OREANDA-NEWS. August 18, 2008. Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) organized a roundtable at the Kyrgyzstan president’s southern state residence on school bullying. Entitled Unite Our Forces Against School Bullying, the roundtable was funded by USAID and OSCE and attended by representatives of Zhokorgu Kenesh, Ministries of Education and Science, the State Agency for Physical Education and Sport, the Agency for Youth and Child Protection, oblast and city departments of education, local NGOs and international organizations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, reported the press-centre of Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia.

The goal of the roundtable was to discuss school bullying and other conflict situations occurring among high school students. Reports were presented on juvenile delinquency and work that has been done by school authorities from Osh and Zhalalabad in Kyrgyzstan and Khujand in Tajikistan. During the roundtable, participants developed measures for solving juvenile delinquency that will be used in EFCA pilot projects in the Ferghana Valley from September 2008 to July 2009.

According to Akzhol Berdiev, Director of the EFCA Osh office, “The roundtable not only allowed us to make the issue concrete, but also to ensure support from the government, local NGOs and international organizations in the whole region.”

EFCA developed the theme of the roundtable after receiving many project applications from local NGOs and educational institutions in the Ferghana Valley on this topic and is part of EFCA’s broader youth programs that focus on preventing school crime and anti-social behavior among youth and promoting youth health.