Teachers from 20 schools in Kyrgyzstan will learn about “green chemistry” as part of a two-day training course in measuring water quality organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Regional Ecological Centre for Central Asia that started in Bishkek today.

University students in Kyrgyzstan will be able to study “green economy” in the framework of the  Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) course from 2012 on, it was announced today at a conference organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek with UNDP, the Regional Ecological Centre for Central Asia and the Public Foundation “ECOIS”.

The University of Central Asia’s Aga Khan Humanities Project (UCA-AKHP) provides training to Central Asian university faculty in innovative pedagogy and the use of AKHP curricula. AKHP courses aim to develop pluralism of ideas through multi-disciplinary approaches and participatory learning. On successfully completing faculty training, participants receive certificates of participation and after fulfilling additional requirements, certificates qualifying them as AKHP instructors. Over the second half of 2011, faculty development workshops were organized in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, resulting in 16 new qualifying instructors joining the 134 AKHP-trained instructors already teaching around the region.

The first provincial-level border security meeting with representatives of border management agencies, government officials and residents of border areas in the districts of Kara-Suu and Aravan took place on 16 November 2011 in Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan.

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.

A one-day conference reviewing 2011 activities and plans for next year’s work of the OSCE-supported civilian mediation corps teams in Osh City and Osh Province in southern Kyrgyzstan took place on 11 November 2011.

An OSCE-sponsored training course on travel document security was completed in the Novopokrovka Border Troops Training Centre near Bishkek today.

The University of Central Asia’s School of Continuing and Professional Education (SPCE) organized a roundtable, "Development of Small and Medium Business in Naryn", Kyrgyz Republic on 19 October 2011. Funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the roundtable was part of SPCE’s Entrepreneurship programme launched under the auspices of a two-year initiative to promote stability and economic opportunity in the Kyrgyz Republic.

An OSCE-supported open meeting to promote a constructive dialogue on the effects of exploration and mining took place in Bishkek today. Senior governmental officials, members of the parliament, representatives of non-governmental organizations, business associations, and mining companies participated.

The University of Central Asia’s (UCA) School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE), Khorog launched the second phase of its Cross-Border Vocational Education in Badakhshan (CVEB II) with the assistance of USAID and the Aga Khan Foundation, USA.