The Earth Charter Affiliate in Kyrgyzstan, the Sunny Country Social Fund held their first Earth Charter event in Kizilkiya (a city in the Fergana Valley, – a vast region bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The event was coordinated by Atabek Anarbaev, an activist of the Earth Charter International Youth Network and a participant of the e-GLO programme.
The organisers intended to introduce the Earth Charter to Kizilkiya mayor’s office, the municipal department of education and to teachers of secondary schools, and also sensitize them about Earth Harter values.
The municipality officials and teachers, mainly young professionals, got to know Earth Charter text, learned about the Initiative and its history, vision and mission, participated in the discussion on the importance of the Earth Charter principles in building a just, sustainable society in their country and in the whole Fergana region.
Earlier, the Earth Charter International Secretariat had sent to Kyrgyzstan several packages with Earth Charter materials, brochures, posters, CDs, which were distributed at the seminar.
The participants of the seminar were really excited about getting to work with the Charter. The teachers decided to start using Earth Charter informational and educational materials at the lessons on sustainable development and the Earth Charter in their respective schools. They are planning to have the lessons during months of April and May, as a part of the celebration of the Earth Day and the EC+10 launch in their country. These lessons will be followed by school competitions in the best artistic reflection on the Charter in pictures, photos, essays and poems.
The Sunny country Social Fund is also planning to organise a big EC event on the main square of Kizilkiya on April 22.
The Central Asian online News Service “Fergana” covered the Earth Charter seminar in Kizilkiya (http://fergana.akipress.org/news:72841 in Russian).