Access to information and knowledge on development and cooperation in Central Asia/ Communication platform for national, regional and international stakeholders established. Situation analysis: Regional cooperation is an important factor of long-term positive impact on pro-poor economic development[1] in Central Asia, and could contribute to the achievement of the national MDGs. Development and implementation of the economic cooperation policies need to be supported by competent decision making and better understanding by civil society[2]. It is critical to ensure participatory approach and building capacities of the governments, civil society and international agencies in development and implementation of cooperation initiatives through promoting dialogue and knowledge sharing among all concerned parties. In this regard, building knowledge networks by priority areas of cooperation, strengthening capacities of expert community in policy advice would facilitate extensive use of existing potential and local expertise in policy advice, information sharing and knowledge exchange for ensuring involvement of all concerned parties into development and implementation of regional cooperation strategies.
Proposed programme: The Central Asian Gateway Project[1] aims at facilitating regional integration and sustainable development through supporting cooperation between the governments and expert community in formulation and implementation of regional cooperation initiatives. The CAG project will strengthen capacities of think tanks and media institutions in development and promotion of policy advice to governments through building partnerships and networking for knowledge sharing and information exchange, joining expertise and promoting successful solutions in the area of regional development. The main objectives of Central Asian Gateway are:  Support a dialogue and knowledge sharing on regional and national levels through building regional knowledge network focused on the issues of economic cooperation;
Strengthen capacities of think tanks and media institutions in developing and promoting policy advice through delivering training and conducting joint research studies; Providing access to high quality online and offline information and resources on regional development and cooperation.
Anticipated results: Activities of Project will be mainly directed to building capacities of expert community in policy advice, building partnerships and their institutional strengthening for ensuring better policy advice and participatory approach to development and implementation of regional development and cooperation strategies. The CAG task team supported from the implementing agencies will concentrate on the following priority directions identified as the key activities for reaching the goals and objectives of the project: - Organization of the regional research study and experts meeting focused on the issues of regional development and economic cooperation; - Organization of needs assessment and trainings on analytical writing and moderation of e-discussions on the issues of regional cooperation and development for journalists and experts; Updating and upgrading existing on-line resources, databases and informational products and developing new ones, highlighting development and integration issues in Central Asia by request of development stakeholders, strengthening partnerships with content providers and building new ones.
Current status:
• Databases are being improved and enriched • Content of various sections of the portal is continuously updated • Preparations for the regional research study are underway
[1] The benefits from reducing trade costs, more efficient use of water and energy resources could generate a regional economy twice as large and well off 10 years from now. Central Asia Human Development Report 2005, UNDP RBEC. [2] Central Asia Regional Cooperation Strategy and Program Update 2006-2008, Asian Development Bank. |
