4.12 Centre in Bishkek On 8 and 9 July, the CiB supported the second regional session of the MoI Public Council in Issyk-Kul. During the session, the Issyk-Kul police presented its progress in the implementation of police reform-related legal acts related to the new police performance evaluation criteria and mechanisms of co-operation between the police, civil society, members of the MoI’s Public Council, MPs, local authorities, and representatives of the MoI. Approximately 100 people participated in the regional session. On 12 July, the Inter-Agency Working Group on PoliceRelated Legislation held their first meeting, organized by the CiB. The working group was established on 30 June by the Government as a result of the CiB-supported initiative for parliamentary and civilian oversight of the police reform. During the meeting, the CiB-supported police expert from Lithuania presented best police reform-related international experiences to MPs from the Parliamentary Committee on rule of law, countering crime and corruption and the Forum of Women, as well as representatives of the PMO, MoI and civil society. From 15 to 19 August, the CiB organized a training course entitled “Development of police under a parliamentary democracy” in Vienna for a group of ten participants representing the Kyrgyz Parliament, Government, the MoI and civil society. The 5-day training course was organized in co-operation with the OSCE Secretariat, including the Forum for Security and Co-operation and TNTD/SPMU, to support the Kyrgyz Parliament in upholding parliamentary control over the police reform, along with the role of the Government, the MoI and civil society in strengthening the Inter-Agency Working Group recently established for drafting new policerelated legislation. The course raised awareness on the OSCE framework and best international experiences of OSCE participating States related to the role of police and similar law enforcement agencies in a parliamentary democracy. On 22 September, the Centre, in co-operation with the MoI, the Government, Parliament, the Defence Council and the OSCE Secretariat’s SPMU, organized a two-day international conference in Bishkek. The conference addressed the developments of police reform in the Kyrgyz Republic in the context of security sector reform and brought together more than 100 delegates. The participants included national stakeholders, civil society and international experts from Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan, who helped raise awareness on the best international experiences of the OSCE participating States. On 24 September, the Centre, together with the Police Academy, organized a roundtable on the development of the police education system in the Kyrgyz Republic. The 118 roundtable focused on reforming the police education system on the basis of the Defence Council decisions of 4 July. More than 30 participants, including managers at the Police Academy and international experts from Estonia, Hungary and Lithuania, shared best international practices. On 28 October, the CiB co-organized the third regional session of the MoI Public Council in Jalal-Abad to implement civilian oversight of the ongoing police reform. The event brought together some 160 participants representing the Parliament, the MoI, local authorities, local police, civil society and mass media. Moreover, within the framework of the event, the CiB handed over ten sets of computer equipment to the Police Departments in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces as part of the project on countering organized crime. Gender and Ethnic Mainstreaming On 3 and 4 March, the CiB, together with the KAWP, the International Public Foundation of the Roza Otunbayeva Initiative, UNODC and UNDP, organized a two-day international conference on the topic of “The role of women police in the modern world and in Kyrgyzstan”. The event was devoted to the fifth year anniversary of the establishment of the KAWP and their membership in the International Association of Women Police. Conference participants discussed the current situation of women representation in police and their role in the police service. More than 100 conference participants took part in a series of training sessions on women’s leadership in law enforcement, gender politics of the Kyrgyz MoI, mentoring as a tool for promoting gender equality and ethnic representation in the police. The CiB also supported a second regional session of the Women Forum of the Kyrgyz Parliament held on 11 March in Issyk-Kul. The event aimed to support the establishment of a working group to develop a new law on policing. Participants also discussed the implementation of the new police performance evaluation system in the Issyk-Kul region and women representation in the local police. A number of decisions have been taken by the Forum as a result of this regional session, including initiating the development on a new law on policing. The CiB organized two regional sessions of the KAWP. The first, with regional police departments in the south of Kyrgyzstan, took place from 15 to 23 April, while the session with the regional police departments in the north of Kyrgyzstan was held from 18 to 26 May. These regional sessions addressed the issue of gender mainstreaming in police forces. In particular, the CiB suggested that gender sensitive provisions be incorporated in the new law on policing.