Information for donors

CPC is a strong professional team of like-minded people committed to protection of children’s rights in Kyrgyzstan, their harmonious development and successful integration into society. CPC has a special focus on children in difficult life situations (DLS) and intends to create specific positive changes in the lives of children and families in DLS. CPC achieves its goals through psycho-emotional correction of children in DLS, development of their life and social skills, personal growth and formation of an active citizenship using an integrated systematic approach and involving all stakeholders (parents, teachers, medical workers, representatives of local and state authorities). Mission: Protection of rights and interests of children of internal and labor migrants in difficult life situations for their harmonious development in family and society through training, psychological and legal assistance, psycho-social support in internal migrant communities, and social partnership of all interested parties. Values: Professionalism – high quality of services, constant striving for self-education and professional development. Responsibility – all members of the organization take responsibility for exercising his/her duties and planned activities on time, strive for being effective in their jobs, and put all the efforts for achieving the results. Openness – adherence to principles of transparency and accountability, openness to new knowledge and innovative approach. Objectivity – being honest toward herself/himself and to the others, with children, parents, state structures and the society. Proactivity – striving for new ideas, approaches and putting them into practice. Tolerance – respect of different opinions and attitudes and tolerance toward behavior of other people irrespective of gender, national, religious, social, and other distinctions. Our main approaches in the work with children and the society: 1) We perceive a child as a personality, protect and respect her/his rights and interests, and always act in interests of a child. Our approach is to be close, empathize with the feelings of a child and/or a parent in difficult situation (DS), inspire, motivate, increase capacity of children and parents. 2) We use a comprehensive approach: through training we strengthen capacity of a child in addressing his/her own issues; increase responsibility and capacity of parents, local communities, and state and local authorities that are responsible for protection of rights and promotion of interests of children and for providing necessary conditions for harmonious development of a child in family and in the society. 3) We do our work with rights-based and gender equality approach, when children and their parents are considered as rights-holders and respective authorities - as duty-bearers, which are obliged to create conditions for realization of children’s rights and their parents in compliance with legislation and international standards. We strive for realization of equal rights and opportunities irrespective of gender, ethnicity and any other differences. 4) To address issues we involve all interested parties and try to build inter-agency and inter-sector cooperation on a long-term basis between key stakeholders from the side of the state and communities. 5) In our work we use only verified information based on evidence, studies, expert opinions, and other arguments. The Target Group: children of internal and labor migrant in difficult life situation (DLS), from 6 to 16 years old, being selected in compliance with the selection criteria. As it is stated in the Child’s Code approved in July 10, 2012, children in difficult situation are children without parental care, children with health limitations, children in conflict with law, children-victims of violence or crime, children living in needy families, working children, abandoned children, street children, children living in conflict zones and emergency situations, whose livelihood was disrupted as a result of the circumstances, and children that cannot overcome the hardships independently or with the help of a family. Besides children in DLS, CPC works with their parents, teachers, medical and social workers, and representatives of local and state bodies referred to the children’s protection system. Geographical coverage: At the time of the strategic planning CPC works in 12 settlements around Bishkek where internal migrants, who came earlier from various regions of Kyrgyzstan, live with their children. CPC runs shelter in Bishkek for 60-70 children in DLS annually. The shelter staff provides a full course of services to address DLS and create conditions for children to be able to return to their families and schools. CPC also runs two Day Centers 5 days a week for children in DLS (both Centers are located in Bishkek), where the children are provided with food, medical care and education services. Children and parents in DLS – representatives of CPC target groups – have an opportunity to spend some time in Issykkul (resort area in Kyrgyzstan) for education and teambuilding courses. Within the framework of the “Girls in Science” project funded by UNICEF, CPC conducts information and training activities in the regions (Bishkek, Chui oblast, Osh, Karasu district). It is planned to expand these activities to the other regions with the support of UNICEF to promote STEM education. 1) CPC is a non-governmental organization with extensive (more than 20 years) experience in social work with children of internal migrants in difficult life situations (street children, working children; children facing various types of violence; children who have dropped out of school or who are not able to attend school due to difficult situations in families, and other children in DLS). 2) CPC employees (social workers, psychologists, managers) are experienced professionals with many years of experience working with children in difficult life situations, committed to their work, loving children, able to accept and understand their difficult life situation, working with their difficult families, showing empathy, patience and care. CPC staff is a close-knit team in which problems are openly discussed, both external (related to the problems of the target group) and internal (problems of relationships in the team), and ways to solve these problems are found. However, lately there have been failures in teamwork associated with forced isolation measures during a pandemic, which requires special attention, strengthening and reflection in the strategic development plan for the next 5 years. 3) During more than 20 years of CPC activities, a unique methodology of social work with children in difficult life situations (DLS) has been developed, tested and perfected, which can be characterized as follows: Using an integrated and systematic approach in working with children in DLS The organization provides: (a) direct services for children in DLS (shelter services, meals, personal hygiene services, psycho-correction services, legal services for restoration of IDs, enrollment in school, medical services, family reunification) These services are provided in response to primary needs of children in DLS. (b) training for children with educational gaps to return them to school, as well as to increase their potential in acquiring life and social skills, personal growth, leadership development, career guidance for further education. The organization conducts activities on: (c) revitalization and social mobilization of representatives of the target group. The organization not only provides direct services and educational activities, but also actively and successfully involves children and parents in project activities through training and constant support and supervision. As a result, children and parents trained by CPC are able to determine the needs of their social group, conduct peer education among their peers, implement projects, and undertake initiatives to solve problems and promote their interests. With involvement of all interested parties (a) The organization works not only with children in DLS, but also with their parents, their families, providing them with direct services to resolve their difficult life situation, responding to their primary needs, as well as providing them with trainings to increase their capacity in financial support of their family, non-violent parenting, and in creating a favorable atmosphere in the family for further education and upbringing of children. (b) The organization works with representatives of local authorities (neighborhood heads, Bishkek Mayor’s Office, district administrations), as well as state authorities (Departments for Family and Children Support, Commissions on Children’s Affairs, district departments of education) authorized to work with families and children in DLS, providing them with training to increase their potential and improving the quality of their services (training in psychosocial support, restoration of IDs, sensitizing them to problems of families in DLS). (с) The organization works with various partner organizations from the civil sector, uniting with them to promote common initiatives in the field of protecting the rights and advancing the interests of children (Roza Otunbayeva Initiative Foundation, AUCA Technical College, an informal association of NGOs and individuals to promote reforms in the education system, the Kyrgyz Alliance for Family Planning, the Central Asian Migration Partner Platform, the Association of NGOs for Protection of Rights and Promotion of Interests of Children, and other partner organizations). With the aim to achieve systemic changes at local and national level Carrying out activities for the revitalization and social mobilization of families in DLS and internal migrant families resided in the new settlements around Bishkek, the organization involves the most active representatives of its target groups (children, parents, community activists) in solving problems at school, community, local and national levels; organizes discussion platforms involving all stakeholders to discuss problems and sensitive issues; and provides the active representatives of the target groups with support in assessing needs and conducting advocacy campaigns. The advocacy campaigns can often target not only local authorities, but also the state bodies at different levels and the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic. With the methodology aimed at achieving specific improvements in lives of the target group representatives (improvement of social status, financial situation, acquisition or restoration of a documented (legal) status, family reunification of children, enrollment of children in school, changes in behavior of representatives of the target groups that contribute to improving their quality of life and improving their well-being) For more than 20 years of CPC activities, thousands of children and their parents have restored their documents, received registration at the place of residence, which gives them access to services; thousands of children have been able to enroll or return to school; hundreds of families in DLS have improved their family relationships, which has a positive impact on their children and children’s education; thousands of children in DLS have improved their life skills, increased their leadership potential, improved their academic performance, become successful and active representatives of society; hundreds of young people without a school education have received a profession through training in the rehabilitation groups of vocational schools; hundreds of families in DLS have been able to improve their livelihoods by taking professional courses (such as cutting and sewing courses) and applying family budget management skills acquired at CPC trainings. During its work, CPC has achieved many changes at the systemic level, which have contributed to improvement of well-being of thousands of representatives of the target group: • Opening rehabilitation groups in vocational schools for children aged 15-16 without a school education, so that these children could get a profession; • Introduction of a unified amount of allowances for children in DLS (everyone began to receive the same amount of allowance, and before it was depending on family income); • Access to basic services without being tied to the place of permanent registration (people can receive benefits at the place of actual residence even living in new settlements, which have not yet received a legal status). Ensuring sustainability of the achieved changes The organization uses a peer-to-peer approach, which has resulted in the training of thousands of peer trainers among children, parents, teachers, who, thanks to CPC, have the skills to train members of their social group and who provide training or counseling to their peers after the completion of CPC project interventions and with minimal CPC support. The organization creates initiative groups among children, parents, community representatives, who, after training and support provided by CPC within the framework of the project activities, can independently train representatives of their target groups or conduct advocacy campaigns with some support from CPC. 4) The main methodological materials, modules and manuals, where CPC unique methodology is partially fixed: - Training module "Leadership School" for children of activists, peer trainers - Training module "My safe world" for children, peer trainers teaching their peers in non-violent behavior in schools at extracurricular classes using peer-to-peer approach - Training module "Emotional Intelligence" for teachers on personal and professional growth and prevention of emotional burnout "(transferred to the Institute for Advanced Training of Teachers) - STEM Education Guide "The Wonderful World of STEM" - Training module for children on personal growth - Training module on positive masculinity for schoolchildren - Training module on psychosocial support - Training course for parents on positive parenting. 5) CPC has two unique and comprehensive programs that have been constantly operating for many years: - a program in a shelter, which provides a full range of direct and training services for children in DLS, who were placed in CPC shelter by decision of the Commission on Children’s Affairs; - programs of CPC Day Centers located near Osh market and Dordoi market, where a range of services is provided: food services for working children and children in DLS, training for children and parents both by CPC employees and peer trainers, psychological, medical and legal services for children and their family members, which, as a result of a long-term and complex impact, contribute to achievement of specific positive changes in status or situation of children and families in DLS as well as in their behavior. 6) Why CPC is a unique organization and why it stands out from other organizations: CPC is a unique organization that provides a wide range of services to children and families of internal and labor migrants in DLS, from direct services that meet their primary needs to training and social mobilization to solve problems at the systemic level. CPC enjoys a high credibility of the target groups in internal migrant settlements, as it has been working there on a permanent basis for a long time and bases its activities solely on the needs of the target groups. No other organization in Kyrgyzstan works like this on such a long-term basis and using such a wide range of services and an integrated approach. The same great credit of trust in CPC is from local and state authorities, who cooperate on a long-term basis with CPC in solving problems of children in DLS and in increasing capacity of teachers and employees of local and state authorities for providing quality services to children and families in DLS and for prevention of violence against children. Great trust and good interaction has been also built between CPC and the media, such as Channel 5 (TV), Radio Azzattyk, News Agency “Present Time”, and Information Agency “Kaktus”. These media willingly publish stories about children with whom CPC works, raise and discuss issues of children in DLS, invite CPC staff to participate in various TV and radio programs. There are situations when CPC happens to be the only organization that has provided necessary and timely assistance to children and families in DLS. These are the situations, when one can say that if CPC were not there, it is unlikely that anyone could be of help. Often, these are the situations related to the lack of documents and the difficult situation of children in the family, which is difficult for representatives of local and state authorities to identify. CPC actively, for a long time, successfully uses the peer-to-peer approach in teaching children and parents, which makes it possible to identify and educate active successful leaders among children and parents who, after the active intervention of CPC, continue their activities to disseminate knowledge and act as role models for representatives their social groups. No other organization in Kyrgyzstan has been used this approach so widely and on such a long-term basis. CPC has a unique methodology consisting of: (a) a combination of direct services in accordance with the primary needs of the target group and services for training, counseling, and involving active representatives of the target groups in activities to protect their rights and promote their long-term interests; (b) in applying an integrated systemic approach involving all stakeholders: parents, teachers, representatives of local and state authorities. One of the strongest aspects of CPC methodology is a special focus on psychological state of the child, his/her parents in order to equalize their emotional state; on the psychological state of teachers for the purpose of their psychological correction and prevention of emotional burnout; on intra-family relations, on relations at school between teachers and children and between children themselves, on relations in the community between neighborhood heads and community representatives and between representatives of state authorities and internal migrant community representatives. A friendly, psychologically comfortable environment is a necessary precondition for education, development, and upbringing of children in the family, school and community, which is patiently and carefully created with the assistance of CPC within the framework of its daily activities. CPC uses a unique family-focused group learning methodology, the GALS methodology, which improves intra-family relationships and eliminates gender stereotypes in raising children. The introduction of positive masculinity in order to increase sensitivity to the problems of girls and women among boys and men is part of the “peer education” methodology for children and adults. CPC also applies another unique methodology for providing psychosocial assistance to families in DLS at the community level, which CPC applies in its work and teaches this methodology to neighborhood heads and other representatives of local authorities. CPC has a unique atmosphere in its office. Interesting people who want to make real positive changes work there. Sufficient freedom for creativity and initiative is given, but everything is discussed with colleagues.