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Government and Nonprofit Sector Relations in the Kyrgyz Republic Erldnbek Kasybekov By many accounts, the Kyrgyz Republic is an example of democratic development in post-Soviet Central Asia, one where the institutions of "civil society" are growing rapidly. Testimony to this is to be seen in the development ofthe grassroots NGO community-between 1991 and 1996 more than 800 NGOs had been established. Yet their impact has been aU too limited because oftheir failure to establish cooperative relations with the govemment. In the current situation, where economic transition is placing great pressure on Kyrgyz society and where government resources to deal with the difficulties are extremely limited, more extensive NGO-govemment cooperation would benefit all parties. This paper offers an analysis ofthe poverty-alleviation policies ofthe Kyrgyz government and the ways in which NGOs may assist in their implementation , from the perspective of one who has worked as an NGO trainer in the nonprofit sector. It is clear that obstacles to government and NGO cooperation must be overcome by both sides. Before turning to specific problems ofpoverty alleviation and NGO activity , we might consider briefly some ofthe obstacles to the creation ofNGOs in post-Soviet space. In the Soviet era both public understanding ofcivil society and the role ofNGOs were very limited. There were only a few extremely large but general public institutions, such as the Peace Fund, the Children's Fund, the Red Cross arid the Red Crescent Society, the Nature Protection Society, and a few others. The establishment ofsuch societies was possible only with government or Communist Party authorization. The only method of fundraising, if indeed this term is appropriate, was through budget subsidies or the forcible sale ofmembership stamps to often involuntary "members" ofthe societies. Thousands of Soviet citizens were involved in such activities and subjected to the stamp campaigns, which occurred fortunately only once a year. Even secondary school students were forced to buy the stamps. It was not unusual for a person to become a member ofseveral societies through such stamp sales yet know nothing about their activities. Usually the leaders ofthese large societies were very famous and popular people such as the first woman astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova , or the world chess champion, Anatoly Karpov. The structure and functioning of the societies were exactly the same in the Kyrgyz Republic as in Russia or any other part ofthe Soviet Union. 71 72 Erkinbek Kasybekov These organizations continue to exist in our countIy and still receive support from the state budget. We call them QUANGOs or quasi-NGOs. The government treats the leaders ofsuch organizations as high-ranking officials and has an excellent mutual understanding with them. The same situation appears to prevail in Uzbekistan. As a facilitator ofsome sessions at a recent conference in Tashkent, I observed high Uzbek officials gathering with Uzbek NGOs to discuss possibilities of cooperation, but in fact it was only the quasi-NGOs which were represented. One reason such QUANGOs retain the support ofthe governments is that they openly pursue the government goals with regard to social policy and presumably are trusted not to promote alternative agendas. It is my argument here that the truly independent NGOs in the Kyrgyz Republic share many ofthe same goals the government advocates in the sphere ofsocial policy and that therefore it would make sense for the NGO community and the government to cooperate in the same fashion that the old-line QUANGOs do. All parties-the NGOs, the government, and, most importantly, the Kyrgyz population-would benefit from such cooperation. Among the highest priorities ofthe Kyrgyz government is poverty alleviation . We can understand this need and the policies that have been enunciated to address it ifwe examine the economic situation that has developed since independence in 1991. Many important changes have occurred or are underway, starting with the elimination ofthe system of centralized planning and the establishment ofthe basis for a market economy. Freeing ofprices and wages has occurred, with the initial effect ofsubstantial inflation, but the inflation rate has now been reduced to below 20 percent. While privatization and restructuring of large enterprises is still underway, a majority ofsmall and medium-sized enterprises has been privatized , especially in the area ofconsumer services and agriculture. Conditions and stimuli for independent economic activity have developed, notably in the freeing ofthe labor market, resulting in the appearance ofsecondary employment and self-employment and its re-distribution toward the consumer, commercial , and fmancial sectors. Accompanying these economic changes have been important changes in social and cultural...

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