Programme:
European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)Country Based Support Scheme (CBSS) for Kyrgyzstan 2018-2019

Project:
«Partnership of Public Councils and Media as a democratic platform for promoting freedom of expression, accountability and human rights»

Overall objective:
is promotion of freedoms and protection of human rights through the formation and maintenance of a free information space, freedom of speech and expression in Kyrgyzstan.

Project duration:
November 2019 – December 2021

Project beneficiaries and counterparts:
At the local level, the action will target 21 Public Councils in 7 oblasts of Kyrgyzstan. Both local communities and local authorities will play key role in implementing the action and strengthening their capacity in promotion of freedom of expression among vulnerable groups empowering them not to shrink away from passing judgements and to articulate their needs openly.
At the national level, the key stakeholders are line ministries and agencies, Parliament, Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ombudsman office. This group has the influence and legislation and executive power to promote human rights issues from their angles in partnership with the action partners, in their capacity as supervisors and regulators.
Civil society organizations (CSO) and development partners are important stakeholders for the action and they will be involved in key activities to ensure complementarity and synergy to maximize the results.
The mass media will be one of the key partners of the project. 

Project activities:

1. Assessment and analysis of the capacity gaps/needs assessment of target groups - right holders and duty-bearers – central and local authorities; 
2. Interaction of local and state bodies with the media in the context of maintaining a free information space, freedom of speech and expression in Kyrgyzstan. Conducting regular public platforms in the regions, with the participation of public councils, civil society activists and government officials and journalists; 
3. Conducting competitions for journalists and public councils at the local and national levels; 
4. Organisation of live broadcasts using the most advanced technology with the participation of the Ombudsman, legal specialists and other experts who will promptly respond to the appeals of citizens on infringement upon their rights and injustice and provide legal advice to them; 
5. Creation and use of existing social pages of the project in social networks as a platform to which all citizens will be able to send their appeals and after re-checking the facts, this information will become public information; 
6. Addressing the needs through capacity building: needs-based training series for target groups;
7. Advocacy campaign development and implementation through mini-grants to Public Councils and awareness raising with media partners: Media strategy, TOT, Brand Book, Social media work, site development; 
8. Knowledge sharing: development of training manuals, guides on the HR protection for vulnerable groups, information brochures, videos, reels and other publications; 
9. External working and public meeting and hearings, forums, round tables and conferences.