Peace-building development in the border zone: from social networks to tolerance lessons

The Aiyl Aimak of Birlik borders the enclave of Sokh, an independent administrative-territorial unit of the Republic of Uzbekistan that is completely surrounded by Kyrgyzstan's territory. A lot of border conflicts, including territorial, resource, and social conflicts, take place in Birlik, according to a study by International Alert. Local Self-Government bodies play an important role in resolving such disputes, and the youth are the main actors. However, LSG bodies frequently require assistance in fostering dialogue among various groups and informing the public.

The initiative of PA "Network of Border Youth" was supported by the "Yntymaktuu zhashoo" project. The initiative improved relationships between LSGs and youth while also fostering social cohesion in 13 villages of the Birlik aiyl okmotu by enhancing youth capacity in the areas of peacebuilding, tolerance, and enhancing communication between youth and LSGs.

A festival of cultures for the youth of Sokha and Birlik was held as part of the initiative's focus on youth development, and a Youth Center was opened. Its main goal will be to provide young people with the means to hold youth development events such as meetings, round tables, conferences, meetings with famous figures, master classes, and other activities.

Social networks are the most effective means of bridging the gap between young people and local self-government bodies.

The initiative included open lessons in 13 Birlik schools on the topics of "interethnic tolerance and peace-building" and "youth participation in local decision-making processes."

After participating in the trainings, one of the active participants, Zhumagul Asanova, a 10th grade student, offered aiyl okmotu an idea to improve communication with the population:

"I considered what I could do to become a civil activist in Birlik. I looked up the word "Birlik" on social media but couldn't find anything. It was then that I realized that in order to improve relations between young people and aiyl okmotu, information exchange is essential, so I created the page of the Youth of the Birlik Aiyl Okmotu on Facebook. From that day forward, I began publishing the events held in aiyl okmotu as part of the project on this page. By the way, I invite you to subscribe to us as well," she said, recalling her first publication. 

Zhumagul plans to meet with the youth of Birlik Aiyl Okmotu in the newly opened Youth Center, hold various events, and share achievements in Birlik on the page in the future. She is growing the group and making sure that the employees of the LSG bodies are aware of the problems that young people face. 

Makanbayev Jeenbek, the head of Aiyl Okmotu, is also a member of the Birlik Youth Group and has expressed support for the initiative. He asserts that "most youth problems are not taken into account, and the voice of youth remains unheard, due to the workload and lack of specialists working with youth in Aiyl Okmotu. In order to ensure that our youth are heard, we will monitor the suggestions made by the youth in this group."

The first step on the path of development of an active citizen

Nishanbai uulu Bekmamat is a young teacher at the Syrt village secondary school of the Birlik village council. Bekmamat joined the Yntymaktuu Zhashtar project when it was in the process of selecting teachers to train trainers in the area of "interethnic tolerance and peace-building." "I just graduated from university; what else can I learn?" he said on the first days of training, but his interest grew with each passing day. And after training, he organized extracurricular activities for his students. He shared the knowledge he had acquired with the students of the school where he worked in these twice-weekly classes.

Bekmamat says the trainings have expanded his pedagogical experience and that he is now ready to work on increasing young people's civic engagement: he won a competition to study at the Academy of Civic Education. He is now learning from active, forward-thinking leaders from Kyrgyzstan's various regions, industries, and professions.

Before taking part in the project, Bekmamat had no idea what civic activism was or why we needed civil society organizations at all. "I was just preoccupied with my daily activities, but after receiving training in civic activism, conflict sensitivity, and human rights, I understood what I wanted to do with my life. "I will improve my skills and professionalism in order to assist and teach the younger generation of Birlik how to be worthy citizens of their homeland," Bekmamat says.

Peacebuilding from the school to the district level

Zhaanova Lazatkhan is a primary school teacher at secondary school No. 54 in Eshme, Kadamzhai district, Batken region. She participated in a three-day Training for Trainers on "Interethnic tolerance and peace-building" in February 2022 as part of the Yntymaktuu Zhashtar project, where participants developed five lessons for schoolchildren on this topic.

"I thought interethnic tolerance lessons should only be taught in areas with multiple ethnic groups, and our village is monoethnic. But, as I began teaching these lessons to my students and teachers at our school, I realized that, even though we live in a village where the majority of the people are from one ethnic group, we have many contacts with people from other ethnic groups. After all, we live in a border area, and I am always close to the citizens of the Uzbek Republic and other ethnic groups in the neighboring city of Aidarken. "It was an especially valuable experience for me as a deputy principal for educational work," Lazatkhan says.

Lazatkhan posted each of her open lessons on the topic of "interethnic tolerance and peace-building" on social media, and one day she was summoned to the Kadamzhai District Department of Education. She was initially concerned because, according to her, the District Department of Education usually invites for a conversation when students have done something wrong. She was informed, however, that they had seen her open lessons on social media and were ready to support a good initiative. She was asked to hold a district-level seminar on "Interethnic friendship" - as Lazatkhan had previously assumed, such seminars were previously held only in villages where representatives of different ethnic groups lived. Lazatkhan was able to organize a seminar on the topic of "Interethnic friendship" for representatives of the District Department of Education, the Department of Internal Affairs, the deputy principals for educational work, and parents from the entire Kadamzhai district thanks to her open lessons on social networks.

"Now I plan to conduct such lessons at the regional level. The Batken region shares borders with two countries, has several enclaves, and numerous villages populated by people from various ethnic groups. "I want us all to live in peace and harmony, and as a teacher, I will contribute to that to the best of my ability, and strength" says Lazatkhan Zhaanova.

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The initiative is funded by the Yntymaktuu Zhashoo project.

The project "Yntymaktuu Zhashoo" is implemented by International Alert in collaboration with the Development Policy Institute and the National Mediation Center. The project is implemented with the support of the European Union.