Program Details: 
Promoting Lasting Change

Mercy Corps programs in Kyrgyzstan invest in the country's development by providing financial services and business advice, improving education and vocational opportunities for youth, and establishing a framework for equitable and broad-based economic progress.

In 1994, Mercy Corps became one of the first non-governmental organizations to work in the newly independent Kyrgyz Republic. Today our programs reach more than 350,000 people in all major urban and rural communities of the country's seven oblasts, or states.

Kompanion, the financial services group formed by Mercy Corps in 2005, is a recognized leader in small-scale lending and business services to women micro-entrepreneurs and emerging small businesses. Our school infrastructure repair and feeding programs reach virtually all the nation's kindergartens and one-quarter of its public schools. In the impoverished and densely populated Ferghana Valley region, the agency is spearheading an innovative project to accelerate economic growth through regional initiatives.

Programs in Focus

Collaborative Development Initiative
Mercy Corps' newest program in Kyrgyzstan enables citizens and leaders to manage conflict, expect and practice good governance, and identify and pursue opportunities for economic development. The three-year program is built around the creation of seven Local Economic Development Councils (LEDCs) in Kyrgyzstan's crescent-shaped share of the densely populated Ferghana Valley. Each council is made up of elected representatives from six or seven abutting villages, and is charged with identifying and implementing projects that raise household income across the entire geographical area. Another important facet: establishing mentorship programs for at-risk youth in vocations such as welding or clothesmaking.

Kompanion Financial Group
Kompanion was founded by Mercy Corps in 2005 to consolidate the lending operations of five independent NGOs in Kyrgyzstan. With more than 50 offices throughout the mountainous, landlocked republic, Kompanion currently serves 20,000 clients with more than $5 million in loans outstanding. Kompanion and Mercy Corps are pioneering the concept of strategic philanthropy by melding development activities with commercial financial services. Mercy Corps believes that community development banking will provide Kyrgyzstan with the financial services, social cohesion and development resources it needs to become an economically self-sufficient nation.

The Apple Project
On the southern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, Mercy Corps and Kompanion are helping household apple farmers in two villages to grow more and better varieties of apples, and to command top dollar for their harvest. The innovative project blends financial services like loans with traditional development assistance. It works by taking aim at the poor horticultural skills and a lack of sophisticated markets, which hamper the ability of households to make the most from what they grow.

School Feeding and Grants Program
Since 2001, Mercy Corps has served as the implementing partner of USDA's Global Food for Education Program (GFE) in Kyrgyzstan, providing schools with supplemental foodstuffs and matching funds to build new or expanded facilities or purchase furnishings and equipment. The program works in every raion, or district, in the country, serving more than 300,000 youth in 600 institutions.