The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the first review of the Kyrgyz Republic’s economic performance under the program supported by a three-year, SDR 66.6 million (about US$103.53 million) Extended Credit Facility arrangement (see Press Release No. 11/245). Approval of the review makes SDR 9.514 million (about US$14.79 million) available to the Kyrgyz Republic. This would bring total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 19.03 million (about US$29.58 million).

Learners and instructors from the Teacher Training College (TTC) in Shegnan, Afghanistan are improving their ability to deliver quality lessons after training provided by the University of Central Asia (UCA) School of Professional and Continuing Education, Khorog with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The EU Delegation would like to congratulate President Almazbek Atambaev on his inauguration as the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. The EU Delegation wishes the new President every success in his determination to address peace, stability, unity, and inter-ethnic harmony, as well as fight against organized crime and corruption.

Twenty years after the first UN Earth Summit in Rio, the University of Central Asia’s (UCA) Mountain Societies Research Centre (MSRC) is serving as the focal point for a Central Asian regional assessment of progress related to the 1992 Earth Summit goals specific to the sustainable development of mountain areas (Chapter 13 of Agenda 21). Regional assessments will contribute to a global synthesis report, and the final product will be used to call attention to the unique and essential natural resources that benefit all of humanity, and the vulnerabilities, of mountain areas around the globe, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20 Summit) in Rio in June 2012.

Emerging East Asia’s local currency bonds are still in demand from domestic and offshore investors, but the region’s markets face increasing challenges, according to the latest Asia Bond Monitor released today.

A roundtable discussion today organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the State Commission on Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic gathered state officials, religious leaders and civil society representatives to discuss co-operation to promote freedom of religion or belief in law and practice.

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek presented a new manual on preventing school bullying to Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry on 23 November 2011.  Some 850 copies in the Kyrgyz language and further 600 in Russian will be delivered to Juvenile Delinquency Inspectors as well as among staff of schools across the country.

Representatives of prison staff will learn about and develop skills in detecting radical tendencies that can lead to violence among detainees during a three-day training seminar that started today in Bishkek. The courses are organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with Kyrgyzstan’s penitentiary administration and the independent analytical research centre “Religion, Rights and Politics”.

The Central Asian Faculty Development Programme (CAFDP) of the University of Central Asia (UCA) is pleased to announce its 2011-12 scholarship recipients for doctoral studies at leading universities around the world. Ten scholars from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan have received scholarships to attend doctoral programmes at universities in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom: Five in the sciences and five in the humanities and social sciences. Of these, two are continuing Fellows who have successfully completed their masters degrees under CAFDP.

The Swiss Cooperation Office contributed around 1 million CHF (more than 50 million KGS) to Kyrgyzstan through its Disaster Risk Reduction Programme to ensure a safe life and sustainable livelihood by minimizing the effects of natural disasters.