Author: Viktor

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CAG 10 years’ blog post series: Information project throughout the years

Since CAG’s founding, information work in Sweden has been an important complementary cornerstone in our international solidarity work. When someone hears “Central Asia” in Sweden – only a few people, unfortunately, are able to even pinpoint the countries referred to. This perception is something CAG wants to change through information and advocacy work. In our third and last blog post of our 10 years’ anniversary series, we provide an overview of our information and advocacy work, including an in-depth look at the first year of Central Asia Days and materials published as part of our information work. A geopolitical...

Securing wetland ecosystems of Son-Kul Lake in the Kyrgyz Mountains – part 2

From March until December 2022, CAG in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy (ISDS) had been implementing a project “Securing wetland ecosystems of Lake Son-Kul in the Kyrgyz mountains”. Together with Cholpon rural municipality, ISDS focused on supporting the rights of  local communities to protect and manage wetlands and natural resources of the Son-Kul basin of Naryn region. You can read the first blog post about this project via this link. Son-Kul Lake performs a number of important environmental functions, such as maintaining the stability of the region’s climate, accumulation and storage of fresh water, maintaining the...

CAG 10 years’ blog post series: Partners and projects throughout the years

Central Asia Solidarity Groups is turning 10 years old this year! To celebrate it, we take a look in the rearview mirror. Below we get an overview of partners and projects since 2012 – the year when CAG officially became a registered organization.   Back in 2012, CAG worked mostly with democratic youth activism and conflict transformation. A few years later, several new thematic areas had been developed – gender equality, LGBTQ and culture. In 2019, the thematic program area culture ceased to be a one of CAG’s main thematic areas. Instead, climate and environment became a thematic area, and...

CAG 10 years’ blog post series: Interviews with board members

CAG is turning 10 this year! We are celebrating by looking in the rearview mirror. In these short four interviews, we talk to people who have been following and shaping CAG’s development throughout the years. Below, we get the insights and reflection from Lola Matmusaeva, current chairperson, Gustaf Sörnmo, founder and current treasurer, Viktor Romanov, coordinator at CAG, and Johan, a steady board member and former chairperson.     Lola Matmusaeva, current chairperson with experience working in the partner organization in Kyrgyzstan and CAG office in Malmö before becoming a board member in 2019.     Hi Lola. What...

Take a glance at Central Asia Days 2022!

On November 5-6, Centralasiengrupperna hosted its ninth annual Central Asia Days conference at ABF Stockholm, which was accompanied by a screening of the movie “Baqyt” at Zita Folkets Bio. With the focus on gender & women’s rights and climate & environment, our speakers provided profound and first-hand knowledge on the topics and engaged participants into thought-provoking discussions.   The first day of the conference was devoted to the theme of gender and women’s rights. Our speaker from Kazakhstan Zhanar Sekerbayeva – a feminist, activist, and co-founder of the feminist initiative ‘Feminita’, shared how the initiative advocates for women’s political participation...

Being an intern in Kyrgyzstan

While writing my master thesis during the spring semester, I saw an interesting advertisement for a summer internship. As I already have conducted two internships and my second master degree was coming to an end, I mainly searched for permanent positions. However, I could not resist looking closer into the internship advert. The ad mentioned working with projects related to biodiversity and climate adaptation which I have studied, worked with, and have a passion for. I became more and more intrigued. As I scrolled down the text I saw that the internship would be based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. “Kyrgyzstan!?”....

Central Asia Days 2022

On the weekend of 5-6th of November Centralasiengrupperna is hosting the yearly Central Asia Days conference in Stockholm! During Central Asia Days 2022, we focus on two thematic areas: gender/women’s rights and climate/environment. Lectures and talks will be held in English by scholars and activists active in the region. On Saturday evening, there will be an additional movie screening at Zita Folkets Bio, Stockholm. The event is free of charge. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/…/central-asia-days-2022… Venue: Per Albinsalen, ABF-huset, Sveavägen 41, Stockholm. Full program: DAY 1: Saturday 5TH OF NOVEMBER THEME: Gender and Women’s rights 10.30-10.45: Welcome 10.45-11.45: Women’s participation in politics...

Bubusara joins Central Asia Solidarity Groups!

Hello! My name is Bubusara and I’m very happy and excited to be a part of the Central Asia Solidarity Groups! I spent a lot of my first week in Malmö getting to know and walking around this lovely city.  I’ve been a member of Novi Ritm, an Osh-based partner organization of CAG, for seven years. Novi Ritm was a starting point of my interest in feminism and human rights. Later, at university, I’ve educated myself a lot about gender and feminism from sociological perspective. This resulted in a senior thesis project titled “Art as an instrument for promoting...

Interview with Anita and Sara, new CAG interns

The picture above is of Anita and Sara, who visited CAG’s office in Malmö as a part of their preparation for an internship in Kyrgyzstan to work with our partner Novi Ritm, a youth organization based in Osh. We asked Sara and Anita a few questions about themselves and about their expectations from the internship.  Tell us a bit about yourself.  Anita: I’m doing my masters right now in Security and Crisis Studies at the Swedish Defense University. I’ve already been involved in civil society for quite a long time, primarily through the Swedish United Nations Association, so I...

Applying a family approach and the traditional knowledge of permaculture in semi-desert and high alpine villages in Kyrgyzstan

In 2021, CAG in cooperation with local partner organization El-Too implemented a pilot project on permaculture initiatives among women in North-East Kyrgyzstan. Within the framework of the project, local women learnt how to develop kitchen gardens using the permaculture initiatives and gained knowledge about their land rights by meeting with the local duty bearers and through judicial consultations (you can read more about the project activities in 2021 via this link). Based on the needs of the project participants and our monitoring activities, we decided to adopt a family approach this year. This approach is considered effective, as all...