Bishkek, 25 March / The Government of Kyrgyzstan approved the procedure for the provision of sign language interpretation services for people with hearing disabilities. The draft Regulations on the procedure of sign language interpretation services provision have been developed with the support of the United Nations Development Program in Kyrgyzstan.

According to the procedure, state-guaranteed sign language interpretation services to persons with hearing disabilities are provided free of charge at the expense of the state budget.

People with hearing and speech disabilities will be able to receive sign language interpretation services:

·        at educational and health care institutions;

·        during investigative actions and court proceedings of civil, administrative and criminal cases;

·        during notarization of documents or transactions;

·        during training to acquire driving or computer literacy skills;

·        when providing state or municipal services;

·        when visiting social security, social insurance and pension authorities;

·        in other cases, stipulated by the law.

Each person with a hearing disability can receive 40 hours of interpretation per year, and the sign language interpretation service can be provided either remotely or on-site. Sign language interpretation services will be provided as part of government procurement. It should be noted that sign language interpreters are ensured to keep confidentiality and ethics of sign language interpretation.

The initial hourly salary rate for the work of sign language interpreters is 100 KGS.

Sign language interpretation services will be provided based on the application of a recipient to the city or district offices of the authorized body at the place of actual residence, which greatly facilitates access and does not tie a person to the place of registration. Before the approval of the Regulations, sign language interpretation was provided by government agencies through open resources, for example, through the list of sign language interpreters available on the website of the Ministry of Justice, or citizens with hearing disabilities had to find and afford the services individually.

According to Aidai Tolonova, Director of the Equal Opportunities Social Center, who participated in the development of the draft Regulations, it is now necessary to launch a mechanism for providing sign language interpretation services so that a flexible and effective system for sign language interpretation services beneficiaries will work in Kyrgyzstan. “The Regulations are designed to ensure that people with hearing disabilities have access to education, government services and fully participate in public processes. In this we were supported by the project of UNDP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland “Towards a Sustainable Access to Justice for Legal Empowerment in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Labor and Social Development for cooperation and to the UNDP project for its comprehensive support.” said Aidai Tolonova.

Support for exercising the rights by people with hearing disabilities is provided within the framework of the project of UNDP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland “Towards a Sustainable Access to Justice for Legal Empowerment in the Kyrgyz Republic.” The training of sign language interpreters with a legal focus has been funded since 2016. Activities are conducted to ensure social integration of people with disabilities through the improvement of national legislation with regard to the norms of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

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Contacts for media:

Nurzhan Alymkanova

Communications Officer

nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org