Bishkek, 1 September 2021 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kyrgyzstan congratulated the Probation Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic on its second anniversary and acknowledged the success of the department in developing a new institution in the country.

The event was held at the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic with participation of the Heads of Ministries of Justice, representatives of the Presidential Administration of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mayor's Office of Bishkek, General Prosecutor's Office of the Kyrgyz Republic, SSEP under the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic, international organizations and the SE "Ukuk.”

Asel Chynybaeva, Minister of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic said in her congratulations: "First of all, let me congratulate all citizens and guests of our country on the 30th anniversary of our independence - a great holiday and a symbol of national unity, consent and responsibility for the present and the future of our republic.

Dear colleagues, thanks to your work, probation clients are given a chance to be reformed. On this remarkable day let me wish you every success in your work, professional development, new achievements and good health. May your work promote law-abiding lifestyle and bring positive results for our citizens, society and the state.

As a reminder, in close cooperation with UNODC, the KR Probation Law was developed with technical support and came into force in January 2019. Around 16,000 people are probation clients, a dedicated department within the Ministry was established, and 8 probation offices opened and 133 staff were trained across the country.

Louise Chamberlain, UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan, noted in her congratulatory speech: Today we are celebrating the achievement of a more humane, less punitive and less costly way of monitoring and preventing of sentence enforcement and I want to commend the Ministry of Justice for their vision and leadership in implementing this reform. The importance of probation as a non-custodial measure is now widely recognised as best practice by the international community.

Resource allocation must include appropriate incentive mechanisms and forward-looking skills development for probation officers so that probation continues to develop as a criminal policy tool, balancing the rights of offenders and the interests of public safety.

In conclusion, I assure that UNDP remains committed to assist in a comprehensive, people-centred national legal reform and to support the Kyrgyz Republic in further strengthening the rule of law.

Probation is a socio-legal institution of the state, which applies to probation clients a set of state and community assistance measures with their voluntary participation in individual socio-legal rehabilitation programmes. These individual programmes are developed on the basis of a social study of the individual and are aimed at correcting probation clients, preventing them from committing offences, providing social assistance and taking measures for their re-socialisation.

Two videos, "About Probation Volunteers" and "Juvenile Probation", also created with our support, were presented at the event to widely inform the public about the opportunities within the new institution. 

Link to the photo album from the event: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWwqpBN

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Media contacts: Nurzhan Alymkanova, Communications Officer,

0555068833 nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org