SIPRI co-hosted the inaugural Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference in Bishkek from 1-2 October 2015 together with the University of Central Asia (UCA), the International Security and Development Center (ISDC), and the World Bank. During the two-day conference, more than 40 international and regional speakers gathered to exchange research and promote evidence-based policymaking.
Focused on socioeconomic development in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, the sessions addressed topics such as labour markets and gender, poverty reduction, public health, security and integration. Over 100 participants from the public, private and non-profit sectors attended the conference, featuring key voices within academic institutions, government agencies and civil society actors.
The conference was a part of a larger research project (Gender and Employment in Central Asia: Evidence from Panel Data) undertaken by SIPRI and an international consortium of research institutions between 2013-2015 and was supported by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) and the UK Department for International Development (DfID). Of the 35 papers presented and discussed at the conference, 13 were based on the data from the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study, which demonstrates the relevance and potential impact on the country policymaking.
- The 2013 data from the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study are now available from the International Data Service Center (IDSC) of IZA (http://idsc.iza.org/lik).
- Support materials from the conference (handouts, papers and slideshows) and other additional information are available at the conference website: www.likconference2015.org. UCA’s news item on the inaugural Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference can be found at the following webpage: http://www.ucentralasia.org/news.asp?Nid=941.