Eurasia: 2015 in review

MOCK DRILLS PREPARE KOSOVO* FOR EARTHQUAKES

As the earthquake alarm sounded, students at the Selami Hallaqi primary school in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Kosovo, scrambled to take cover, hiding under tables and in doorways. Once their teachers declared the environment safe enough to walk through, they led the students outside to wait for emergency services. This was a drill, but that made it no less serious. And it is part of a project which aims to improve disaster and emergency response in Kosovo. Read more.

*All references to Kosovo are in line with UN Security Council 1244 (1999)

SUPPORTING RURAL WOMEN IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE IN AZERBAIJAN

In Azerbaijan, especially in rural areas, women and girls are called ‘pis giz’ – or bad girl if they don’t follow the outmoded local traditions. Such stigma might mean the total loss of respect in her community, ineligibility for marriage, and the end of a bright future. Read more.

Redrawing the map: UNDP helps coordinate territorial reform in Albania

During communist rule, Albania was one of the most centralized countries in Europe. When the regime collapsed in 1991, the country was faced with the dilemma of how to structure a local government system with a degree of autonomy. Now local governments are being empowered to make the decisions that matter the most to people. Read more.

In Turkey, online games teach energy efficiency

Turkey has about 17 million households, and dishwashers, refrigerators, air conditioners and other staples of modern homes have become a booming business. But a survey found that only about half the people in Turkey know about energy efficiency labelling. An interactive game teaching energy efficiency, funded by a UNDP project, was played by thousands of children. Read more.

Armenia: What it takes to be a woman in local governance

The UNDP’s project supports women candidates to prepare for local elections. Out of the 124 candidates that participated in the project pre-election training events, 81 were elected to local self-government bodies. Read more.

ANTICORRUPTION ACTIVISTS AND ADVOCATES HEAD BACK TO SCHOOL IN UKRAINE

UNDP in Ukraine remains committed to curtailing corruption. Helping to elaborate new anticorruption legislation, supporting civic anticorruption expert assessments, driving municipal transparency, and working to promote open data are just some of the ways UNDP has managed to play a central role in pushing for openness in Ukraine. Read more.

Kyrgyzstan: Energy-efficient school offers national lessons

In Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city of Osh, a new school has become Central Asia’s most energy efficient building. Incorporating state-of-the-art design principles by a UNDP project, it consumes 50 percent less energy than similar structures, saving US $20,000 annually. Read more.

Teaming up to improve public services in Moldova

For 20 years, basic water, sewer and garbage services were a rare luxury for most people in Telenesti, Moldova. The town of 9,000 used to be one of the country’s poorest. The transformation came about when UNDP encouraged Telenesti’s municipal government to team up with local residents to improve basic services. Read more.

New successes in tackling TB in Turkmenistan

The past 20 years have seen an increase in the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) throughout Central Asia. A successful project has managed to bring about a steady decline in rates of TB infection in Turkmenistan since 2013 Read more.

Cleaning up Presevo

The influx of migrants and refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond has had a major impact on Serbia. Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through the country in their attempts to the European Union. The entry point from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to Serbia is the tiny village of Miratovac in the small municipality of Presevo. In order to mitigate tensions between the overwhelmed residents and the newly arriving migrants and refugees, as well as to help clean up the town, UNDP is now working help clear the city’s refuse. Read more.

PUTTING BREAD ON THE TABLE

“We heard about the self-employment programme a couple of years ago. My brothers and I decided to apply and use the funds to buy flour and bring the bakery back to life,” says Vlatko Apostolski. “We’d always wanted to run the business and revive our granddad’s secret bread recipe. The programme made it happen.” Read more.

UNDP has implemented the self-employment programme on behalf of the government since 2007. In the past eight years, more than 7,650 people have received coaching, training and start-up grants to start their own small businesses in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Georgia: Mobile technology for safe communities

anketa#a#non00b#wed1c#7d#pol24ngo2 – sent from the village of Ditsi in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia, this mysterious SMS means that no security incidents have happened in the last week, there was one crossing of the boundary with South Ossetia for celebrating a wedding, the community sense of security is seven on a scale of one to 10, the police patrolled 24 times, and NGOs two times. The Georgian word elva means “lightning“ or “express message,“ which is the name of the information sharing platform developed with assistance from UNDP. Read more.

We women do not stop: A teacher takes on trade in Uzbekistan

The Namangan region of Uzbekistan lies in the north of the country in the Fergana valley, a key stop on the ancient Silk Road. It is here, in the city of Chust, that Sanobar Tojibaeva lives. For many years, she worked as a teacher but in 2013, she decided to start something new: her very own first business. “UNDP gave me the confidence that I could be a truly successful entrepreneur and expand my business,” she recalls. Read more.

Tajikistan: Grinding gravel reduces flooding and creates new jobs

In 2010, severe flooding killed more than a dozen people and destroyed 500 homes in Kulyab city, south-western Tajikistan. Although flooding hits the region every year, a subsequent assessment of the disaster by UNDP and the government revealed that one of the causes of the 2010 inundation was a clogged and poorly maintained canal system. Read more.

Schools in Belarus make the energy efficiency grade

Energy intensity per unit of GDP in Belarus is still 1.5 - 2 times higher than in European Union member states with similar climate conditions. The “Energy Efficiency in Schools“ project is working to enhance efficient use of energy resources by local communities through application of energy-saving technologies and measures in local school buildings. Read more.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Arms meltdown movement forces firepower from the streets

As many as 1 in 5 citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina may possess an illegal firearm. On average, more than 10 acts of violence involving illegal weapons occur every week. Since 2006, UNDP has helped dispose of over 11,000 tonnes of ammunition and 130,000 small arms and light weapons. Read more.

Europa Nostra Award to Armenian Church and Monastery IN CYPRUS

The outstanding conservation of the Armenian Church and Monastery in Nicosia, winner of an European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award 2015, considered Europe’s highest honour in the field, celebrated at a special ceremony at its premises. The UNDP Action for Cooperation & Trust in Cyprus (UNDP-ACT) implemented the restoration project. Discover more.

MONTENEGRO INTRODUCES NATIONAL, TOLL-FREE, ANONYMOUS SOS HELPLINE FOR VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE IN FAMILY

Do you know how to recognize violence in a household? Do you know all its forms and facets? Do you know where to seek help and which protection measures are in place to support the victim? Answers to all these questions and many others will now be provided by the SOS helpline for victims of violence in family. The line is national, toll-free, anonymous and available 24/7. The helpline was introduced as a result of cooperation between the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the NGO SOS Nikšić, with support of UNDP and the EU. Read more.

Bottom up disaster risk reduction in Kazakhstan

Hazard maps for villages and towns developed, highlighting local dangers and designating evacuation routes. Over 4,000 students in 15 schools in the Semey region trained on how to react during disasters. This made possible by a project run by UNDP and its partners. Read more.

A marketable venture: Croatia’s farmers get a boost

Hundreds of residents of Zadar now regularly flock to the market each Saturday morning to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and other produce directly from local farmers who previously struggled to find an outlet for their goods. UNDP and the County of Zadar jointly invested in the necessary infrastructure to make the market a viable option for local farmers. Read more.