets national strategic priorities in accordance with citizens’ needs, and oversees their implementation by the government
• Civil society actors promote active citizenship and effectively influence political processes to better serve the needs and priorities of the country’s citizens

Results from previous phases:  

Key result from Voice and Accountability project (VAP): Accountability and transparency in public service delivery at the local level is increased through citizens’ participation.

The lessons learnt from SDC-funded governance projects are:

• Intervention at national level is needed in order to sustain gains from governance projects implemented at the local level
• A project at parliamentary level is needed as a follow-up intervention to strengthening democratic elections project – longer term efforts are crucial, since technical improvements will be lost without strengthening the national governance system
• Request to support parliamentary democracy stems from bilateral Kyrgyz-Swiss visits at the highest political level, where Swiss democratic expertise has been requested

• Parliament: parliamentarians and staffers
• Government: Government’s administration and line ministries
• Civil society

Swiss projects: Voice and Accountability (VAP); Public Service Improvement (PSI); Strengthening Democratic Practices in the Election Processes in the Kyrgyz Republic; Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Capacity Building in Public Finance Management. Other projects: parliamentary support of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE); and civil society support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union (EU), the Soros Foundation, and others.

Phase 1 15.11.2015 - 30.04.2021   (Completed)