“Talk to me”: Interactive consultative meeting with decision-makers in Bishkek.

23rd October 2023

On 23 October 2023, the Foundation for Tolerance International‘s (FTI) Dialogue through Art project in Kyrgyzstan organised a national stakeholder communication event “Talk to me” in the capital city of Bishkek. It is an interactive consultative meeting with decision-makers, using arts methods, with the aim of:

• Discuss the reasons why young people do not tell adults about their problems and the consequences;
• To identify effective methods of working with young people that will help to reveal their inner potential, train them and activate their position as subjects;
• To develop recommendations for improving the programmes of structures working with young people;
• To form a working group to develop an analytical note for structures working with youth.

Representatives of government agencies were invited to the event: Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ministry of Culture, Information, Sport and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, Institute of the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek Education Department, Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, deputies, representatives of the arts, experts (psychologist, lawyer).

Around 18 schoolchildren participating in the MAP project and teachers, facilitated the dialogue to raise awareness and discuss issues of youth well-being and how to address them through the arts. With the use of forum theatre, the problems of young people at school were discussed:

• Limitation of girls’ access to education;
• Parents’ indifference to their child’s problems;
• Bullying at school;
• Sale of alcohol and cigarettes to minors.

Using the problem analysis tool “problem tree”, the problem “why young people don’t tell adults about their problems” was analysed and recommendations for solving the problem were also discussed. During the event, a dialogue between young people and decision-makers took place using artistic methods, and a working group was formed to develop an analytical note for structures working with young people.

Check out this video of the event created by FTI: