Some 65 percent of the Kyrgyz Republic’s population lives in rural areas, and the vast majority is poor. Following independence in 1991, the breakup of most state and collective enterprises and the drastic decline in public budgetary resources caused a sharp deterioration of most social and economic infrastructure facilities, particularly in the rural areas. The government started to implement a policy of gradual administrative decentralization, but it lacked both the technical experience and financing to do it.
The IDA-financed Village Investment Project was launched in 2004 to alleviate rural poverty, improve the quality of village life, and generate community-level capacity for tackling local development concerns. The project engaged communities and local authorities to work together. It also supported investments in village infrastructure—as well as in group-managed small and medium enterprises—to generate jobs and income. Under this initiative supported by IDA, communities prioritized micro-projects through a participatory process. This community-driven approach required local communities to design and manage micro-projects; resources were then transferred from the implementing agency to local organizations themselves. A second Village Investment Project was launched in late 2006 to scale the project countrywide.
All of the Kyrgyz Republic’s 1,906 villages participated, covering nearly 100 percent of the country’s rural population and more than half of the country’s total population. 924 micro-projects were completed for almost 75 percent of Kyrgyz villages—and provided access to essential services that improved people’s lives, such as safe drinking water, health facilities, schools, irrigation, and road transport.
Highlights:
- Widespread impact. From 2006 to mid-2009, more than 4,400 micro-projects were completed. These include schools, kindergartens, community health posts and clinics, street lighting, and information centers. These projects have directly benefited 925,000 citizens to date.
- Generated income. 924 income-generating micro-projects were implemented by groups that averaged seven people. The most common were: women’s carpet or textile production enterprises, machinery repair, pharmacies, dental care, beekeeping, and cattle insemination points.
- Training. Some 35,651 local leaders chosen by the communities received direct, intensive training in local development planning, basic budget management, procurement, and contracting.
- Education. 655 classrooms at the primary level have been built or rehabilitated under the project. Over 491,000 children are now attending rehabilitated schools with properly repaired roofs, windows, and heating systems. This has significantly improved their learning conditions and helped to boost participation rates and parental involvement.
- Roads. 63 km of rural roads have been rehabilitated.
- Health. More than 265,000 villagers gained access to a functioning primary health facility in their community, including 65 health facilities constructed, renovated, or equipped from the project’s funds. More than 130,000 villagers gained access to safe drinking water and to a bath house with hot water, where previously such services did not exist.
The total project cost of the first and second Village Investment Projects was about US$65.2 million, of which IDA provided US$30 million. IDA’S contribution was significant in uniting national and international NGOs and donors. It provided a successful operational framework for collaborating on the community-development projects, then for scaling up activities. IDA also mobilized communities, provided capacity building at the village level, and leveraged assistance from donors.
Of total project cost, the Kyrgyz Government contributed US$1.5 million and Kyrgyz communities US$9.3 million, in cash or in kind. Germany contributed US$11 million, the UK’s Department for International Development US$13.7 million, and a grant from Japan amounted to US$1.2 million.
The government requested additional support for the project, and IDA is in the process of preparing US$8 million in additional financing to fully reach all 475 local communities, including all 1,906 villages in the Kyrgyz Republic.
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