How a small local initiative grew into a big festival
“In recent years, I often hear and even see such a trend when local residents accuse local self-government bodies (LSG) that they "do not organize" and "do not carry out" garbage collection, municipal improvement, street lighting, or do not improve the quality of services provided to the local population. However, they themselves do not participate in discussions, public hearings, and meetings organized by local self-government bodies and do not know how, to whom, or for what the local budget is allocated. As a result, they lack information and do not understand what services they are entitled to and obliged to receive, and at some meetings, they act defiantly and aggressively, resulting in varying degrees of conflict. How to deal with it? How to prevent this kind of conflict situations?”
Altynai Zhenishova, an activist not only from her home village of Kazarman but also from the entire Toguz-Toro district of the Jalal-Abad oblast (region), frequently posed such questions.
Altynai has never been indifferent to the well-being and prosperity of her district, and she has never spared any effort, time, or even her own money for active participation in its life. With the support of numerous international donor organizations, she actively participated in and directly coordinated the implementation of numerous projects in the district with a focus on local development, enhancing local services, and increasing the potential of the local community.
It also occurred in 2021, when Kargalyk Aiyl Okmotu, one of the five municipalities of the Toguz-Toro district, was selected as one of 25 partner locations in Kyrgyzstan for the project "Living in Harmony," implemented by the International Alert team with the support of the European Union in partnership with the National Mediation Center and the Development Policy Institute (DPI). The project's primary goal was to support youth, civil society, and local self-government bodies engaged in preventing social conflicts and upholding law and order in Kyrgyzstan.
“The bodies of the Kargalyk municipality's LSG expressed their willingness to become a partner aiyl aimak of the project "Living in Harmony," realizing that with the start of the project, they would have to strengthen their actions aimed at preserving peace, preventing conflicts, and resolving them through negotiations if they arose. They decided to implement a local initiative mechanism[1] by announcing a competition among local residents for the best initiative. As an aside, Kargalyk Aiyl Okmotu became one of the eight municipalities that expressed their willingness to participate in conflict management through the implementation of this mechanism.[2]" Sultan MAYRAMBEKOV, Project Grant Specialist, DPI.
The local self-government bodies of the Kargalyk Aiyl Aimak completed all stages of cooperation with the project in order to achieve their goals, beginning with trainings and ending with a competition for the best local initiative, and allocated funds from the local budget for the prize fund. They developed joint, effective, inclusive measures for early conflict prevention and for training a wide range of the local community in conflict analysis skills after receiving grant funds from the Living in Harmony project in January 2022, intended for the interaction of the LSG bodies with the local civil community. The outcome exceeded all expectations, covering nearly all of Kazarman's residents, or 12,700 people.
Kargalyk Aiyl Aimak's Aiyl Kenesh approved a Model Regulation "On the procedure for organizing and holding a competition for local initiatives'' by its resolution at the end of the previous year 2021, under which a competition was announced and held among the local population. Following the competition's results, the initiative "Solidarity of Residents: A Beautiful Village" was supported, which was taken up by the Kazarman village initiative youth group in May 2022. The project's goal was to engage the local community in local initiatives such as tree planting and landscaping in the Kargalyk Aiyl Aimak village of Kazarman, as well as a call for joint conflict-free solutions to rural problems and joint development of rural development programs.
As a result of the implementation of a local initiative, 9 iron vases and 63 flowerpots were installed on the facade of roadside structures on the north side of the central street T. Jeenaliev in the village of Kazarman. After witnessing such beauty, the local residents wanted to be a part of this initiative, turning their village into a flower garden on their own initiative and conditionally calling these actions a "Flower Festival" relay.
“Our initiative became not only ours, but also the entire local community's. It brought us all together and turned into "Festival of Flowers." I would like the LSG bodies to hold a similar competition each year because it generates new ideas and suggestions for preventing conflicts, building peace, and strengthening unity among the population. Following the implementation of the "Solidarity of Residents: A Beautiful Village" initiative, other members of the local community picked it up and carried on, installing additional 16 flowerpots and 1 installation at their own expense. We were happy and proud that we were the cause of the initiative's success when it became somewhat viral. We support world peace, and even more so in our own community. Many realized the importance of citizen participation in the budget process, as it turned out that many issues could be resolved directly with the local self-government bodies during gatherings, meetings, or hearings, rather than catching them one by one, knocking on the doors of Aiyl Okmotu, and expressing some doubts about the rational use of local budget funds. An open dialogue is the key to success and unity." Kalys MASIROV, winner of the contest "Local Initiative."
Four institutions (Toguz-Toro District Local Administration, District Medical Center, Toguz-Toro Aiyl Okmotu, and Kargalyk Aiyl Okmotu), two business owners, and one kindergarten installed 16 vases with 90 flower pots as part of the "Festival of Flowers" relay, which was attended by about 200 people. They recruited 8 men and 4 women from among the temporarily unemployed for this project, 4 of whom came from families with disabilities, and their work was compensated. In addition, the guest house KAZARMAN MONTE installed the installation "I Love Kazarman" near the House of Culture on the central street of Kazarman village. Individual entrepreneur Apasova Kenjegul took responsibility for the care of flowers and the maintenance of flowerpots and vases.
“When the youth proposed launching a local initiative, we thought it was unrealistic. We didn't really believe it, to be honest. But as soon as we saw the newly installed flowerpots filled with beautiful flowers along the street, we all wanted to be a part of this initiative and get our hands on it. We've seen that a good local initiative can be a great tool for fostering peace and unity." Akylai NASIRDINOVA, employee of the District Department of Labor, Social Development, and Migration.
The total cost of the project was slightly more than 200 thousand soms, with the local budget and partners covering 35% of the costs.
To demonstrate an example of a local initiative, following the installation of flowerpots, active members of the competition commission and local activists held a number of other events to draw the public's attention to other issues of local importance: they conducted trainings and seminars for members of the aimak's Women's Council to involve local residents in the decision-making process on issues of local importance and socio-economic development through the implementation of local initiatives, on the rules of living without conflicts, on the role of mediation in living in harmony, on issues of local importance and civic participation, etc.
“Yes. Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind is to criticize local governments for not managing social development well. However, if you pay close attention, you can see that the LSG bodies are unable to meet the social needs of citizens because of their limited resources to support and develop basic infrastructure — the most vital local needs, such as clean drinking water and garbage collection. There is no time or money left for social needs. And this is already a signal, more so for the state than the LSG bodies. After all, the national funds allotted to local budgets are insufficient for the full-fledged social development of local communities, on whose level of social development a lot depends, from children's health and education to social cohesion and people's ability to resist conflicts, extremism, and other difficulties of the challenging time in which we live. Almost every example of a local initiative that has been implemented demonstrates that local activists and CSOs often know the true needs of communities better and can offer ideas to meet those needs. With small financial injections from the local budget, they can perfectly carry out projects. The Kargalyk municipality initiative is a direct demonstration of the need to develop and strengthen collaboration between LSG bodies and civil society in the implementation of local initiatives." Nadezhda DOBRETSOVA, Chairwoman of the Board of the Development Policy Institute.
The "local initiative" mechanism was supported by LSG bodies in seven additional project locations:
- Mayor's Office of Balykchy,
- Sumbula AO,
- Kurama AO,
- Lenin AO/Alamudun,
- Kara-Buura AO,
- Lenin AO/Alai,
- Mayor's Office of Tash-Komur.
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[1] The model regulation on the procedure for the selection and financing of local initiatives by local self-government bodies was approved by GAMSUMO Order No. 01-18/84 dated September 5, 2019.
[2] http://municipalitet.kg/ru/article/full/2774.html
