BISHKEK. Last Friday, May 28, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kyrgyzstan presented its National Human Development Report (NHDR) by UND entitled as “Successful youth - successful country.” According to organizers, the report is based on the unique sociological survey of youth on the paradigm of human development, on the one hand, and for their views and perceptions, on the other.

The report examines the current situation of young people in Kyrgyzstan. According to the experts, who worked on the report, the analysis covers the main aspects of human development such as education, health, employment, values, social activity and communication, safety and youth policy.

Presentation of the report was held in the State National Russian Drama Theatre after Chingiz Aitmatov. The event started with the presentation of a documentary film about the young volunteers in Kyrgyzstan and their role in the development of the country. The film was quite interesting and of good quality.  The thing I liked a lot about it was it’s the focus on youth in the regions of the country, because, in contrast to the capital, the situation with the youth in the regions is in a bad condition.

The presentation of report also included speeches by Neal Walker, UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic, Elmira Ibraimova, coordinator of the Interim Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on the social sector, and famous singer Mirbek Atabekov, who turned out to be a national candidate for a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador (!).

During the banquet, held at the end of the presentation, I was able to make a podcast with Neal Walker, Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic, who was also closely involved in preparing the national report.

In podcast, Neal Walker speaks about:

- main goals of the National human development report;

- the challenges youth is facing in Kyrgyzstan;

- the reasons for Kyrgyz youth’s increased political activeness after the recent April events that took away lives of many civilians;

- what kind of projects UNDP is doing in Kyrgyzstan to help youth in achieving their goals.

You can download soft copies of the National human development report by UNDP in Kyrgyzstan here. Photo bywww.photo.kg

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:18 — 4.3MB)

Danish photographer Christian Als visited Kyrgyzstan. The goal of his visit is to take photos of different places of Kyrgyzstan for his personal project. Sam Baratliev, one of Kyrgyz photographers and author at Graphy…, was his guide and translator. Sam invited Christian to Children’s Media Center in Bishkek, where Christian made a master-class presentation for amateur photographers in Bishkek. Alina, Bishkek blogger and beginning photographer, wrote in her blog her expressions about this meeting.

“I am a Danish photojournalist born in the countryside outside Copenhagen. Most of my work centers on ‘concerned photography’ and I am constantly drawn to social, political and economic issues throughout the world. I have worked in countries like Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, China, Tibet, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Latvia and India. In 2006 I graduated from the Danish School of Journalism. My passion and interest in photography developed in the late nineties after extensive travels in third world countries, where I realized the urge to document my surroundings. I love to undertake social and humanitarian projects around the world, and like the journey a photographic project can turn into over time, - says Christian Als’ profile. His photos were  TIME, The New Yorker, The Sunday Times Magazine, GEO, Stern, Der Spiegel, The Wall Street Journal

In the podcast, Christian tells about his previous projects and interesting places he had visited. He also tells about the aims of his visit to Kyrgyzstan. He says that so far one thing suprised very much in Kyrgyzstan -  a Soviet presence that is still preserved all over the country. And it is not about Lenin’s statues, but about the whole villages and small cities that stopped developing or died after 1991. Christian tells that he liked these places a lot, as he, as a photographer, is interested in such sites. Christian is planning to make his personal project about Central Asia, where he will use photos from Kyrgyzstan.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:59 — 10.0MB)

I happened to be far from my country, Kyrgyzstan, when the recent bloody events happened in its capital city Bishkek. I was taking part in an event called YouthExchange 2010 that was held in Budapest, Hungary, and was about internet, new media, and populism. Though I was thousand miles away, I tried my best to follow the developments in my home country. I was closely watching the foreign media, both Russian and western, which, to a great surprise, almost had a same message, and also new media tools like Twitter, YouTube, and online forums. It must be noted people did a great job reporting on the events in Bishkek using new media services, especially Twitter.

It is commonly known  that when there is a conflict happening in a country of strategic importance to several great powers, like Kyrgyzstan, great powers try to use it as much as possible for their own advantage. And this is usually done via mass media. Thinking about this, I became curious to what extent others participants of YouthExchagen 2010, who came from different parts of the world, were informed about the events taking place in Kyrgyzstan. And I decided to make a podcast with them questioning them about the recent developments in Kyrgyzstan, and to tell the truth, I was amazed how well some of them were informed.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:50 — 10.8MB)

Young active people do their best in internships in diffrent professions, besides only studying. Antonio Henriques, one of 20 top-managers in AIESEC, has visited 28 countries for three years. He tells neweurasia about advantages and achievements of active youth and compares young people in other counties with Kyrgyz students.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:30 — 11.4MB)

Yesterday, July 29 2009, Almazbek Atambaev, who lost presidential elections and called elections illegal, and his supporters attempted to organize open-ended demonstrations and march towards the center of the city. However, they were stopped on their way by law enforcement bodies, who effectively dispersed the crowd and took into custody dozens of people. Leaders of the United Peoples Movement, where Atambaev is a member, later stated they would march to Balykchy city of Issik Kul oblast on July 30 2009, where many of their supporters are being held in custody.

When I arrived the Social Democratic Party’s headquarters at 9:45 am today, there were about 30-40 people standing  in front of the building waiting the march to begin. Almost half of the small crowd were journalists from local and international media. By 10:15 the crowd enlarged a bit. People waiting for opposition members to come out and tell about the furthers steps.

Suddenly, instead of opposition members, Sumar Nasiza, Deputy Prosecutor General, and a high ranking official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) appeared in front of SDPK’s HQ. The state officials had a small meeting in public with Bakyt Beshimov, chairman the only opposition party represented in the parliament the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. During the meeting, the authorities officially warned opposition members that any marches held in Bishkek and outskirts of the city would be stopped by the law enforcement bodies “by legal measures.” They explained that it was due to the security measures on the eve of CSTO’s summit in Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan. Read the full story »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.9MB)

Joanna Lillis - a journalist working for Eurasianet.Org and Al-Jazeera television, is always in the heart of all major developments in Kazakhstan, where she’s been living for 3 years already. We talk about her first impressions about Kazakhstan and how they changed over these years.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:09 — 5.6MB)