In partnership with the Association of Women’s Legal Initiative, the memory think-tank Esimde, the Republican Teacher Training Institute and the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education’s “Textbook Centre”, EuroClio organised a 3-day seminar on gender inclusion and multiperspectivity in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 27-29 June 2022. The seminar was supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The seminar was organised in the context of an ongoing reform process of history standards in Kyrgyzstan, focusing on gender and ethno-linguistic inclusion. The seminar built on past EuroClio activities organised in Bishkek and Osh and included speakers from the Women’s Legal Initiative on gender issues in the Kyrgyz context, and Elmira Nogoibaeva from Esimde presenting their (oral-) history projects in Kyrgyzstan. EuroClio Ambassadors Iryna Kostyuk and Tatiana Koval shared their experiences working through similar reform processes in Ukraine and Russia, highlighting also their past work on EuroClio projects in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region. Much of the seminar was devoted to peer-learning and workshop activities where participants and EuroClio experts jointly analysed current history education standards, in light of the ongoing reform process.
The seminar was attended by 23 history educators from across the country, who expressed a desire to keep working together and discuss issues of relevance to history education in Kyrgyzstan. Several of the seminar participants are furthermore expected to join the expert group providing input to the Government’s reform process as it progresses.
