On March 27 - 30, 2019, representatives of 40 NGOs from all regions of the country participated in the training program on civil engagement in monitoring and evaluation of state bodies. During the four days, the participants studied effective open data policy tools that are necessary for monitoring the implementation of the National Action Plan 2018-2020 (Achyk Okmot NAP) in building the Kyrgyz Republic’s Open Government.
“Building the Open Government requires not only efforts of the government but also active participation of civil society. We have developed the training program in a way that allows civil society sector representatives learn to understand the principles of the Open Government work and obtain skills necessary for collecting, analyzing and visualizing the open data”, - noted Dinara Musabekova, the Civil Society Initiative Program Manager.
On March 30, the final training day, a Datathon was held, where teams of trainees competed in applying their new knowledge in practice. The trainees, supervised by mentors, developed their own solutions to visualize the data and design media products.
In November 2017, the Kyrgyz Republic was formally accepted as the 75th country participating in the international Open Government Partnership (OGP), which is aimed at strengthening the commitment of governments to the principles of transparency and accountability as well as promoting the use of new technologies to combat corruption and ensure government responsiveness to the wishes of their citizens.
As a part of the adopted National Action Plan “Achyk Okmot”, the Kyrgyz Republic has committed to implementing 18 initiatives in three key areas: affordable public services, transparent public procurement, and open data.
The training was delivered by the Civil Society Initiative Program of the University of Central Asia’s Graduate School of Development with the support of the USAID Collaborative Governance Program.
The Collaborative Governance Program (CGP) promotes effective collaboration between civil society, the private sector, and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI).