OSCE and Kyrgyzstan strengthen collaboration in youth crime and drug use prevention

On 29 April 2022, Almazbek Beishenaliev, Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, and Alexander Wolters, Director of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the cooperation in youth crime and drug use prevention.

The MoU states that the OSCE and Kyrgyzstan will work together to prevent and combat transnational organized crime, corruption and drug use. These efforts are meant to complement criminal justice efforts, fostering a culture of lawfulness and integrity among youth through education. It is based on a thorough OSCE needs-assessment among multiple stakeholder in Kyrgyzstan, including government representatives, schools, universities and civil society. The MoU will also form the framework for assistance and cooperation between the OSCE and Kyrgyzstan, to develop trainings for educators and social media awareness campaigns for youth on the topics of organized crime, corruption and drugs.

It will contribute to the successful implementation of strategies and policies aimed at using education and youth involvement to prevent drug use and crime, such as the State Youth Policy, the Anti-Drug Program of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the State Strategy for Combating Corruption and Eliminating Its Causes.

The Ministry of Education and Science highlighted the importance of the project in strengthening youth resilience against drug use, corruption and organized crime and also expressed readiness to cooperate in implementing the project.

Mr. Alexander Wolters stressed that “We welcome the MoU with the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic which serves as a basis to join efforts to fight organized crime, corruption and the use of drugs and their detrimental effects especially on youth. This collaboration will further enhance Academy’s educational outreach that aims at sustainably improving lives of young people in Kyrgyzstan”.

The activities foreseen by the MoU will be implemented within the framework of the extra-budgetary project “Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption” funded by Germany and implemented in coordination with  the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The OSCE Academy is the Implementing Partner of this OSCE-wide initiative for project activities in Central Asia.