#JashStan’s Phase II launched in December 2018 and was a two-year project supported by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) to engage and support at-risk youth in conflict-prone communities as active leaders and peacebuilders throughout Kyrgyzstan. The project targeted 15 target communities across all seven regions of Kyrgyzstan.
Context
To support vulnerable youth in Kyrgyzstan, Search equips youth with key leadership and peacebuilding skills to address structural gaps driving conflict. Empowering youth through direct engagement is critical to this process. By engaging most-at-risk youth with a focus on empowering young women in conflict-prone communities, Search seeks to lay the foundation for long-term youth engagement in society for enduring change towards peace, while promoting interethnic tolerance at the local and national levels. Search’s programming across Kyrgyzstan aims to reduce the likelihood of community-based conflicts and violent extremism by empowering young people to be catalysts for peace.
Search’s previous work during the first phase #JashStan: Youth as Agents of Peace and Stability in Kyrgyzstan (2017-2018) established a successful youth-led approach model to empower young people to take an active role in Kyrgyz society and increase collaboration between young people and elders in local decision-making. This approach features activities like leadership training, civic engagement workshops, and dialogues to engage youth in meaningful opportunities together and with their communities. JashStan Phase I and Phase II are part of a synergistic effort to strengthen youth networks and influence structural change in their communities.
Theory of Change
“IF most-at-risk youth in target communities are engaged in collaborative initiatives together with existing youth leaders, key state and non-state stakeholders for a more inclusive and supportive environment for marginalized youth THEN the most-at-risk youth will gain agency and skills to become more resilient to radicalization leading to violence BECAUSE key community stakeholders and government actors will better understand the real needs and grievances of marginalized youth as well as create an opportunity for their positive contribution towards preventing radicalization and violent extremism in Kyrgyz society.”
Core Objectives and Activities
Working with local partners and stakeholders, Search created a safe space to empower youth to engage with and influence the decision-making process for more inclusive policies around marginalized youth issues. Search worked directly with most-at-risk youth to support them in an environment that is responsive to youth-centric issues with the support of social workers, pedagogues, and a tailored mentorship program designed to engage youth leaders to create learning opportunities for at-risk youth. Search brought together active youth leaders, mentors, state and non-state stakeholders through a national forum to produce recommendations for evidence-based policy changes relevant to youth needs.
Results
- Training 93 (52 male, 41 female) most-at-risk young women and men to undergo capacity building in peacebuilding tools and constructively engage with key stakeholders for practical solutions to reduce radicalization amongst youth. A total of 255 youth (117 male, 138 female) reached across both phases of JashStan.
- Developing a wide network of youth dedicated to developing mentorship and professional skills which is continuously leveraged by our local partners as they continue to work with youth throughout Kyrgyzstan.
- Strengthening the capacity of vulnerable youth through mentorship, leadership, and constructive advocacy sessions to develop communication strategies and plans to address key priorities and grievances for youth and prepare them for engagement with local government. In response, youth established 15 youth centers in their communities in partnership with the local government.
- Fostering women empowerment and solidarity through “Girls Sisterhood Schools” by challenging negative machismo stereotypes, improving the understanding of women’s empowerment and combating all forms of violence against women and girls.
“I am so grateful that JashStan helped me to understand that I have rights for education and that I have a choice. Before JashStan I never cared about my studies. I was planning to learn just sewing skills. But now, I have come to realize that I’m capable of more. I am a role model now for girls in my village.” – Female Youth, Alle Anarov
- Engaging youth in dialogue platforms with stakeholders from education, law enforcement, local government, and religious institutions at the local and national level to facilitate and create systemic changes through responsive policy development. As a result, a Roadmap for the implementation of youth initiatives at the local government level was developed as a tool to increase youth civic engagement.
- Facilitating roundtable discussions to discuss integration issues for most-at-risk-youth into community affairs and develop collaborative solutions with key local stakeholders such as youth leaders, social workers, social pedagogues, and local governments to put youth initiatives into action. This resulted in transformed relationships between youth and local government authorities.
“Before, we were afraid of the Local Government. We could not even knock on their doors. But now, we can even send them a message via WhatsApp at 10 pm with the request for help.” – Male Youth, Ak-Korgon
