More than 250 Kyrgyz citizens answered the UNDP call to exchange incandescent bulbs for domestically produced LED lamps as part of the “Together Brighter-Kyrgyzstan!” campaign, held on October 26, 2019, in the cities of Bishkek and Osh.

This initiative in support of ​​the international Together Brighter energy-saving movement and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – “Affordable and clean energy” – was part of the UN Day celebration in Osh and Bishkek, organized by UN agencies and programs in the Kyrgyz Republic. The main goal of UN Day was to promote the importance of achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Kyrgyzstan based on the principles of an integrated approach, partnership and public ownership.

During the UN Day celebration, at specially equipped stands, schoolchildren who became Youth Ambassadors of SDG 7, explained to visitors how various types of light bulbs (incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, LED, with built-in photo- and motion sensors) work and, using special meters, demonstrated the amount of electricity consumed by different types of lamps.

The representatives of the Mailuu-Sui Electric Bulb Plant provided the UN Day visitors who brought incandescent bulbs with new LED ones of high quality and equal light intensity. Following the light bulb exchange, the visitors could participate in a recycling workshop and make Christmas tree decorations and oil lanterns from glass bulbs of old incandescent lamps.

Overall, more than 250 people in Bishkek and Osh took part in “Together Yarche-Kyrgyzstan!” light bulb exchange campaign, and more than 1,500 people visited SDG 7 booths in both cities.

“I saw the announcement of the UNDP light bulb exchange event on Facebook, so I thought I should participate and brought today three incandescent bulbs that I used at home and received three LED bulbs for free and with a one-year warranty,” says Nazgul from Bishkek. “As I learned today, using LED light bulbs I can save as much as 90 percent of what I used to pay before. When traveling abroad, I observed that energy-efficient lighting is a very common thing in foreign countries. I’m glad that in Kyrgyzstan the idea of ​​energy conservation is gaining popularity among the people.”

The light bulb exchange campaign was supported by the Regional UNDP-RTF “Regulatory Framework to Promote Energy Efficiency in Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union” Project funded by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Since its start in early 2019, "TogetherYarche-Kyrgyzstan!" nationwide campaign has included energy conservation-themed lessons, quizzes, drawings and essay competitions for schoolchildren, Open Days at energy companies, international conferences and forums to promote among Kyrgyzstanis the ideas of energy efficiency and energy conservation.  

Over the next few months, the UNDP-RTF “Regulatory Framework to Promote Energy Efficiency in Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union” Project will support introduction of a training course on energy conservation in selected schools of Bishkek, a “Together Brighter in Kyrgyzstan!” festival for students and schoolchildren at the Kyrgyz State Technical University, as well as development of the government program on energy conservation.

The campaign hashtags on social networks are # TogetherYarche, # TogetherYarche-Kyrgyzstan.

Some captions from the #TogetherBrighter campaign held in Bishkek on the UN Day