The Institute of Public Policy and Administration of the University of Central Asia (UCA), the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), and ISDC – International Security and Development Center invite submission of proposals for sessions and individual research papers for the 6thAnnual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference, to be held in Bishkek on 28-29 October 2020. The conference is supported by American University Central Asia (AUCA), Mercy Corps, and the World Bank.
The two-day conference will bring together national and international experts from government and the public sector, development agencies, non-governmental organizations, academia and research institutions, and media to exchange knowledge and experiences on recent socio-economic developments in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia and to promoteevidence-based policy making. This year, the conference will be preceded by the Life in Kyrgyzstan (LiK) Data Users workshop, to be hold on 27 October.
We invite the submission of proposals for entire sessions (comprising of three to four papers) or for individual research papers studying various aspects of socio-economic development in Kyrgyzstan or Central Asia. We welcome empirical papers using panel micro data, especially panel data from the “Life in Kyrgyzstan Study”, which is openly accessible at http://idsc.iza.org/lik. We also encourage researchers to present other micro- and macroeconomic studies with the relevant topics of research. We encourage doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to apply to participate at the conference, using this opportunity to receive feedback from senior researchers and practitioners.
The topics of individual submissions or entire sessions may include but are not limited to:
- Living with Covid
- Employment, entrepreneurship and informality;
- Migration and remittances;
- Poverty and inequality;
- Social protection and social safety nets;
- Gender, children and intra-household decision making;
- Education and health outcomes;
- Nutrition and food security;
- Rural livelihoods and agricultural markets;
- Impacts of trade and integration reforms;
- Public services and decentralization;
- Social capital and social cohesion;
- Peace-building, trust and expectations;
- Climate change and its impact;
- Sustainable development goals.
- Micro-level data, survey methodology and panel data collection;
- Methods of rigorous impact evaluation;
Please send your submission by 10 June 2020 to the email address likconference2020@gmail.com. For session proposals, please list a session title, a session chair (with name and affiliation), a session organizer (with name and affiliation) and the titles and all co-authors (with names and affiliations) for each paper and enclose a 200-word session summary. For submissions of individual papers, we prefer to receive and will give priority to full papers but will also consider submissions of 200-word abstracts. The submissions should be in English. Shortlisted applicants will be notified by 30 June 2020.
The keynote speakers are Prof. Richard Pomfret (University of Adelaide) and Dr Bohdan Krawchenko (University of Central Asia).
The academic committee comprises of Prof. Kathryn Anderson (Vanderbilt University), Prof. Tilman Brück (IGZ/ISDC), Dr. Damir Esenaliev (IGZ/ISDC), Dr. Roman Mogilevskii (UCA), Dr. Kanat Tilekeyev (UCA), and Prof. Nurgul Ukueva (American University Central Asia).
If public health conditions in times of the Corona pandemic permit, the conference will be held at Park Hotel in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, on 28-29 October 2020. Alternatively, the conference will be held on the same days online, in a format to be determined. Either way, the organisers are committed to ensure a lively exchange of ideas and experiences on the topic of Life in Kyrgyzstan. In these testing times, evidence-based decision making is more valuable than ever. And the micro-level analysis of lives and livelihoods can make an important contribution to better policies in Kyrgyzstan and beyond.
There is no conference fee. Please note that travel and accommodation funds cannot be provided. Registration for participation in the conference, including for experts wishing to attend the conference without presenting a paper, will close on 20 October 2020. For further information on the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study, please see www.lifeinkyrgyzstan.org or send a message to likconference2020@gmail.com.
Organising Institutions
University of Central Asia’s Institute of Public Policy and Administration was established in 2011 to strengthen public policy in Central Asia. It provides in-depth analysis on current and emerging policy issues facing the region, and improves the analytical capacity of governments and civil society to use evidence in decision-making processes through professional development. The Institute has produced a series of peer-reviewed research papers on social and economic issues, public administration and public policy relating to Central Asia and Afghanistan. For more information on IPPA, please visit: http://ucentralasia.org/Research/ippa
IGZ – Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops carries out basic and applied research supporting the sustainable production of vegetable and ornamental plants and the rational use of natural resources. It contributes to the success of horticulture in Germany and other countries, understanding fundamentals of horticultural and plant science, sustainability in production and use of plants, healthy nutrition and wellbeing of the population. Its work is rated by acceptance and appreciation by professionals in practical horticulture and by the society, publications in high-ranking scientific journals and acquisition of competitive grants. For more information on IGZ, please visit: http://www.igzev.de/.
ISDC – International Security and Development Center is a Berlin-based, non-for-profit research center conducting research, providing policy advice and building capacity on international security and socio-economic development. We are unique in the global research scene for being dedicated to work exclusively on the security-development nexus. For more information on ISDC, please visit: https://isdc.org/.
