On May 23, ILO and PAGE hosted the final workshop on Promoting a gender-responsive just transition towards green Economy, in Bishkek. The event disseminated ILO’s work, awarded SCORE trainer certificates to national consultants, and introduced the ILO SCORE4Climate training module. Representatives from the government, employers’ organizations, UN partner agencies, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and national consultants attended the event.
The workshop presented and disseminated the 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.
During the workshop, Mr. Azzambek Uulu Zheenbay, Executive Director of the JIA Business Association, highlighted ILO’s alignment with the country’s priorities. He emphasized that micro- and small enterprises, accounting for about 91% of total employment, need support in the green transition. He also introduced the ILO SCORE flagship program and its new training module, SCORE4Climate.
“A number of enterprises have increased their knowledge in the field of increasing productivity and environmental sustainability with the support of the ILO intervention. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the drivers of the development of the green economy, and there is a need to continue this kind of support to cover a larger number of enterprises as only through practical training and on-the-job consultations SMEs can increase productivity and improve working conditions”, said Azzambek Uulu Zheenbay.
The JIA Business Association expressed its readiness to integrate this tool into JIA’s Academy and Entrepreneur Support Centers and proposed further collaboration with the ILO, including a potential Memorandum of Cooperation.
Under PAGE, the ILO collaborated with the National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan to develop a Green Jobs Assessment Model (GJAM) comprising data production, policy analysis, and capacity building. GJAM integrates socio-economic indicators to assess the green jobs effects of alternative policies. This strategic link strengthens Kyrgyzstan’s efforts in promoting a just transition by greening enterprises.
Mr. Tugushev Rafael, Deputy Director of OSKO, highlighted the enterprise-level achievements and appreciated the support of ILO in facilitating the comprehension of green workplace concepts.
“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 with a new more energy-efficient one. The support provided was invaluable to us and we have been able to achieve significant result.”, stated Tugushev Rafael.
PAGE also released a policy brief and a video summarizing the key findings from the Green Jobs Assessment survey and providing an overview of Kyrgyzstan’s socio-economic, labor market, entrepreneurship, and environmental contexts.
Since Kyrgyzstan joined PAGE in 2016, it has made considerable progress in mainstreaming the green economy, green growth, and sustainability into national development strategies and policies. It completed the program in 2023 and is now transitioning into a new phase, with partner agencies collaborating on a sustainability strategy to further promote an inclusive green growth agenda. As part of this effort, experiences from the ILO intervention and PAGE in Kyrgyzstan will be shared at an inter-regional policy forum during CoP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024, supported by ILO South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) and PAGE.
