Kyrgyzstan
-
Photo: Jason Sangster for Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Improve economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and families, and educational and vocational opportunities for youth.
The context
Kyrgyzstan draws global interest as Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy and a critical transit base for coalition forces in the war in Afghanistan. Although national reforms have been considered in the wake of the government overthrow and communal violence in 2010, there is rising unemployment and food insecurity, and ethnic tensions persist.
Our work
- Economic opportunity: Providing financing to small and medium sized businesses
- Agriculture & Food: Helping families manage home gardens, grow higher-quality fruits and raise healthier livestock to boost incomes
- Children & Youth: Supporting better learning through nutritious school meal programs and classroom repairs and improvements
All stories about Kyrgyzstan
-
Kyrgyzstan: Teaching street kids a lesson October 15, 2008
In Kyrgyzstan, it is estimated that between 2,000 to 15,000 children work in order to help support their families economically. Most of these children do not go to school regularly.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Helping Quake Survivors October 13, 2008
Mercy Corps is helping house families left homeless after an Oct. 5 earthquake struck Kyrgyzstan's mountainous Alai Region.
-
Kyrgyzstan: The Apple Project Video July 6, 2007
This nine-minute documentary shows every step of the Apple Project, Mercy Corps' program to help farmers grow better varieties of apples and to increase their financial independence in one of Central Asia's poorest countries.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Aziz: Welding His Way to Work January 18, 2007
>
-
Kyrgyzstan: A Recipe for Healthy Kids October 31, 2006
It's nearly lunchtime in Kyrgyzstan, and the kindergarteners in Nasiba Tashirova's classroom are getting a bit restless. A gaggle of bouncy boys and girls are dancing and exchanging handclaps while their teacher helps a group of classmates wash up for lunch.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Seedlings of Change October 19, 2006
Nearly one million families in Kyrgyzstan tend home gardens. Most of these families grow apples. And many rely on the income they get from the round fruits — which originated in modern-day Kyrgyzstan and its northern neighbor, Kazakhstan — for life's basic necessities.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Storing Up Value October 19, 2006
Tosor, Kyrgyzstan — Apples may be a fall fruit, but growers here think of them as a winter moneymaker.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Selling the Harvest October 19, 2006
Tamga, Kyrgyzstan — Mariam Jeenalieve's backyard orchard produces a colorful mix of apples: there's the Chinese Kulon Kitika, recognized by its alternate streaks of pink and lime-green, the golden-yellow Tashaima, and an inordinate number of pale-red McIntosh.
-
Kyrgyzstan: Learning to Grow October 19, 2006
Tamga, Kyrgyzstan — It's a crisp, late-September morning that feels perfect for plucking apples, and a tree in Murat Toguzbaev's backyard is sagging with dozens of plump Red Delicious varietals just ripe for the picking.
-
Kyrgyzstan: A New Breed of Development October 16, 2006
Kara Dobo, Kyrgyzstan — Veterinarian Joldosh Ibragimov doesn't exactly pine to return to the days before Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. But he does fondly recall at least one thing about Soviet rule: big cows.