The United Nations Development Programme, as part of its multilateral comprehensive assistance to the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in response to the COVID-19 crisis, launched activities aimed at improving access to legal information and legal aid in remote pilot communities.

The spread of the novel coronavirus significantly affected the life of Kyrgyzstan’s people, including issues related to access to legal information for citizens and the provision of necessary legal assistance.

“The pandemic is ongoing, unfortunately, but life has not stopped. Citizens still face a need to access to legal information and obtain necessary legal aid on various vital issues right here and right now. Some legal issues cannot be postponed until the pandemic ends. A comprehensive response to COVID-19 involves a multisectoral approach and cannot be limited to medical care alone. This also includes issues of social, economic and legal support to citizens,” said Mr. Mukash Kaldarov, technical advisor of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic.

UNDP seeks to respond to the current situation and provide the opportunity to resolve disputes, counteract offenses and seek the protection of rights on a number of issues: this include those becoming increasingly relevant during the pandemic, such as employment and labor, loans and banking relations, housing, access to social benefits, or other mechanisms of social and economic welfare. To this end, the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the nonprofit association "Lawyers of the Fergana Valley without Borders" have launched activities to provide legal aid to the citizens in 6 pilot communities, observing the minimum standards in the context of COVID-19.

“The main task of the lawyers is to provide legal assistance within the existing Legal Aid Centers already providing municipal services to the citizens in the city of Aidarken (Kadamjai district), Isfana (Leilek district) in Batken province, as well as in Kok-Serek village (Ala-Buka district), Kashka-Suu (Aksy district) in Jalal-Abad province, and Kashkar-Kyshtak village (Kara-Suu district) and Tepe-Korgon AA (Aravan district) in Osh province." – explained Mr. Ashurov Azizbek, the head of the NGO "Lawyers of Fergana Valley without Borders".

According to the experts, the lawyers in the afore-mentioned pilot locations will provide legal assistance based on the developed methodology for the provision of qualified legal aid during emergencies, taking into account the standards to protect public health during the pandemic.

This work was initiated within the UNDP project "Supporting an Inclusive and Multi-Sectoral Response to COVID-19 and Addressing its Socio-Economic Impact in the Kyrgyz Republic" funded by the Government of Japan and aimed at comprehensive and human-centered socio-economic measures to respond to the pandemic.