The conference was supported by the Swiss-funded Public Service Improvement project. It provided a platform to present and exchange on concrete examples of improved services at the local level in the municipalities of Issyk-Kul and Jalal-Abad provinces. For example, representatives of Kumbel municipality shared their experience in organizing the drinking water supply service, and representatives of Toktogul city spoke about improving the collection and removal of solid waste in their city. In addition, other municipalities shared their experience on improving services on lightning of public areas, preschool education, including education for children with special educational needs, and maintenance of internal roads.

The head of the Development Department of Local Self-Governments at the State Agency on Local Self-Government and Interethnic Relations Azamat Shameyev noted the importance of such events in development of regions and improvement of services at the local level. He informed that the Development Program of Local Self-Governments has been recently adopted, which includes a number of activities to improve services at the local level. Also Azamat Shameyev informed that jointly with the Ministry of Economy they work on the document that will reflect the public opinion about the quality of provided services.

The Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in the Kyrgyz Republic, Danielle Meuwly Monteleone, emphasized that the next important step will be to ensure that improved services are sustainable and best practices are institutionalized at the national level. It will also be crucial to enhance local finances and to address deficiencies in intergovernmental relations.

150’000 people benefit from the 38 action plans on improving services supported by the project over the past four years. This included 9 initiatives to ensure sustainable access to clean drinking water, 11 services to improve the quality and accessibility of pre-school and school education (including education for children with special educational needs), 9 services in the field of cultural and leisure activities (park areas, cultural and sports services) and 8 plans for maintenance and cleaning of public areas.

The overall cost of the implementation of these action plans was more than 97 million soms. The own contribution of the municipalities amounted to more than 33 million soms or almost 26%, which shows the importance and relevance of the problems in municipalities.

The Public Service Improvement Project is funded by the Swiss Government through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Helvetas Kyrgyzstan and the Development Policy Institute.

One hundred new places for children between 2.5 and 6 years are created. This has been achieved with the support of the local municipality and the project “Strengthening Voice and Accountability" funded by the Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Development Policy Institute.

The Swiss-funded project allocated 1 million soms and the local municipality contributed 100 thousand soms to renovate and equip the kindergarten with furniture, kitchen equipment, blankets, office equipment and music instruments. This is the result of a local community initiative, which was selected under the Small Grants Program of the project.

The municipality of Aleksandrovka cooperates with this project to adopt a participatory budgetary process, which allows for better alignment of the budget on the needs of the population and greater accountability of the municipality towards the population. Indeed, residents of the municipality are involved in local decision-making and in monitoring budget execution.

The head of the community monitoring group Raziya Livaza said: “It is as if a dream came true! Now we are confident that all issues can be solved through our active participation and through the joint efforts of the residents and the municipality. Our voices are heard when local budget expenditures are discussed. The local administration and local council members respond to our needs and solve our priorities.”

“As a representative of the Swiss Government, I am pleased to hear that the inhabitants of the municipality could enter in a constructive dialogue with the municipality to decide on their priorities and select this project. Participation of citizens in decision making is essential for effective, efficient and accountable governance. Furthermore, the project has enabled the village to open its first kindergarten!” - said Véronique Hulmann, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Republic.