A Youth Council has been established under the Speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan. Deputy Tabyldy Muratbekov announced at a parliamentary session.
According to him, the Council will promote the active participation of young people in public, political, socioeconomic, and cultural life, protect the rights and interests of young citizens, and develop proposals for the development of youth policy.
The Council will hold quarterly meetings with young people: local council members, entrepreneurs, teachers, medical professionals, activists, and representatives of other sectors. The Council will include members of Parliament and government representatives who will discuss youth issues and initiatives. The issues raised will then be submitted for discussion in Parliament.
The launch of a school for young professionals, various campaigns, flash mobs, and international exchange events is expected.
The Youth Council was created on a pro bono basis, and its members work unpaid. According to Tabyldy Muratbekov, if funding is needed, projects will be developed to attract grants from international organizations.
Justifying the need to create the Council, he cited the experience of working with youth in neighboring countries. For example, in Uzbekistan, there is a Youth Affairs Agency, with 10,000 employees working across the country and a budget of $36.7 million. In Kazakhstan, the Committee on Family and Youth Affairs has 200 employees and a budget of $12 million. In Kyrgyzstan, youth policy is represented solely by a department within the Ministry of Culture, with a staff of seven people and a budget of $435,000.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, youth are defined as citizens aged from 14 to 35, and their number reaches 2.5 million.
«This is our potential for development. If we give these young people the right direction and support them, this will guarantee our future. Of course, the buildings, roads, and major projects being built today are good, but focusing on youth must be a priority,» Tabyldy Muratbekov concluded.
