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Annual Report

UN Agencies joint project on Technical Assistance to the

Ombudsman Institute of the Kyrgyz Republic

Reporting Period: February 2013-December 2013

КЫРГЫЗРЕСПУБЛИКАСЫНЫН

АКЫЙКАТЧЫСЫ

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Content

Background .......................................................................................................................... 3

Executive summary .............................................................................................................. 3

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4

Output 1 ............................................................................................................................... 6

Output 2 ............................................................................................................................... 8

Output 3 ............................................................................................................................. 11

Output 4 ............................................................................................................................. 18

Ad-hoc activities ................................................................................................................. 22

Difficulties/changes in implementation ............................................................................. 25

Lessons learnt .................................................................................................................... 26

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Background

United Nations Technical Assistance Programme for the Kyrgyz Ombudsman

Institute has been implemented in a phased manner. . The first phase was implemented in 2009-2011 and targeted at improvement of the organizational structure and capacity building of the Ombudsman Institute. The second phase of the project 2012-2014 continued targeting improvement of the legislation on Ombudsman including continuation of capacity building of the staff of the Ombudsman Institute for the next 2 years.

The Programme addresses the need for a more comprehensive approach towards turning the Ombudsman Institute into an effective instrument for the protection and promotion of human rights and rule of law. This is the joint Programme of UN Agencies engaging UNDP, UNICEF, OHCHR, UN Women and UNHCR implemented in close cooperation with the Ombudsman Institute. UNDP acts as the Managing Agent for this Programme. The annual work plans have been elaborated through discussion processes at workshops jointly with UN Agencies, civil society representatives and representatives from the Ombudsman Institute.

Executive summary

The present report is about the progress made starting from February to December 2013 under the project on technical assistance to the Ombudsman Institute.

The report contains information about activities carried out under each output of the project, describes the difficulties faced during the implementation process and lessons learnt to withdraw in the next year of carrying out of the project. Along with that, the report includes recommendations and some view points for further consideration by the Ombudsman Institute.

The report is divided into four outputs that derive from logic framework of the annual work plan of the project. In first output the report describes the activities aimed at improvement of the legislation on Ombudsman. The second output relates to the strengthening institutional capacity of the Ombudsman Institute. The third output describes activities on building capacity of the personnel of the Ombudsman Institute. And the last output is devoted to the activities describing awareness raising activities that the Ombudsman Institute held in promotion and protection of human rights.

Finally, the report is supplemented with additional information such as ad-hoc activities which had not been envisaged in the work plan but requested by project partners. Moreover, the report contains information on difficulties/changes that are occurred during the implementation process and which affected the project. Based on this, the report brings lessons learnt which have to be taken into consideration in the implementation of the project during 2014.

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Introduction

The first step in the implementation of the second phase of the project started with the organization of a joint workshop with all interested parties in order to discuss key activities for further consideration in the work plan 2013. Thus, on February 19th, 2013, the workshop was held for elaboration of a new work plan in cooperation with civil society organizations and UN agencies along with representatives of the Ombudsman Institute. The event followed an open and participatory approach in order to count everyone’s voice and view. In addition, it was decided to involve a facilitator Mr. M.Munkin for team-building session from ‘Interactiv.kg’. The event was opened with welcoming speeches made by Mr. Armen Harutyunyan, Head of UN OHCHR Office in Central Asia, Mr. Pradeep Sharma, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and the then Ombudsman of the KR Mr. Tursunbek Akun. Further, the floor was given to everyone who wished to address questions to Ombudsman; one of those was Ms. Nazgul Turdubekova, the civil society representative on protecting children’s rights. She pointed out that there was no monitoring of observation of social and economic rights at local level, she also recommended to monitor implementation of the strategy on social development, especially, in parts where citizens from low-income families have access to social services and advised the Ombudsman Institute to make a special report on situation at local level.

Mr. Alexander Kashkarev, UNDP Policy Advisor asked how far the recommendations on functional review carried out under the project during its first phase, were taken into consideration and put in practice. The then Ombudsman Mr. T.Akun replied that the strategic plan of the Ombudsman Institute for 2008-2013 took into consideration those recommendations. Additionally, he mentioned that five special reports on various topics had been prepared along with an annual report. During this workshop he requested some support for holding public hearings on presenting an annual report before its submission to the Parliament.

Furthermore, all participants were divided into three groups for elaboration of activities for a work plan. As a result, all three groups presented the following inputs under the following outputs: The output 1 included such activities as: knowledge and understanding of UN international mechanisms, human rights monitoring of target groups, preparation of annual report, interaction with mass media, law-making techniques, training on children’s rights including gender approaches, training center with methodical base, introduction of orientation courses (manual), skills on complaint processing from target groups, needs assessment; the output 2 included such activities as: improvement of the law on Ombudsman, training of personnel of counseling office of the OI (psychological ones), purchase of needed equipment, equipping the entrance building of the OI with a ramp in providing access for people with disabilities; the output 3 included such activities as: development of a communication strategy and better interaction with state agencies and mass media.

Accordingly, by the end of group presentations and discussions it was agreed to restructure activities and include into the work plan for 2013 in a prioritized order. As a result, activities were grouped into four outputs in the work plan as follows: OUTPUT 1 on improvement of the legislation; OUTPUT 2 on strengthening institutional capacity;

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OUITPUT 3 on increasing capacity of personnel of the Ombudsman Institute; OUTPUT 4 on elaboration of a communication strategy and holding advocacy campaigns. Thus, the work plan was circulated among key participants for their feedback and comments. In the beginning of March the annual work plan was finalized and approved for further its implementation.

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Output 1

Law on Ombudsman is brought in line with national and international standards and strategic framework for the OI is elaborated

A working group of experts consisting of four people started revision and entering amendments into the law on Ombudsman in early May. However, the scope of work was large enough that led to develop a new edition of the law on Ombudsman which took the longer time. The group of experts consisted of a specialist from Human Rights Committee under the Parliament, Head of Legal Department of the Ombudsman Institute, UNDP legal expert and independent lawyer. They entered into the law on Ombudsman all International Coordination Committee (ICC) recommendations which concerned the security of tenure of Ombudsman, the election process to make it more clear and transparent, pluralism of staff and cooperation with civil society organizations. In addition to this, the package of amendments along with a draft law on Ombudsman had been sent for the consideration of an international expert in Geneva by request of OHCHR colleagues and got a positive feedback on it.

Later on, during September and October months another group of experts conducted five types of mandatory examinations of the draft law on Ombudsman (anti-corruption, gender, legal, human rights and ecological examinations) in compliance with national legislation. However, another working group for revision of the draft law was arranged internally under the Ombudsman Institute immediately after the selection and appointment of a new Ombudsman. This affected the draft law with critical changes that conflicted with ICC recommendations. In this regard, it was agreed to present two versions of draft laws to the public, first one that comes internally from the Ombudsman Office and second one which has been developed by independent experts in compliance with Paris principles and ICC recommendations.

Accordingly, as it was planned to present the package of amendments and the draft law itself to public for a wide discussion and getting more comments on it. The public hearing of the draft law on Ombudsman took place on December 3, 2013 under the auspices of a newly appointed Ombudsman Mr. Baktybek Amanbaev. It was held with the participation of government agencies, civil society organizations, international organizations and expert community. Ombudsman chaired the meeting with the help of Deputy Ombudsman Ms. Borombaeva T. who was facilitating the discussion process. During discussion a lot of comments and questions had been raised which mostly concerned the criteria for selection of Ombudsman with a necessary requirement in experience in the area of human rights for at least five years. The civil society representatives unanimously recommended to adopt/take into consideration the initial version of the draft law which had been developed in compliance with international standards, they hoped that their views and voices will be taken into account. Right after this event, the transcription of the public hearing was sent to the expert community, international organizations and the Ombudsman Institute for further consideration of

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key points in the finalization of the draft law and package of amendments into it. The Ombudsman Institute is planning to promote this draft law and further submit

to the Parliament for adoption. Due to the limited funds for 2014, the project will facilitate only the process of submission of the draft law on Ombudsman in compliance with ICC recommendations to the Parliament. It would be a no-cost activity which considers participation at working meetings. Amount of funds planned: USD 19065.49 Amount of funds actually disbursed: USD 17821.31 Major results and products: The draft law is developed; the package of

amendments is discussed publicly and submitted for further lobbying by the Ombudsman Institute

Major analytical reports, publications: None Follow up actions planned in 2014: Working meetings only to follow up actions

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Output 2

Institutional capacity of the Ombudsman Institute is strengthened to ensure its effective functioning and quality performance as the leading institution for the protection and promotion of human rights

Review of existing gender-sensitive approaches to successful combination of labor and family obligations

Under this output a review of existing gender-sensitive approaches to conditions

of labor activities of employees was carried out. The review was implemented during May and June months by an independent gender expert Ms. Kaiyrgul Sadybakasova. The scope of work included the following tasks such as: study of observance of mother-employees’ rights; study of potential threats discriminating due to motherhood; review of existing labor conditions enabling successful combination of labor and family obligations. The review was carried out through questionnaires and interviews with heads of two departments including the department of personnel of the Ombudsman Institute.

Overall, outcomes of the gender review revealed that working conditions are not gender-sensitive and do not allow a harmonized combination of labor and family obligations by employees. For instance, small attention is given to breastfeeding mothers, to parents of under age children; there is lack of practice of providing flexible work schedule for employees with underage children which causes a daily conflict with work and family obligations when it comes to bringing children from kindergartens. Consequently, the gender expert recommended the development of internal policy that considers interests and needs of employees bonded with family obligations. This report was submitted for further consideration and actions by the OI.

Assistance in creation of the training center of the Ombudsman Institute and in

creation of a Press Center for claimants With respect to this activity by request of IO, a

non-functioning hall of the Ombudsman Institute was refurbished into the training center and a Press Center. In this regard, new linoleum was laid on the floor, the room walls and windows were painted. Along with that a brand new laptop, screen, overhead projector and furniture (28 chairs, 12 desks and 3 racks for publications) had been purchased and provided for conducting trainings or round-tables in this training center. This training center was intended to serve as a methodological base for conducting

The Training and Press Center

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orientation courses for newly hired personnel under the Ombudsman Institute. With regard to a Press Center the refurbished room is a multifunctioning room in

which one side has been equipped for a Press Center with a press wall where the Ombudsman Institute’s logo is placed. However, it is not still a fully operational Press Center because it still needs some more equipment such as microphones with amplifiers. This equipment was not foreseen in the work plan due to limited budget.

Initially, the idea of creating of Press Center was voiced by the OI reasoning the fact that sometimes applicants/claimants who visit the counseling office of the Ombudsman Institute want to spread information among mass media about their violated rights and the OI usually arranged press-conferences at the Kabar Information Agency at their own expenses. So the main idea was to create this center under the OI and to arrange press-conferences on blatant cases with involvement of applicants/claimants. To date, no press-conference with the involvement of applicants has been arranged.

It is remarkable that for a short period of time in this training center the OI held a range of public meetings with NGOs, several internal staff meetings, round-tables and trainings. However, for effective functioning of a newly created training center under the Ombudsman Institute there should be a responsible staff member who would conduct induction courses for newly hired employees on a regular basis.

Assistance in improving the efficiency and accessibility of the counseling office

under the Ombudsman Institute for the people with disabilities

Another support was provided towards improving access to the counseling office of the OI for the people with disabilities. By a request of the OI the entrance of the building of the Ombudsman office was equipped with a ramp. It is worth mentioning that immediately after that in the newly created training center people with disabilities were gathered to discuss an opportunity of creating a public council on rights of people with disabilities under the OI. Amount of funds planned: USD 10801.00 Amount of funds actually disbursed: USD 10687.60 Major results and products: Training Center is created, at least 70% of

staff underwent trainings and applied skills in various areas of human rights; ramp is built.

Ramp to the building of the OI

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Major analytical reports, publications: Gender audit/review on home and work balance kept by Ombudsman personnel was done;

Follow up actions planned in 2014: Improvement of business processes based on functional review to be conducted in 2014.

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Output 3

For effective operation of the Ombudsman Institute, capacity of staff in application of human rights standards is increased

Under this activity a range of trainings in various areas for increasing capacity of the personnel of the Ombudsman Institute had been conducted during the reporting period. For example, in March 2013 in cooperation with OHCHR office a joint training on monitoring of human rights violations was held in the southern region. UNDP covered travel expenses and accommodation of some representatives of the Ombudsman Office. Key personnel of Ombudsman Institute have been trained (selected representatives of central and regional levels) to monitor human rights violations, investigation, documentation and reporting, with a focus on monitoring the trials and procedural guarantees in criminal proceedings.

In May 15-17 training for trainers (ToT) was supported on preparation of an

alternative report to the CEDAW Committee by civil society organizations. It was a three-day workshop with involvement of international gender expert from Tajikistan Ms. Bahrieva N. The workshop was held in Issyk-Kul with participation of Deputy Ombudsman Ms. Borombaeva T. J. and representatives from government office and representatives from the Ministry of Youth. The presentation on preparation of the Alternative Report to the CEDAW Committee was made by the Council of non-governmental organizations chaired by Ms. Roza Aitmatova (Chaiperson of the Women’s Support Center). This Council consists of the following women organizations: Women’s Support Center, Women Entrepreneurs Support Association, Center of Gender Studies, ‘Alga’, Association of Crisis Centers, ‘Darshaim’ Crisis Center, Social Technologies Agency and Alliance for Reproductive Health. During the ToT participants were introduced with the structure and system of the CEDAW Committee, the procedures of submission of the Alternative Report to the CEDAW Committee. In addition, the participants worked in groups to better learn the structure of the Alternative Report. The total number of participants made up 25 attendees out of which 1 man and 24 women.

The training dedicated for preparation of annual and special reports of the OI for

all heads of units and regional representatives took place on June 14, 2013. This event helped the participants to clearly structure the report and identify shortcomings of previous reports. The trainer was an independent expert Mr. Esengeldiev A. Before holding the training an expert analyzed the annual report of Ombudsman for 2012 where a lot of flaws had been detected. In connection with the problems identified in the annual report the expert proposed an agenda which aimed to eliminate all weaknesses in the structure and content of the report, specify and define together with the participants of the training the nature of activities of the Ombudsman Office and its

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branches. The central office representatives of the OI had been tasked to pinpoint requirements for the collection, systematization and analysis of information to be used for the annual report on the example of the report for 2012. As a handout, the participants were offered with three UN Human Rights Conventions, excerpts from the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the fundamental rights and freedoms of man and citizen. During the training it became clear that the regional offices of the Institute are often not directly engaged in the duties of officers to identify authorities that violate human rights and freedoms, and focus their attention on direct assistance to persons appealing to the Institute with a complaint of a violation of their rights. Many employees do not understand the concepts of human rights and freedoms, cannot well classify violations and do not see the difference between the nature of the Ombudsman's activities and other law enforcement agencies’ activities. As a result, the expert had to focus on examples of violations of human rights and freedoms and the subsequent necessary actions by the Ombudsman institute by followed reflection of these activities in the reporting of regional branches. During the second part of the training the participants discussed the main directions of the report on the activities of the Institute in 2013. The table of contents and the structure of the report were defined and tasks for collecting information by a specific structural department were identified. The participants showed high activity and interest in the content of the training and the suggested topics for discussion during all sessions. Overall, the training was attended by heads of departments including representatives from regions altogether made up 21 people out of whom 7 were women and 14 men.

On July 2-3, 2013 in cooperation with OHCHR representatives two-day training

was held on international human rights mechanisms. It was decided to divide this training in two parts due to overwhelming areas of human rights presented to the attention of participants. The training was oriented to be more practical so many cases were given for participants to discuss. In regard with that participants were exposed to the areas such as CEDAW convention, conventions on child rights, racial discrimination, rights of ethnic minorities, rights of people living with HIV, and they analyzed cases on torture and ill-treatment in detention places. The training was facilitated by Human Rights Independent Group representatives Ms. D. Sayakova and Y. Votslava. The training was attended by 20 people consisting of regional and central office representatives of the Ombudsman Institute. Since the training included sessions of various areas of human rights the following experts had been invited to conduct them:

- Session on HIV/AIDS: national legislation and practice. Human rights protection mechanisms of people living with HIV/AIDS was held by Mr. Erkin Iriskulbekov (Chairperson of the Public Council on protection of rights of people with HIV/AIDS);

- Session on Child rights – Case discussion on child rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment and the Concluding Observations on the national report of the Kyrgyz Republic to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, parallel NGO report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the prohibition of violence against children, juvenile justice and conclusions of a

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Special Rapporteur on child pornography was made by Ms. Natalia Utesheva (Coordinator of the Youth Human Rights Group Foundation);

- Presentation of the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the General Comment was made by Atyrkul Alisheva (Director of the Institute of Regional Studies);

- Presentation and discussion of the Concept of strengthening the unity of the people and inter-ethnic relations in the Kyrgyz Republic was made by Ms. Mira Karybaeva (Head of the Department on Ethnicity, Religion, Politics and Civil Society Interaction under the Presidential Office of the Kyrgyz Republic);

- Discussion of the CEDAW Convention, the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. Discussion on women's rights, prevention of domestic violence was conducted by Ms. Sadybakasova K. (independent expert).

In a preliminary survey at the beginning of the training, it was found that 14 participants out of 20 had no experience of the application of international human rights protection mechanisms. Upon end of the training, participants stated that their knowledge has been enriched considerably during the training. The training covered the UPR mechanism, too. Particularly, the debate was held on preparation of the report for the second cycle of the UPR in 2015, the forthcoming reports to the UN Committee on Human Rights and the UN Committee against Torture. At the training, the results of monitoring of the various human rights were presented based on the experience of the "Independent Human Rights Group" (monitoring of closed institutions - Temporary Containment Cell, pre-trial detention centers, reception centers, correctional facilities, monitoring of observation of the access right to information, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly; monitoring of trials, etc.). The possible future cooperation in monitoring the observance of human rights was discussed with the participants in the course of the training. Samples of tools for the various types of monitoring were distributed for their application in the daily work by the personnel of the Ombudsman Institute. The vast majority of participants noted the effectiveness of the training with cases and expressed their desire to take part in further training on specialized topics in the area of human rights. All in all, the total number of participants including representatives from regions made up 26 out of whom 7 were women and 14 men.

On August 22-23, 2013 two-day training took place on building communication and using PR technologies with participation of regional representatives of the OI. To conduct the training two independent and well-known PR experts had been invited: Mr. Avlanbek Djumabaev and Ms. Gulzina Kulsarieva. The training was aimed to equip with skills on preparing press-releases, arranging press-conferences, maintaining own website and issuance of newspaper ‘Akiykatchy’. The agenda of the training was designed based on the communication strategy and its recommendations developed for the Ombudsman Institute by an independent expert Ms. A. Nurgazieva. The training considered theory and practice sessions. The theory was given on the session devoted to "The organization of media coverage about activities of the Ombudsman Institute of

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the Kyrgyz Republic". The practical part aimed at equipping with skills on preparation, release and placement of press-releases in mass media. The first day session was devoted to the Press Service of the Ombudsman Institute its goals, objectives, structure and function, recommendations were given for effective operation of the Press Service. Along with that a presentation was held on “Organization of a press conference” while specific cases were given during the session on “We organize a press tour.” The second day was dedicated to Media Lab on “Promotion of the official website” including a master class on positioning of the Ombudsman Institute in social media with a session “Social media and press service”. In conclusion part, everyone participated in debate about the role of social media in building effective communication. Finally, the trainers in detail draw the attention of participants to the session on “Methods of creating a corporate periodical” where they analyzed the newspaper ‘Akiykatchy’ and gave a lot of practical recommendations on its improvement and its dissemination channels. Overall, the participants evaluated the training positively since they were satisfied with the content of sessions and the language it was delivered. Because both trainers conducted the training in both Russian and Kyrgyz languages since the audience included people from regions who expressed the desire to speak in Kyrgyz language only. According to questionaries’ results, some participants gave their views on further joint trainings with participation of press services of other organizations as well as holding joint discussions with mass media representatives. The total number of participants including regional representatives of the Ombudsman Institute made up 24 people out of whom 8 were women and 16 men.

On September 27, 2013 the training on basics of law-making techniques took

place for the relevant employees of the Ombudsman Institute. The purpose of the training was to discuss current issues in the drafting of laws and other regulations and familiarization with the standard requirements of the legislative technique. The training consisted of five sessions. During the first session on law and legislative techniques participants learned about the results of the study on "Quantitative and qualitative analysis of errors and contradictions in the laws and their causes" conducted in May 2013. This study shows the results of a sociological survey of the causes and sources of errors in legislation. On the second session, the trainer presented the basic substantive rules of a legislative technique, the use of which will increase the quality of the content of bills. On the third session, on the logic and structure of the law, the basic rules were presented including techniques and tools for structuring the text of the law and the proper use of the rules of logic in law. With the help of diagrams and examples from practice typical errors had been shown in construction of the law structure. Particular emphasis was placed on linguistic rules and legal terminology, especially, on compliance with the principles and requirements of a linguistic style of writing normative legal acts. The trainer stressed the fact that in legislative practice more than 90% of the laws are written in the official language and then translated into the state one. Thus, the task was to work in group and translate laws. Group work had identified weaknesses of translation skills and difficulties in the use of legal terminology. Some groups for the allocated time of 20 minutes were able to translate only the title and the first article of

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the bill. After presentations by groups of translated laws participants discussed the situation with the translation work and linguistic issues in rule-making. The trainer showed a range of typical problems, common mistakes and presented a number of recommendations for improvement and introduction of new methods in order to bring in an authentic state the legal texts in both languages. The total number of participants made up 22 people out of whom 3 were women and 19 men.

On October 1-3, 2013 as it was earlier agreed between trainers and partners the

second part of the training took place on introduction to human rights mechanisms and standards and their use in the work of the Ombudsman staff of the KR. All regional representatives of the Ombudsman Institute had been invited to this training along with the central office representatives by totaling up to 30 participants as a whole. Since the training was designed for three days and in retaining participants’ attention and fully participation in all sessions of the training, it was decided to hold it in Issyk-Kul. The training was facilitated by the Independent Human Rights Groups representatives Ms. Dinara Sayakova and Ms. Yulia Votslava. Since the training included sessions of various areas of human rights the following experts had been invited to conduct them:

- Session on Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons. International Protection, the role of state and UNHCR in the protection of refugees. The term 'refugee' in international law, the provisions of the inclusion, exclusion. Case Study was carried out by Ms. Vitalina Kirilovska (Associate RSD Officer, UNHCR);

- Session on Issues of extradition and asylum was carried by Ms. Anna Nee (Assistant Protection Officer, UNHCR);

- Session on International and Domestic Law and Law Enforcement Practice on Citizenship and Statelessness Issues was carried out by Ms. Ludmila Arapova, (Deputy Director of Public Foundation Legal Clinic "Adilet");

- Session on Rights of People with Disabilities was carried out by Ms. Natalya Alenkina (American University in Central Asia);

- Session on Right for Adequate Housing was carried out by Ms. Kalicha Umuralieva (Public Fund “Our Right”);

- Session on Juvenile Justice was carried out Ms. Yulia Votslava (Idepdendent Human Rights Group);

- Session on Access to Information That Is under Jurisdiction of Government Agencies and Local Self-Government was carried by Ms. Dinara Sayakova (Independent Human Rights Group);

- Session on International Standards on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Ethnic and Religious Minorities was carried out Ms. Atyrkul Alisheva (Institute of Regional Studies);

- Session on International Standards of LGBT Rights was carried out by Ms. Veronika Yur’eva (NGO ‘Labris’);

- Sessions on Protection of Women from Violence and Discrimination - International Standards and Practice. Special Report of Ombudsman. Its Structure, Form and Content of the Report was carried out by Ms. Kaiyrgul Sadybakasova (gender expert);

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- Session on Freedom of Worship and Right for Freedom of Religion was carried out by Mr. Dmitry Kabak (Public Fund ‘Open Viewpoint’).

The vast majority of participants noted the effectiveness of the training with cases and wished to have such kind of trainings more. All in all, the total number of participants including representatives from regions made up 30 out of whom 7 were women and 23 men. Carry out the assessment of conducted trainings for their effectiveness

This activity was envisaged in the current work plan for assessing the effectiveness of trainings conducted during the year. In this regard, it was decided to elaborate a unified evaluation form to be filled out by participants at the trainings. The evaluation forms had been filled out anonymously. By the end of the year when all trainings had been carried out those evaluation forms were compiled and handed over to an independent expert for further their processing. As an independent expert Ms. N. Kartanbaeva, a sociological researcher, had been involved for assessment of trainings. She also conducted interviews and desk reviews among training participants. Along with that she elaborated additional forms of questionnaires for conducting more in-depth analysis. The main objective of this assessment was to find out how far these trainings were effective and necessary for the staff of Ombudsman and whether they apply the knowledge and skills obtained out of trainings in their daily work. The relevance and importance of trainings in this study, due to limitations in the frames of this study concerned the only two questions: the first question whether the content of the trainings was met with needs of participants and the second question was if the content of the trainings was not significant and relevant then for what reason. In learning the first question, the expert concluded that most of the participants were satisfied with selected sessions and most of them were correlated with the specific activities of participants. In learning the second question, the expert concluded that due to various objective circumstances not always potential beneficiaries/participants attended the trainings.

From the standpoint of compliance of selected activities, assessment of respondents indicated that the proposed methods of providing information were generally well chosen. However, some respondents expressed their constructive criticisms to improve future trainings. According to the expert’s observation, the highest rate for trainings was given by employees who resumed their duties after maternity leave and relatively young staff. While managing employees, employees with extensive experience did not need trainings for their work, they shared more their constructive views regarding trainings. Talking about the efficiency and effectiveness of trainings there was no a definite answer to this question because of limitations in the framework of this assessment. However, based on the results of interviews and results of assessment it could be supposed that trainings were relatively effective. Overall, participants often mentioned as a useful and effective training on "Basics of legislative technique". The strong side of trainings participants stressed generally: the content of trainings, in-depth knowledge about the subject of trainers and competence of

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trainers/experts. In conclusion, it is necessary to note that the expert processed 82 evaluation forms and interviewed 25 respondents during the assessment. The final report on this assessment includes recommendations for further delivery of trainings. Amount of funds planned: USD 22619.00 Amount of funds actually disbursed: USD 22173.82 Major results and products: All planned trainings were delivered; they

were self-evaluated by participants, Major analytical reports, publications: Assessment of trainings is carried out Follow up actions planned in 2014: Functional review will help to develop a set

of indicators for performance evaluation of employees.

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Output 4 Awareness of activities of the Ombudsman Institute in promotion and protection of human rights is increased

Development of a communications strategy During the period from April 29 to June 1, 2013 a short-term PR expert Ms.

Nurgazieva A. was involved to develop a communications strategy for the OI. In the course of a preparatory stage of the assignment, the expert had several meetings with representatives of the Ombudsman Institute including the Press Service staff, the necessary information was compiled and processed (internal regulations on Press Service, job descriptions, annual work plan, annual report of Ombudsman, press releases, newspaper “Akiykatchy”, special reports and etc.). Based on this information, an analysis was conducted on effectiveness of all instruments of the Press Service that undertakes functions on maintaining internal and external communication of the Ombudsman Institute. Particularly, in understanding profoundly the perception of the Ombudsman Institute by mass media a content-analysis of publications about this institution or about Ombudsman was done. Thus, positive, negative and neutral texts were exposed to semantic analysis. As a result of it, strategic target audiences had been formed as well as clear recommendations were given on improvement of existing communication instruments and introduction of supplementary ones. In addition, recommendations on arrangement of activities of the Press Service and its interaction with external environment are developed.

Based on this communications strategy an action plan on building public relations was elaborated which included not only a range of communication instruments but special public events aimed at increasing legal awareness, informational work and interaction with state agencies and non-governmental organizations. Actually, the communications strategy provides instruments of building communications including templates of press-releases and recommendation for the structure of the newspaper ‘Akiykatchy’.

It’s worthwhile mentioning that all recommendations of the strategy are applicable and if they were put to good use they would allow achieving positive changes in the operation of the Ombudsman Institute, in particular effective functioning of the Press Service for a short period of time. This document was sent for the consideration of the Ombudsman Institute. Public hearing of the annual report of Ombudsman

Under this output a public hearing of the annual report of the Ombudsman was supported on March 14th 2013. According to the law on Ombudsman each year Ombudsman submits annual report describing the situation on human rights and

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freedoms in the Kyrgyz Republic to the consideration of the Parliament. The request came in a short time that resulted in presentation of a low quality document because it was revealed later that the document was not edited properly, structured or exposed to the revision of civil society beforehand. In this regard, a corrective measure was undertaken later on, and as mentioned early, one-day training was arranged on preparation of annual and special reports for the personnel of Ombudsman. The public hearing was generally arranged by the then Ombudsman Mr. Tursunbek Akun. All invitations had been sent on his behalf to the Parliament, government, international organizations and civil society representatives. The project supported only costs for venue and printing of handouts. All recommendations regarding the annual report made by participants of the event had been taken into consideration of the Ombudsman Institute. Most criticism concerned the fact that in many cases the annual report did not include the information on results of the operation of the Ombudsman Institute (whether the violated rights and freedoms were restored or not, what kind of charge was imposed on a public officer or state agency who violated rights). In a number of occasions the annual report contained recommendations that did not relate to conducted studies and disclosed violations. The report did not include references to publications of the Ombudsman Institute as well as joint implemented efforts with non-governmental organizations. There was no enough statistical data and a serious analysis of existing indicators. Overall, the Ombudsman representatives promised during the event to take into account all the recommendations in the future and next time to present more well-defined and rigorously analyzed report to public. Raising awareness about Human Rights Day and celebration of the anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration

Usually by the end of the year the Ombudsman Institute holds various kinds of awareness raising activities in promotion of human rights. Thus, publication of pamphlets dedicated to the 65 years anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration was supported under this output. The Ombudsman Institute requested printing 3000 copies of this declaration in Kyrgyz language since they would be broadly distributed in regions and 1800 copies in Russian language.

Along with that production of public service announcement (PSA) was supported by request of the Ombudsman Institute. The content of the public service announcement was dedicated to the Article 26 of the Human Rights Declaration “Every human being has a right to education”. The PSA was scripted and produced by the Ademi theatre representatives. It was agreed that the finished product would be handed over to the Ombudsman Institute for their further actions like broadcasting of this PSA among public television. The Ombudsman Institute will take all responsibility for broadcasting and dissemination of this PSA in regions and cities.

On December 10th, 2013 the project supported holding an event by a request of the Ombudsman Institute dedicated to celebration of 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event was arranged by the Ombudsman Institute since all invitation letters was sent on behalf of Ombudsman. The project supported the

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costs of venue and printing supporting materials. The representatives from the Presidential Administration, Government, UN agencies, civil society and mass media had been participated in this event. Prior to the event a movie dedicated to the Human Rights Declaration was played and presented to the audience. However, it is worthy to note that the celebration of this day was greatly connected with a reward ceremony of winners of the contest among journalists for better reporting the topic on human rights and human rights activities in mass media in Kyrgyzstan. The contest was announced a month ago by the Ombudsman Institute in encouraging journalists to illuminate more topics on human rights issues. Ombudsman nominated three awards and the selection process was done under the guidance of the Press Service of the Ombudsman Institute. Upon the end of the contest in the category "Best editorial staff covering the problem of human rights and freedoms" the AKIpress team took the first place. As the best journalists covering the issue of human rights and freedoms the correspondents of PTRC and “Vecherniy Bishkek” had been recognized. The second place was taken by correspondents of “Birinchi radio”, “24.kg” information agency and “Alibi” newspaper. The third place was taken by journalists of the “Kyrgyz Tuusu” newspaper, “Mekeninfo”

and “Voice of Freedom”. Journalists who had also been actively participating in the competition were awarded with incentive prizes, too. Special report on evaluation of economic costs of domestic violence

The Ombudsman Institute requested supporting the publication of the special report on evaluation of economic costs of domestic violence. Initially, the study on economic costs of domestic violence was carried out early in spring by independent gender experts who developed a methodology for calculation the costs of domestic violence and how these costs usually affect the economy or the budget of the country. In this regard, the experts tried to show the impact and scope of domestic violence on a national scale. In most cases the psychological and physical violence often occur over a long period of time, while direct and indirect costs borne by the victims themselves, by society, and the social and economic costs of violence against women require integrated actions at different levels. And so for more effective combat with domestic violence and in prevention of the recurrence of violence, changes in legislation, the availability of accessible support services for victims of violence as well as active collaboration with the civil society are required. As the study shows, attempts to justify government inaction in this matter with economic difficulties in the country are not grounded in reality. Lack of data on the economic component in studying the problem deprives the possibility of policy makers and politicians to make decisions and makes difficult to increase spending for prevention of domestic violence.

The Ombudsman Institute intended to apply this methodology and make a special report which is based on cases and complaints they have under consideration. It was agreed that upon completion of the report the project would support its editing, translation and printing costs. However, the drafting process of special report by gender department of the Ombudsman Office took longer time than planned before. Then the report was sent for the consideration of the gender expert group for their feedback and

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comments. The expert group was not satisfied with the content of the report which lacked with substantive analytical part; this again showed the capacity of the personnel of the Ombudsman Office. Accordingly, by the second time the report was polished and finalized by taking into account all comments sent by experts. In connection with these arrangements the final version of the special report was submitted too late for editing and translation activities due to closure of financial year and deadline for submission of payments. Therefore, it was decided with involvement of professional editors and translators to edit and translate the special report into Kyrgyz language only and hand it over to the Ombudsman Institute for their further actions. The Ombudsman Institute agreed to print the special report at own expenses in the beginning of 2014. Amount of funds planned: USD 32067.00 Amount of funds actually disbursed: USD 32673.34 Major results and products: Communication strategy is developed

along with its action plan; public hearing of the annual report of Ombudsman is carried out, brochures on Human Rights Declaration are printed out and disseminated in regions.

Major analytical reports, publications: Special report on economic costs of domestic violence and public service announcement on Human Rights Declaration are developed.

Follow up actions planned in 2014: Adoption of a communication strategy by the OI and integration of it into the long-term strategy on human rights.

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Ad-hoc activities

Communication platform for the civil society representatives Due to political situation around the Ombudsman Institution, the project

supported several ad-hoc activities and requests which had not been envisaged in the work plan earlier. One of such activities was supporting the communication platform for the civil society representatives during the election process of a new Ombudsman. There was an urgent request from civil society organizations to support such platform for discussing election criteria of a new Ombudsman. The event was held on September 3rd at the Hyatt regency hotel with the involvement of members of Parliament, candidates for the Ombudsman post and Ombudsman Office representatives. Thanks to this event the process of nomination became more transparent because on September 6th, 2013 civil society representatives were allowed to enter the building of the Parliament and could monitor the nomination process, after which all nominees – 54 candidates had been approved and passed by fractions to the consideration of the Committee on Human Rights. It was a great achievement in the history of election of a new Ombudsman because it was the first time when civil society organizations could monitor the election process which had become more accessible.

All expenses on this activity were covered under output 1 of the work plan. Workshop on elaboration of the work plan for the next 2014 year On November 5, 2013 a workshop on elaboration of the next year project work

plan had been arranged jointly with the representatives of UN agencies, Ombudsman office (including regional representatives) and civil society organizations. At the beginning of the event, Mr. Baktybek Amanbaev, Ombudsman of the KR in his speech appealed to the audience with a request to support the Ombudsman Institute with provision of new equipment and improvement of the organizational structure with a functional review due to a deteriorate situation that existed in the Ombudsman Institute. In this regard, the list of required things outlined in the paper was disseminated among participants. He mentioned that three new departments would be created under the Ombudsman Institute as the current situation in the Kyrgyz Republic requires protecting the rights of private entities (entrepreneurs), rights of military men and rights of migrants.

Furthermore, there was a presentation made by a project staff member on what had been done during the year and its results. The moderator of the event Ms. Zaure Sydykova who was involved to facilitate the workshop proposed to work in groups in elaboration of the work plan. However, the Ombudsman Institute representatives preferred working jointly in one big group and discuss together all important things. During the workshop everyone voiced priority areas to support under the project and they were all grouped into three main outputs as follows:

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1. Institutional capacity of the organization (it is necessary to develop a long-term strategy on human rights for 2014-2019 years with account of UPR recommendations and international standards, carrying our functional review for optimization of the organizational structure and improvement of business processes, adopting new mechanism of complaints handling from children, evaluation system of personnel (new criteria));

2. Capacity development of personnel of the Ombudsman Institute (conducting ToT on various areas of human rights, methods of conducting monitoring of closed institutions, methods of prevention of human rights violations, training target groups of 4-5 people instead of a large group);

3. Advocacy and information campaigns (production of broadcasts on human rights issues, public service announcements, publication of special reports, leaflets and brochures containing information about human rights, events dedicated to human rights day).

All participants agreed that all those inputs would be finalized and circulated

among all interested parties for their final feedback and comments. In addition, it was agreed that not all inputs will be included in the work plan due to limited budget for the next year but only priority one will be take into consideration out of this list. However, the remained list will serve as a basis for discussion with other donor organizations which would support in the future. After this workshop, the draft version of the work plan was discussed with focal points of the UN agencies who are donor of the project for their last changes to enter into it. The final version of the work plan was submitted and circulated among partners and donor organizations for their approval. By mid of December the new work plan was finalized and approved.

All expenses on this activity were covered under output 1 of the work plan.

Donor Coordination meeting On November 26, 2013 by a request of Ombudsman of the KR a donor

coordination meeting had been supported under this project. Immediately after the workshop on elaboration of the work plan it was agreed between management that all inputs that could not be included in the work plan may be proposed for the donor community. This kind of platform also could be helpful among donor organization in order to avoid overlapping activities and donor aid to the Ombudsman Institute. In this regard, invitations to donor agencies were sent on behalf of Ombudsman and 15 representatives of donor organizations took participation at this event. Ombudsman opened the event with his speech and made a presentation where he voiced priority areas for support. Later he opened the floor for open discussion and answered all questions that donor community representatives addressed to him. Participants of the event proposed to further handle the coordination mechanism by a matrix of donor aid where all donor could enter all activities directed to the Ombudsman Institute and to circulate among donor agencies constantly for their update. Finally, it was agreed that suck kind of platform will be held on a regular basis and coordinated by Ombudsman

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himself. Later on, the matrix was sent to all donor agencies for complication of information. According to this matrix only few organizations reported their intention in supporting the Ombudsman Institute in 2014 (these are, UN agencies under their joint project, European Union, Danish Institute for Human Rights, OSCE). As a result, UN agencies project on technical assistance will focus on undertaking functional review of the Ombudsman Institute and on development of the five-year strategy on human rights, other donor agencies will focus on increasing personnel capacity of the Ombudsman Institute as well as on providing support in preparation of the annual report before the Parliament.

All expenses on this activity were covered under output 1 of the work plan.

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Difficulties/changes in implementation

Key dates:

June 27th, 2013: Dismissal of ex-Ombudsman Mr. T. Akun July 3rd, 2013: announcement for Ombudsman post August 15th, 2013: deadline of submission of applications – 54 candidates for the

post of Ombudsman September 15th, 2013: election of a new Ombudsman by Parliament October 3rd, 2013: appointment of a new Ombudsman

Difficulties encountered and changes in implementation:

A long internal restructuring process in the Ombudsman Institute (during spring 2013) caused suspension in implementation of some activities envisaged in the work plan 2013. The process was led by ex-Ombudsman Mr. T. Akun in which he brought some structural changes into the organization, as a result one department on protection of children’s rights was created with eleven staff members. Connecting to this, an activity on elaboration of a five-year strategic paper on human rights under the work plan was ceased and put off for a time.

Furthermore, the dismissal of ex-Ombudsman by the Parliament occurred that resulted in suspension of majority activities of the work plan in exception of trainings which had been carried out under the guidance of Deputy Ombudsman Ms. Borombaeva T. However, such strategic activities as public hearing of the draft law on Ombudsman and elaboration of the human rights strategy were out aside until appointment of a new Ombudsman.

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Lessons learnt: What worked well:

- The development of a new edition of the law on Ombudsman was carried out on time which included ICC recommendations;

- Public hearing on discussion of this draft law with civil society representatives gave a good impulse to finalize the document at a proper level for compliance with Paris Principles;

- Creation of a training center for holding a wide range of events including on-job trainings for the personnel of the OI, and in a purpose of building their capacities;

- Communication strategy is developed along with its action plan; later on at the training on building communication and applying PR techniques, the trainer and participants referred to this strategy for in-depth learning activities.

What did not:

- Supporting the elaboration of the strategic plan on development of the OI for five years was suspended due to political situation around the Ombudsman Institute;

- The methodological framework for the newly created training center under the OI did not operate well due to the absence of a responsible staff member to conduct induction trainings for newly hired personnel on a regular basis, including unavailability of internal manual on it.

Withdraw lessons in 2014: - Providing support to the development of the strategy on human rights strategy

with involvement of a wide range of experts, project partners, stakeholders and other relevant parties. Thus, it will allow considering various viewpoints and expertise in drafting a strategy.

Contact details of project specialist: Aida Bazarkulova, abz@dgov.undp.kg, 0312 69 43 81 (ext. 145)