The role of politically active youth is especially significant during elections. However, such activity does not always lead to positive results – for example, according to research of International Alert organization, conflicts often arise between young people in Kochkor during the pre-election polls and the post-election period.
In order to develop the skills of conflict sensitivity and political literacy in the Kochkor youth, the "Demilgeluu Zhashtar" Public Association created the "Kelechekke kadam!" project to promote political literacy among young people in Kochkor through the media. An educational course has been developed especially for high school students and students to develop skills, values and knowledge based on the principles of human rights, leadership, social justice, diversity, gender equality and principles of conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding.
"We created an online questionnaire for the selection of participants and also visited all schools in the villages of Tendik, Isakeev, Kochkor and Zhany-Zhol to fill out questionnaires in paper, in order not to miss participants who do not have the opportunity to fill it online. We planned to receive no more than 100 questionnaires, but there were a lot of applicants, and 226 questionnaires were received. We saw that our young people really want to learn new things, participate in a common cause, master modern technologies. Thus, instead of the planned 3 schools in 3 villages, we have covered 9 schools in 8 villages. We focused on school students, college and university students, deputies of the Kenesh (village council) and employees of Aiyl okmotu (village administration and self-government body). Finally, we opened a media center in a local movie theatre, so that everyone could obtain new knowledge," the project manager Saltanat Barakanova says.
The school students participating in the project gained leadership skills, found new friends and learned media literacy, and some changed their lives for the better.
Farida Kylychbekova is 15, a 10th grade school student who lives in the village of Kochkor. She decided to share her story.
"This project is unique; it has divided my life into “before” and “after”. I am a kind of person that, you know - I didn't go outside at all, I didn't really like to communicate with people. And after participating in the project, I became much more sociable, and now I have become a leadership and personal growth coach for school students, I work with people. It all started with the fact that looking at the coaches, I felt that I wanted to be like them. It all started with the fact that after the trainings we were able to try ourselves as coaches, which I really liked. After the project, huge opportunities opened up for me: I got into a thematic summer leadership camp and was able to become the "Rector" of the university there! I really like my life now: I have made a lot of friends, and I can safely say that this project has made me a strong personality, I have goals in life, I have become a leader," says Farida.
This work was done by the "Demilgeluu Zhashtar" Public Association within the framework of the "Kelechekke Kadam!" initiative, which is aimed at promoting the political socialization of the youth of Kochkor, Naryn oblast through political education and teaching the principles of conflict sensitivity. The initiative is funded by the Yntymaktuu Zhashoo (Living in Peace) project.
International Alert, together with the Development Policy Institute and the National Mediation Center, is implementing the Yntymaktuu Zhashoo (Living in Peace) project. The project is being implemented with the support of the European Union.