Millennium Development Goals in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan mountains © Vyacheslav Oseledko

The standard baseline year of 1990 for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) becomes inappropriate in a country where GDP slumped 50% between 1990 and 1995 following the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Poverty reduction in Kyrgyzstan, one of the poorest former Soviet republics, is instead normally quoted from its level of 52% in 2000. By 2006 40% of the population lived below the poverty line, rising to 65% in rural areas. Large and continually growing inequality has been a worrying trend over this period, with rural-urban internal migration exacerbating the picture. Agriculture has undergone an upheaval since the Soviet communal model which was dominated by wool production. Now there is a pattern of small privately-owned subsistence livestock farms which struggle to make ends meet.

A Kyrgyz woman © Eurasianet (Open Society Institute)

The government is committed to pro-poor economic growth and has been known as the "darling" of Central Asia amongst donors. Significant success in macro-economic stability in recent years has been achieved by a reduction in state expenditures, including cuts in education, the public health sector and social services, which have been detrimental to the fight against poverty. School enrolment rates and literacy are believed to be falling from previously high levels. Gender inequality is entrenched in the country's culture. These two issues are viewed as the greatest problems in achieving the MDGs.

Health in Kyrgyzstan

Young boy, Kyrgyzstan © Angelina Karavaeva

Kyrgyzstan experienced a sharp decline in health status indicators in the early 1990s; since 1995 there has been slow but gradual improvement. In 1996, with the support of the aid community, the government has undertaken a major health reform program Manas aimed at re-orienting the health system towards primary family care and away from its previous specialised, hospital care basis. Despite some progress being made, child and maternal mortality rates relevant to the MDGs are not on target. Health workers and doctors are poorly paid, leading to a drain of human resources overseas and a culture of low-level bribery by those remaining.

Intravenous drug use is increasing and is the major form of HIV transmission in Kyrgyzstan. There are also concerns about risks associated with migrant workers whose movement is eased by the porous borders of this region. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic is given as 4,000, though unofficial estimates put the number many times higher. More than half of officially reported cases occur in southern Kyrgyzstan – Osh and Kara Suu – the region on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border which is on the route for drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Tuberculosis cases have also dramatically increased, with 40% of the overcrowded prison population believed to be infected, of which about a third have the multi-drug-resistant form of the disease.
Politics in Kyrgyzstan

Askar Akaev led the nation from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 until the ”tulip revolution” in 2005 forced him to resign and flee to Moscow. Kurmanbek Bakiev, a former prime minister sacked by Akaev, took charge in the chaotic aftermath of his rival's downfall and won a solid victory in the presidential elections that followed in July 2005.

President Bakiev © Christian Science Monitor

Any honeymoon period in terms of public popularity for President Bakiev swiftly expired as frustration grew at his failure to honour promises to stem crime and corruption. Political disenchantment focused on reforms to achieve a more appropriate balance of powers between president and parliament. Bakiev was able to fend off mounting public protest by offering a referendum in 2007 on a revised constitution, claiming that it responded to demands for proportional representation and powers for parliament to elect the government. Opponents of the text pointed to the retention of presidential powers to make key appointments.

The constitution was approved by a 75% majority of voters although international observers were given too little time to mount effective scrutiny. Bakiev formed a new party, Ak Zhol, to assemble sympathetic interests and called a snap parliamentary election in December 2007. 90 members of parliament are chosen from party lists in proportion to the votes cast, with quotas for women, younger candidates and ethnic groups. However, faced with a range of minimum thresholds of votes in order to qualify for allocation of seats, the failure of 10 opposition parties to form any coalition groupings appears to have played into the hands of the president. Only a Supreme Court ruling prevented Ak Zhol from seizing every available seat, despite gaining only 48% of the vote. Further unease stems from the report from OSCE observers which was critical of the new system and the election itself. Meanwhile, the new parliament has exercised its powers to appoint the prime minister, Igor Chudinov, who in turn appointed the cabinet.

While civil society development was fairly vibrant in the 1990s, the situation has sharply deteriorated since 2000. Perhaps under Russian influence, the Bakiev governments have shown signs of obstructing dialogue with civil society, political activists, and religious leaders.
Human Rights in Kyrgyzstan

Parade, Bishkek © Vyacheslav Oseledko

This far from perfect representation of diversity in politics, backed by authoritarian enforcement, ensures that Kyrgyzstan has lost its 1990s reputation as an island of democracy in a highly repressive region. Human rights violations have been particularly evident for those wanting to participate in the political sphere. The right of assembly is limited and used as an excuse to detain opponents and activists. Despite a new law passed in 2003, there are contined reports of ill-treatment and torture of those held in police custody. The International Crisis Group asserts that the judiciary is not even-handed in political cases, being vulnerable to bribery and in need of major reform. A bloated civil service with underpaid public officials condemns citizens to what has been described as a “pay-as-you-live” society, such is the daily diet of corruption. Again, adequate laws are in place but not enforced.

As in other countries in the region, the activities of the fundamentalist group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, are prohibited in Kyrgyzstan but the appeal of Islam is believed to be rising and the authorities plan to abandon their relatively tolerant approach to members of the group. Religious persecution is condemned by human rights observers although broader international protest at the country’s poor standards of governance is muted, thanks in part to the presence of a US military base for operations in Afghanistan. There is little local sympathy for the Americans, creating a difficult situation for both governments over appropriate financial terms for the airbase.

A similar quandary pervades the relationship with the hardline government of neighbouring Uzbekistan, especially since the influx of refugees from the 2005 massacre in Andijan. Kyrgyzstan has accommodated Uzbek refugees but is slow to formalise their status and international opinion was outraged in 2006 when 5 individuals were returned to the security forces in Uzbekistan in a blatant violation of the 1951 Geneva Convention. The 2007 murder in Osh of the outspoken Uzbek journalist, Alisher Saipov, is suspected to be the work of Uzbek security forces but Kyrgyzstan is dependent on Uzbekistan for gas supplies and the two countries appear to work together closely on security issues.
Information and Media in Kyrgyzstan

Independent media outlets exist and an internationally-funded independent printing press, which opened in 2003, provides an alternative platform for those with opposing views to publish articles critical of the state. However, the redistribution of resources and power in the wake of the 2005 revolution has had a negative impact on the functioning of media, such as a famous independent media outlet Piramida. Critical journalists and their relatives have been targets of harassment by government authorities and independent media outlets have engaged in self-censorship avoiding open dialogue, particularly on the issue of corruption. Libel remains a crime subject to heavy fines.

There are no apparent restrictions to access of information via the internet. Many public access centers having been set up and supported by the aid community and internet cafes are thriving around the country. The main barrier to internet access is the poor socio-economic situation of the population.
The Economy in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has been at the forefront amongst the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in implementing macro-economic reforms, as advised by international financial institutions. Public investment has been cut continuously, leaving minimum safety nets for the population. However, this deference to the neoliberal economic model ground to a halt in February 2007 when the government surprisingly rejected the IMF's offer to join the HIPC debt initiative. An active campaign by civil society successfully argued that the loss of sovereignty inherent in the conditions for membership was too high a price for Kyrgyzstan to pay for the opportunity to cancel up to 70% of the $2 billion debt.

Aid accounts for nearly 17% of GDP and overseas remittances make a similar contribution. The country's small base for agricultural and industrial production, its dependency on gold production, unfavourable geographic location and neighbouring Uzbekistan's economic isolationism combine to make the Kyrgyzstan economy highly vulnerable to external shocks such as rising food and energy prices. Excessive government regulation of small and medium enterprises does not allow for sustainable private business development. Recent uncertainty over redistribution of assets together with murders of high-profile businessmen has worsened conditions for the country's business community. In addition, political instability and uncertainties have negatively affected the economy, adding to the sense of public disenchantment with the political classes.

The Environment in Kyrgyzstan

© Vyacheslav Oseledko

The most acute environmental problem for Kyrgyzstan is the Soviet-era legacy of uranium exploration. As of 1999, there were 36 uranium tailings sites and 25 uranium mining dump sites in the country. Many of these are located in areas highly prone to earthquakes and landslides; some of them at close proximity to river basins which are the sources of potable and irrigation water both for Kyrgyzstan and the wider Central Asian region.

As these rivers in turn are fed by the thousands of glaciers in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the potential impact of climate change looms large. As the glaciers begin to disappear, implications for sharing the vital resource for agriculture, hydropower, and household consumption may raise tension within the region, with Kyrgyzstan at the epicentre of this potential geo-strategic minefield.



The OneWorld Kyrgyzstan Guide was first published in 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Angelina Karavaeva

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