Naryn and Karakol upper class students chosen to work in MIA

Competitions were held for the selection of participants in the project “Mentor-3. Peace and Trust: Equal Access to Law Enforcement and Justice” November 11-13 among upper-class students attending normal schools in Naryn City and Karakol City.

 

Why is it so important to have women serving as police officers?

 

- Women police officers work effectively with women and children who have experienced violence (according to information, every year over 10,000 are victims of violence), and it is very important to curb the growth of violence against women and children.

- Women’s service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) improves public trust towards security and justice agencies.

- Women police officers improve the effectiveness of preventing crime by women and teenagers.

 

This is the first time in Kyrgyzstan that EKF Kyrgyz Republic MIA has worked together through The “Initiative of Roza Otunbayeva” under the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to begin the implementation of the unique project “Mentor-3.” Directing normal school graduates to these professions, strengthening trust in the police force, and instilling higher levels of respect for MIA service will assist in achieving the goals of the “Mentor 3” project to improve gender and ethnicity representation.

 

One-hundred-forty applications in Karakol and 50 applications in Naryn were taken by the project. It was planned under the project that six girls would be chosen from each city, but due to the competition selection and upper class students’ own wishes, the final count included 21 upper class girls from Naryn and 18 upper class girls from Karakol.

 

After the selection, the mentors and mentees will begin working together and through this the upper class girls will understand the specialties of MIA service, and become acquainted with the requirements of service candidates and rules of the Kyrgyz Republic MIA Academy.

 

Project experts include commissioner of Kyrgyzstan’s Women Police Officers Association and Police Colonel Aidarkul Kaana and MIA veteran and Police Colonel Viktor Viktorovich who shared their own experiences with MIA service and spoke about the opportunities with and future of the MIA system and the biographic history of the Kyrgyz police system.

 

The mentors for the project are MIA women police officers in Naryn and Issyk-Kul Oblasts.

 

The project is being implemented through the joint efforts of The “Initiative of Roza Otunbayeva” EKF and the Kyrgyz Republic MIA under the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.