Democracy and religion - dialogue between equal and moderate voices

Why is the project important?

The project aims to create a cohesive and democratic society in Kyrgyzstan through the involvement and strengthening of the potential of various stakeholders, especially young people, in preventing radicalization and mitigating the existing tension.

One of the objectives of this project is to increase opportunities for peaceful intercultural and interreligious dialogue at the National and Regional levels through sustainable platforms and tools. And also, increasing the potential of communities whose activities are aimed at opposing radicalism, extremism and violence. To achieve this goal, it is creating resilience against extremist tendencies of youth. The total number of beneficiaries of the project was about 1300 people.

Specific objectives 1. Opportunities for peaceful intercultural and interreligious dialogue at the National and Regional levels are enhanced through sustainable platforms and tools; 2: The potential of communities whose activities are aimed at opposing radicalism, extremism and violence is increased. 3: Sustainability against youth extremist tendencies, in particular, will be strengthened (goals) to contribute to the achievement of the Common Goal: To foster a cohesive and democratic society in Kyrgyzstan through the involvement and strengthening of the potential of various stakeholders, especially young people, in preventing radicalization and mitigating existing tensions. Specific goals 2-3 are aimed at the community (cities and villages of the project) and promoting each other's work. The involvement of various public groups in the project will develop a common understanding, attitude and behavior in society, thus combining them, and the removal of stereotypes and barriers, mainly based on different understanding of issues related to religion in general and collective resistance against involvement in extremist movements and groups in particular. Specific goal 1 is directly aimed at various discussion platforms, media TV and radio, as information support for goals 2-3, and strengthening a nationwide dialogue on issues related to religion, as well as a peaceful, united society.

Project Duration:
This project was implemented from May 2017 to April 2019.

Key partners of the project:
The project is implemented by the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Association of People's Universities (DVV International) in partnership with CRISP, the "Institute for Youth Development" and "Youth of Osh" with funding from the European Commission.

Project coordinator:
Ajara Kasmalieva - akasmalieva@jashtar.org