On November 20, at the conference hall of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, a coordination meeting was held with representatives of the public on the preparation of draft analytical documents for the “National Voluntary Review of Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Kyrgyz Republic (SDG)” (block – ecology and environmental protection environment) and the “National Report on the State of the Environment of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2015-2018.” This meeting was organized by the SAEPF under the KR and the Aarhus Center in Bishkek with financial assistance from the OSCE Program Office in Bishkek. The meeting was attended by representatives of NGOs, POs, public funds, environmental alliances, universities with environmental issues, the media, international projects and independent experts in the field of ecology.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Director of the SAEPF E. Sheripov E.Zh. made a welcoming speech. Following him, presentations were made by A. Amanova, Head of the Strategic Planning Department of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, (The process of developing the “National Voluntary Review of Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Kyrgyz Republic”), N.K. Kerimalieva, Head of the Department of Sustainable Development and Environment Statistics of the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic  (Adaptation of sustainable development goals in the national statistical system of the Kyrgyz Republic), expert in the field of environment and climate change V. Grebnev (Draft section structure and SDGs included in the Ecology and Environmental Protection Unit of NDOs), SDG Specialist, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in KR Perfilieva E. and the youth leader in the SDGs (Program of Youth Envoys for the Sustainable Development Goals). The materials presented were listened attentively by the meeting participants and numerous questions were raised.

During the discussion, the SAEPF raised the issue of the participation of public representatives in the working group on the preparation of materials on the implementation of the SDGs on the environmental block (SDGs 6.7, 13,14,15,17). They suggested nominating members of the public to the working group right at the meeting, but at the suggestion of some participants, this process was postponed for a week for consultations with their partners. In general, the issue of creating a working group from among the public by participants was welcomed positively.

In the second part of the meeting, was reviewed the presentation by the chief specialist of the SPMS SAEPF, N. Baydakova (The development process and structure of the “National Report on the State of the Environment of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2015-2018”) and the expert in the field of environment and climate change V. Grebnev (National Report on the state of the environment in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2015-2018. Facts from the sections). The information provided is preliminary and given to participants to familiarize themselves with the procedures for report preparation. The report itself will be formed after receiving proposals from all interested parties and persons who can give their suggestions for writing.

Upon completion of the meeting, on behalf of the SAEPF, N. Baidakova thanked the Aarhus Center for organizing the event and noted that by virtue of the Center, a platform was created for holding joint meetings of state institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic with the public.