OSCE Centre donates vehicles to Kyrgyzstan’s rural police stations

BISHKEK, 29 July 2011 – Today the OSCE Centre in Bishkek donated eight off-road vehicles to the Interior Ministry of Kyrgyzstan to be used in remote rural police stations covering villages located in mountainous isolated areas in Naryn, Chuy, Osh and Batken provinces.

The vehicles were donated as additional support to the Interior Ministry’s efforts to implement police reform and promote community policing.

“The nature of any police reform is to effectively respond to the safety and security concerns of the public,” said Lilian Darii, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. “This contribution will allow the local police to better address the needs of the population, and will help raise the confidence of people living in remote areas in the police.”

Zarylbek Rysaliev, the Interior Minister of Kyrgyzstan, said: “This assistance will be used to bring the police and public closer in their joint efforts to solve local problems and establish a partnership based on mutual trust.”

The vehicles have been provided by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek as a part of the Community Policing Project within the framework of the Police Reform Programme.