Step Up! To make invisible vulnerable children and youth visible!
The project: “Step Up! To make invisible vulnerable children and youth visible!”
The project was launched to empower vulnerable youth and children, increase their capacity to participate in civil society and acquire the skills needed to improve their living conditions and develop and communicate critical success factors to vulnerable youth and orphans, including learning the digital skills required to succeed in today's digital age.
Beneficiaries of the project are more than 1000 orphans, vulnerable children and youth, including homeless and abandoned children, as well as the youth in difficult life situations; local communities; 3 special educational institutions and public organizations dealing with children with disabilities and children in difficult life situations, 4 vocational lyceums.
One of the important steps of the project was Small Grants Program Launch and Implementation Start UP. The competition for small grants was announced on October 2023, with a deadline of November 2023. The same evaluation committee that participated in the "Start Up" program was involved in assessing the submitted applications and determining the winners. A total of 16 applications were received, and during the administrative review, 5 applications were rejected. Thus, 11 applications were considered, including 4 from vocational lyceums, 2 from schools, and 5 from non-profit organizations. The assessment of the project was based on a scoring system. As a result, 7 winners were identified in this competition.
Main beneficiaries of the small grant were:
1. PF “Zhanyrtuu” – establishment of an office for the rehabilitation of children with autism. This office is being created in the city of Tokmok, Chui region. Children work with felt and make crafts and souvenirs. Health issues are addressed through creativity, communication with each other and the development of fine motor skills.
2. Cooperative Farm “Kubatbek” – this facility is located in the “Tash Dobo” village, Chui region. The leader of the group is a young man with second-degree visual impairment, a participant in international judo competitions. He is involved in growing of berries due to difficulties in finding another job. The project is focused on the increase of the are for berry growing and the purchase of small agricultural equipment.
3. PU “Aruuzhan-Karakol” is an experienced organization located in the Ak-Suu region. This centre is a crisis centre for young women who face domestic violence in the Issyk-Kul region. The project equipped sewing machines and organized training for young women on income generation.
4. Vocational School # 62 – the school is located in the Uzgen district, Osh region. It is one of the oldest professional lyceums in the region. Children from low-income families or without families from the Osh region are sent to that school to obtain professions and to live in a hostel. Children who have no relatives and parents live in the vocational school almost permanently. The project supported the purchase of kitchen equipment and the profession of “Confectioner Chef” is being opened with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, and construction and repair work is also underway. An agreement was reached that a kitchen workshop will be opened, which will provide students with food, as well as some of the products will be sold in the markets.
5. PU “KRDK” - the organization is supported by the project through the establishment of the sewing workshop in the village of Kashkelen, Chui region. Six young women with many children including children with disabilities will work in this workshop.
6. Vocational School # 19 – the school is located in the village of Kemin, Chui region. Children with disabilities and children from low-income families are being trained as cookers. The Project provide the group with new equipment and training.
7. PU “Zharkyn Kelechek-Talas” - the organization is located in Talas, Talas region, which unites mothers of children with disabilities. They create sewing and wood processing workshops. The main goal of the group is to generate income and educate their children.
In total 4681 beneficiaries of the Youth Program were identified who will be impacted by the project: the number of young people and children with disabilities is around 897, the number of children from low-income families – 1920 and orphans -206.