USAID Advancing Nutrition and its partners, the Kyrgyz Association of Village Health Committees (KVHC) and the World Bank-funded Agriculture Productivity and Nutrition Improvement Project, sent a request to the heads of local administrations in the areas the project works to celebrate or support the organization of public events that highlight key dates such as the World Breastfeeding Week (August 1–7), Global Handwashing Day (October 15), or World Toilet Day (November 19).

These efforts were supported in eight Rayons of Batken and Jalal-Abad Oblasts. Twelve village governments in Batken and nine village governments in Jalal-Abad officially announced their plans to allocate sums ranging from 15,000 to 40,000 Kyrgyz Soms (KGS). The total financial support is expected to be 190,000 KGS in Batken Oblast and 220,000 KGS in Jalal-Abad Oblast.

The Kara-Darya aiyl okmotu (village administration) in Suzak Rayon, was given the greatest share of the funds: 40,000 KGS. The head of this aiyl okmotu, Nurbek Karaev, stressed that the residents have valued the work that the project has done since its inception in the Rayon and asked for USAID Advancing Nutrition’s help with the planned events.

The USAID Advancing Nutrition project holds close partnerships with state and state-supported organizations at all levels, from local village health committees (VHCs) to the ministries. Together with the local village administrations, the project works to form activists’ communities and co-organize public outreach campaigns on a number of health and nutrition-related questions that fall under the administrations’ responsibility.