In the village of Kara-Bak in Batken District, RDF hosted an exchange visit among representatives of five local communities: Ak-Sai, Ak-Tatyr, Samarkand, Tort-Kul and Kara-Bak. This event was held as a part of the project, “Mutual exchange of experience of local governments on conflict resolution in the Kyrgyz Republic”, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA.
During the exchange visit, the representatives were able to express their pressing problems, the vast majority of which were caused by unresolved conflicts in the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The cause of most disputes was from the unequal distribution of meagre natural resources, and unrepaired infrastructure, roads, and water supply channels.
The participants visited one of the actual sites of dispute, a drainage channel, to analyse the problem in detail. Some representatives of other local communities proposed various methods and ways to solve this conflict, and the representatives of the host community, Kara-Bak, listened and accepted these suggestions for consideration in order to resolve the conflict. Many expressed the need to create local community groups in order to serve as an effective tool for the peaceful resolution of inter-ethnic differences and conflicts.
The next exchange visit is planned for August 2011, in the community of Samarkand.