Project Report: Chance Crisis Center, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with partner CSOs

WINGS helps combat domestic violence in rural areas of Kyrgyzstan SGS2023 Grantee: Chance Crisis Center, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with other CSOs Project: Pilot project to test American evidence-based WINGS methodology to reduce risk of domestic violence In Kyrgyzstan, as well as in other countries of Central Asia and all over the world, violence against women and girls …

Project report: Help for rural migrants in Tajikistan

SGS 2023 Grantee: Development and support of innovations “Almaz”, Nurek, Tajikistan, with partner CSOs Zanoni Komeb (Women of Komeb), and Садои Кухсор (Sound of Kukhsor). Project: Information centres for rural migrants and their families affected by the war in Ukraine Here is their report: In three regions of Tajikistan – Nurek, Khovalinga and Rogun – meetings …

Ukraine Appeal fundraising under the EBRD Community Initiative

The BEARR Trust is delighted to announce that it has joined staff of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in a fundraising effort under the Bank’s Community Initiative. The Community Initiative matches funds raised by EBRD staff in support of local charities and philanthropic activities in the countries where the Bank invests. The …

BEARR Newsletter February 2024

A pottery workshop in north-eastern Ukraine funded by BEARR February 2024 Dear friends and colleagues,  As the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, we are relaunching our Ukraine Appeal and, to kickstart our efforts, we are hosting an online lecture titled ‘Loss, Defiance, and the Fight for Justice’ by Olesya Khromeychuk on 4 March. Join us in making a …

Relaunching our Ukraine Appeal with an online lecture on 4 March

As the world looks back on two years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, The BEARR Trust marks the second anniversary of our Emergency Appeal for Ukraine which we launched on 27 February 2022. We are enormously grateful to all who have donated to it, as are those who have received the …

Project report: Support for Families of People with Disabilities in Armenia

SGS 2023 Grantee: Unison NGO for Support of People with Special Needs, Armenia. Project: Support for Families of Persons with Disabilities in Armenia. Here is their report: All families face various challenges. The families of people with disabilities (PWDs) encounter even more difficulties and stereotypes, which may hamper the process of overcoming problems. Family members are …

Special Advisers

We are delighted that two BEARR Trustees who have come to the end of their terms have kindly agreed to stay on as Advisers. (For more information about our team and other governance issues click here.) Charlie Walker, who finished his last three-year term as a BEARR Trustee in October 2023, continues to support BEARR’s …

Refugees in Armenia

There has been a longstanding dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Armenians call Artsakh. Following further hostilities in autumn 2023, virtually the whole Armenian-speaking population of 100,000 fled to Armenia. This may not seem a huge number of refugees, but Armenia itself has fewer than three million people, so …

Small Grants Scheme 2024: Application statistics

For the 2024 Scheme (for details click here) we were pleased to receive 82 applications from 8 countries: Armenia (8), Azerbaijan (6), Georgia (5), Kazakhstan (2), Kyrgyzstan (3), Moldova (9), Tajikistan (11), Ukraine (38). 67 of the applications were for Strand A (for projects on the theme “Community Integration of Displaced People”; and 15 for …

Project report: Combatting child trafficking and gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan

SGS 2023 Grantee: Oasis Foundation, Kyrgyzstan. Project: Support for victims of child trafficking and gender-based violence. Here is their report: Research by UNODC and Oasis shows that social orphans, children left without parental care, are the most vulnerable to becoming victims of trafficking. UNICEF states that 277,000 children in Kyrgyzstan live without parental care. Some experts …