Fifteen pilot small- and medium-size enterprises shared their achievements in promoting a Just Transition on the ground

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: 23 May 2024 national tripartite constituents and other partners participated in the final workshop on Promoting a gender-responsive just transition towards green economy in Kyrgyzstan.

The event was attended by 50 participants representing Government, employers’ organizations, UN partner agencies, small- and medium-size enterprises and national consultants participating in the interventions (50% women).

The workshop participants reviewed key results of the ILO work under the above-mentioned interventions and awarded SCORE trainer certificates to 10 qualified national consultants. These trainers will become part of the SCORE global database who are qualified to independently deliver SCORE training to enterprises. They are also the first group of SCORE trainers certified in the country and the Central Asia and South Caucasus sub -region. Information materials including promotional videos capturing the approach and outcomes were showcased and distributed to participants at the workshop.

In his opening remarks Azzambek uulu Zheenbay, Executive Director, JIA business-association highlighted: “Individual entrepreneurs, micro- and small enterprises account for about 91% of total employment and they are in particular need of support in the green transition. The ILO SCORE flagship programme and its new training module “SCORE4Climate” were introduced for the first time in Kyrgyzstan. A number of enterprises have increased their knowledge in the field of increasing productivity and environmental sustainability with the support of the ILO intervention. There is a need to continue this kind of support to cover a larger number of enterprises”.

Under PAGE, the ILO worked closely with the National Statistical Committee (NSC) of Kyrgyzstan on the development of a Green Jobs Assessment Model (GJAM) which had three main components: (i) Data production, (ii) Policy Analysis and design of a modelling tool for Kyrgyzstan, and (iii) Capacity building. GJAM presents a a data system and analytical tool to assess the green jobs effects of alternative policies by integrating socio-economic indicators. While ILO under PAGE provides technical support to green policy making, a strategic link is being built to strengthen Kyrgyzstan’s efforts in promoting a Just Transition on the ground by the greening of enterprises.

Rafael Tugushev, Deputy Director, "OSKO" company in his presentation of enterprise-level achievements noted: “Thanks to the support provided, workers of our company now understand what a “green” workplace is and what “green” technologies mean. At our enterprise we analyzed the emerging losses in resource use. We are in the process of replacing old equipment by a new more energy efficient one. The support provided was invaluable to us and we have been able to achieve significant results”.

A policy brief and a video developed under the ILO intervention summarize key findings from the Green Jobs Assessment survey (covering 4215 entities), with an overview of the socio-economic, labour market, entrepreneurship and environment contexts in Kyrgyzstan.

While PAGE in Kyrgyzstan is drawing to a close, PAGE partner agencies are working on the sustainability strategy to further mainstream an inclusive green growth agenda in Kyrgyzstan. This includes sharing of experiences from the ILO intervention and PAGE in Kyrgyzstan at an inter-regional policy forum to be organized prior to or during the CoP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024 with ILO South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) and PAGE Global support.

The workshop was organized with technical assistance of the ILO intervention “Promoting just transitions for an environmentally sustainable economy in Kyrgyzstan” and PAGE in Kyrgyzstan.