Kyrgyzstan, gender equality starts at School

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic (MoES), in collaboration with the Specialized Agencies UNICEF, UN Women, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), has initiated the development of a methodology for reviewing national educational materials from an anti-discriminatory and gender-sensitive perspective. The initiative is part of the National Action Plans for Education Development and Gender Equality promoted by the Ministry.

More details

Lattanzio KIBS provides technical support to the MoES in the production of an online video course, accessible on the MoES website, intended for the selection of gender and anti-discrimination specialists responsible for reviewing school materials, such as textbooks, to ensure that they are written without gender biases and free of discriminatory content. 

More specifically, during the process of developing teaching materials, Lattanzio KIBS reviews drafts of six lessons provided by UNICEF, defines the objectives of the video course in consultation with the MoES and stakeholders, and develops digital content in Russian, to be later localized into Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Tajik, verifying the quality and accessibility of the course to people with visual and language disabilities. Finally, Lattanzio KIBS provides support to the technical team for the usability of the video course.

Project Impact

Since 1991, the year of the Asian republic's independence from the Soviet Union, the country has made significant progress in the area of gender equality. In Kyrgyz society, however, large socioeconomic disparities between men and women still remain, due in part to a traditionally patriarchal social structure. 

Through the creation of an online video course, Lattanzio KIBS enhances the capacity of local specialists to ensure that training materials in schools reflect the values of gender equality and respect for human rights. This helps to create a more equitable and inclusive educational environment for all students in the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as to train a new generation more aware of the country's critical social issues.