Kyrgyzstan

Malika, 56, feels less alone because of the HelpAge project she is part of. (c) Sarah Marzouk/HelpAge International Since 2003, we've worked closely with local partners In Kyrgyzstan on older people's issues, including social protection, migration, livelihoods, health and rights.

Life story: Malika, 56

“I lived with my husband for 26 years, he was my second husband and we didn’t have any children together. The marriage wasn’t officially recognised. When my husband died, his children came to kick me out of my house. 

"The older people’s group and crisis centre tried to defend my rights. They organised a meeting with the local administration to discuss what to do and also involved the local women’s council. They tried to push my husband’s relatives into stopping what they were doing, but it’s very difficult.

"But because they helped me I am still in my house and am still fighting. Because of the older people’s group, I stayed and I feel protected.

“Before the [HelpAge] project we were closed, but now we share, talk about our memories, good times, bad times, the project unites us. Many older women are on their own; but now we don’t feel alone anymore.

"Before we used to sit at home with our grandchildren and didn’t speak to many people."

Supporting older people in Kyrgyzstan

Over the last year, we have supported older people in many areas.

Social protection

• We have worked with the Ministry of Social Protection to ensure that older people are included in social protection policies. We have also supported the design of social protection systems that take into account the rapidly growing informal economy.
• Through older people's groups we have looked at older people's access to social protection and provided advice on how to access social services.

Migration and livelihoods

• We have worked with older people's groups, local NGOs and partners to improve food security and livelihoods of households with missing generations due to migration.
• We have researched the impact of informal economy on old age income security and have implemented age-appropriate livelihoods projects in rural areas.

Health

• We have worked with local partners and older people's groups on promoting health and well-being, focusing on the major risks such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol abuse.
• We have increased the access to health services and medicine for older people and other vulnerable households.
• The Ministry of Health has included HelpAge in the committee which is developing and implementing a strategy to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases.

Rights

• Our elder abuse research project was carried out in 12 villages across Kyrgyzstan. The report has recommendations which will be presented to the government to reduce elder abuse.
  
• In August 2012, at the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing in New York, an ADA campaigner from Kyrgyzstan, Kulumkan Shabdanbekova, presented over 70,000 ADA petition signatures from 118 countries to Ivan Šimonović, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.

What next?

Our focus over the next year will be:

• securing ageing in the post-2015 development agenda,
  
• working with key UN agencies to increase our policy impact and action to address population ageing in Kyrgyzstan,
  
• working consistently on age and gender analysis in our programme design and implementation,
• strengthening local movements of older people and Age Demands Action activists to support their participation in national and global actions. 

Fighting diabetes in Kyrgyzstan

Our Affiliates

Resource Center for the Elderly

Our partners

Ministry of Health, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Babushka Adoption, ADRA, Mehr Shavkat, Association of Crises Centres (ACC), Neighbourhood Watch, Ministry of Social Protection, National Agency on Local Self Governance, EFCA, ACTED, UN Women, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Association of Crisis Centres in Kyrgyzstan, Public Association for Social Protection of the Population (PASSP), Jangy Kadam, PA Lady Shirin, Federation of Self Help Groups, AgeNet,

Our donors

European Union, UNICEF, Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan, OSCE, World Diabetes Federation through DanChuch Aid, Open Society Foundation, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), GDS International, DIPECHO/ACTED, MercyCorps, DFID