How the joint work of activists and local authorities helps the most vulnerable groups of residents

Elmira A. and her family are in a difficult life situation – she cares of her two sisters with disabilities, an elderly mother and two minor children, as well as two children of her deceased brother, and she needs to arrange custody over them now. The family lives in a barrack-type house without amenities, does not have access to basic social services from village administration body, does not receive benefits from the government and alimony from Elmira's ex-husband. In addition, the family was in debt because of the funeral of Elmira's brother. The only help they managed to get from village administration body last year was 500 KG soms and two bags of charcoal for heating. The family tried to contact village administration body for support, but did not receive an answer.

Elmira has found out that a presentation of a project to improve access to public services will be held in Kara-Kulzha, and decided to address her problem.

The Center for the Development and Protection of Vulnerable Groups of Residents (Kara-Kulzha) with the support of the Living in Peace project is working on a project aimed at the active participation of the local residents, especially young people, in the process of solving local problems.

How the partnership system helps

The main goal of the Living in Peace project is to establish interaction between local authorities and civil society organizations. As participants of the project, the Center for the Development and Protection of Vulnerable Groups of Residents and the local village administration body have already had joint work experience. In addition, a free Mediation Center, another component of the dispute settlement project, operates under the village administration body.

"As soon as we received a request from Elmira's family, I immediately called the leading specialist on social issues from village administration body, who prepared a document for considering by the commission on social issues. Also, in parallel, we addressed the village council through the local Mediation Center, whose coordinator is a deputy of this council. We helped the government bodies to pay attention to this problem, conducted daily consultations for Elmira - where to apply, how to write a statement, who to approach, and also provided her with psychological support," says Zeinep Eshmuratova, Director of the Center for the Development and Protection of Vulnerable Groups of Residents.

Now the Center and specialists of the authorized bodies for the protection of children and village administration body of Karakulzha are working together on the registration of a state allowance for two children and guardianship of the children of a deceased brother, the allocation of financial assistance to improve the living conditions of the family. In addition, it turned out that the title documents for the house were drawn incorrectly, and work is underway on their re-registration.

Full access to services and assistance from the government

The Center for the Development and Protection of Vulnerable Groups of Residents even managed to raise the issue of access of the poor to public services at the state level and create a dialogue between responsible services and local self-government bodies during a talk show on the government TV channel.

After the help of the Center and making this case public, Elmira's family managed to get all possible support from the government: the family was assigned a social allowance for children, as well as a survivor's allowance, village administration body allocated additional financial assistance, and village council decided to allocate one-time assistance in the amount of 25,000 KG soms, which will help the family to pay off debts. Village administration body actively contributes to the custody of Elmira's nephews.

"Because of the diseases, this family was in a state of severe stress, and we engaged a psychologist for them, who still conducts psycho-social sessions with this family. Now all the agencies of the region know about this family and help them. We found out that the family was not included in the list of humanitarian government aid, but now they are being given flour, vegetable oil and other material assistance," says Zeinep Eshmuratova, Head of the Center.

According to the results of the needs assessment in Kara-Kulzha at the beginning of the Living in Peace project, the level of trust between the local self-government bodies and society was low, as is the level of interaction between the local self-government bodies and activists. Because of this, conflicts often occur between the local self-government bodies and the population related to political processes in the country. Therefore, helping Elmira and her family is a positive example of interaction between the local self-government bodies and civil society, increasing the level of trust and showing opportunities for cooperation, rather than confrontation between society and local authorities.

This work was carried out by the Center for the Development and Protection of Vulnerable Groups of Residents within the framework of the Zhashtar Tilegi Tynchtyk initiative, which is aimed at the active participation of young people in the process of solving local problems. The initiative is funded by the Living in Peace project.

International Alert, together with the Development Policy Institute and the National Mediation Center, is implementing the Living in Peace project with the support of the European Union.