BISHKEK, 7 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Eight months after public protests swept away Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev, press freedom remains a key issue in the former Soviet republic, despite expectations that the new authorities would promote media liberalisation, journalists say. Full report

BISHKEK, 1 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Almost nine months after the revolution in Kyrgyzstan that promised a better life, democracy and equality for the people of this Central Asian nation, womens groups say there has been little improvement in their lives.Full report

BISHKEK, 1 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - There was tumultuous applause from the audience of more than a thousand following the appearance of popular singers during a charity concert devoted to World AIDS Day on Thursday, in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The concert was a platform for pop stars to inform and mobilise people, especially the young, in the fight against AIDS.Full report

ANKARA, 24 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - Four Uzbek refugees continue to languish in a pre-trial detention centre in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, more than six months after fleeing a violent government crackdown in the southern Uzbek city of Andijan.Full report

OSH, 23 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - With more than half of southern Kyrgyzstans population still mired in poverty, the government of the Central Asian country needs to support and facilitate the development of small business in the region in order to tackle poverty and unemployment, activists say.Full report

BISHKEK, 14 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has just approved a US $15.5 million grant for a project aimed at delivering better education to children in poor areas and from disadvantaged families in the Kyrgyzstan.Full report

BISHKEK, 10 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - Rioting which had swept through Kyrgyzstan's penal system over the past month has subsided and the situation is currently under control, prison officials said Thursday.Full report

BISHKEK, 1 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - Inmates rioted in several prisons in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, with at least three convicts killed when security forces tried to quell protests in the penal institutions, officials say.Full report

BISHKEK, 31 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - A series of prison protests over the past month in Kyrgyzstan has highlighted the need for reform in the country's burgeoning penitentiary system, where poor living conditions, disease and malnutrition fuel protests, say experts.Full report

OSH, 31 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - Uzbek security forces have demined the countrys eastern border with Kyrgyzstan, with work under way to clear landmines from the Tajik part of the Uzbek border as well, officials said on Monday. Full report

KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on gender inequality

KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on support for small business

KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on lack of teachers

KYRGYZSTAN: Interview with chair of the Coalition of NGOs for Democracy and Civil Society

KYRGYZSTAN: Rural men show little interest in reproductive health