Bishkek, April 22 - Today the Center for Free Legal Aid (FLA center) of the Ministry of Justice opened in Bishkek with support from United Nations Development Programme. The FLA center is located at the following address: 381 Zhibek Jolu Avenue - 152 Ibraimova Street, 1st floor.

The main objective of the FLA centers are to provide free legal aid, legal education, legal information, increase the level of legal protection of vulnerable population groups, provide access to justice, assist realization of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, ensure the right of certain categories of citizens to state-guaranteed legal aid. Free legal aid is provided in the form of consultation providing legal advice and information on legal issues, as well as assistance in drafting legal documents.

Between 2016 and 2021, with the support of UNDP, 16 FLA centers opened across the country. A total of 31 such FLA centers are currently operating across Kyrgyzstan, equipped with necessary conditions to provide citizens with state-guaranteed legal assistance. Consultations are provided by qualified lawyers and attorneys belonging to the GGLA system, according to the established schedule.

The opening of the Centers was made possible with the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Development Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic within the project "Towards sustainable access to justice for legal empowerment in the Kyrgyz Republic" funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. 

About the project:

• Under the project, thousands of people learned about their rights, including through the services of the "Solidarity Bus", an initiative that increased access to legal information in rural areas, and was presented in many international forums on justice issues as an example of innovative and effective action;
• Hundreds of Government officials and lawyers learned how the principles of rule of law and due process can help them be more responsive to the needs of the people they serve;
• The state-funded legal aid system was established through the adoption of the new State-guaranteed Legal Aid Act and the subsequent adoption of important by-laws and regulations in late 2016;

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Contacts for media: Nurzhan Alymkanova, communications specialist, nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org