OREANDA-NEWS. Today, the European Commission signed new support to the Kyrgyz Republic. The focus of this support is to strengthen the rule of law (€13 million), as well as rural development (€10 million) in the country.

This new contribution forms part of the overall support to the Kyrgyz Republic amounting to €184 million for the period 2014-2020.

The signature by Commissioner for International Development and Cooperation, Neven Mimica, took place in the context of the high-level visit of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Almazbek Atambaev, to Brussels. This is a clear sign of the European Union's continuous support to the Kyrgyz Republic, to the country's ongoing reform efforts and to maintaining progress in the rule of law, which is a pre-condition for sustainable and inclusive growth.

The first programme, focussing on the Rule of Law, aims at modernising the legislative process in the Kyrgyz Republic and improving the work of the judiciary and prosecution. The Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice will be assisted to ensure free legal aid to the population and to help raise awareness of citizens on legal matters. It will pay particular attention to the rights of vulnerable groups. Further, it will provide assistance to review relevant legislation on independence, recruitment and regular training of judges and court staff, with the aim of strengthening the impartiality, professionalism and transparency of court decisions. To implement this programme, €13 million will be made available.

The second project will support rural income generating activities to stimulate the local economy and human development. The programme aims at reducing poverty especially among women, children and the most vulnerable segments of the population in rural areas and specifically in Jalalabad region. It will particularly promote local and rural small enterprises and female entrepreneurship, access to microfinance, as well as develop production capacities and services for fruit and vegetable production and sustainable ecotourism clusters. €10 million will be made available to implement these activities. Ideally, activities will be carried out with a view to replicate successful projects in the rest of the country in the coming years.