In the course of drafting the Country Operational Strategy for the Kyrgyz Republic, the Asian Development Bank examined the role of women and children in Kyrgyz society. The gender study provided here lays the groundwork for broadening the discussion on women's roles in transition at the national, sector, and local level. The Government and the Asian Development Bank will work closely together to establish adequate structures for a better future for women in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In 1997 the Kyrgyz Republic adopted its national strategy for sustainable human development and entered the list of the ten pilot countries, which adopted the decisions of the UN World Conference on the Status of Women as their guidelines. Contents include: Assessment of the modern demographic and migration situation in the Kyrgyz Republic, Population, Education, the Labor market and employment of the population, Health Care, Poverty, Gender aspects of Political Equality of Men and Women.

Gender, Activism, and International Development Intervention in Kyrgyzstan draws on feminist critiques and ethnographic data to interrogate how development has been implemented in Kyrgyzstan since 1991.

Women maintain the fabric of Central Asian societies, but they come under increasing pressure. There is a widespread re-traditionalization of gender roles taking place, and women's status in public life is continuously decreasing. With a foreword by the former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mme. Roza Otunbayeva, this book sheds light on some of the issues behind the gender statistics and legal implementation challenges commonly known in the West, using a wide variety of methodological approaches and combining scholarly interest with an activist stance. This qualitative approach is the only suitable way of understanding the nature of the issues arising in the pivotal region of Central Asia. (Series: Gender Discussion / Gender-Diskussion - Vol. 26) [Subject: Sociology, Asian Studies, Women's Studies, Gender Studies]