Following Kyrgyzstan‘s political transition in 2010, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), launched the Kyrgyz Republic Transition Initiative (KRTI) to provide flexible, short term support to address the opportunities and challenges of the transition period and complement other longer-term initiatives of USAID. Since May 2010, KRTI‘s strategic goal has been to support Kyrgyzstan‘s efforts to establish a more stable and secure democracy while laying the groundwork for continued long-term development. Based on this mandate, KRTI developed two program objectives: 1.) support the ongoing democratic political transition at the national and local levels; and 2.) address emerging sources of instability and conflict at the community level.

KRTI commissioned a series of case studies from independent, third party researchers to review a selection of activity clusters and document results and lessons learned. The purpose of these case studies is twofold. First, they are intended to provide an independent, third party perspective on the results of specific clusters of activities.

Researchers were asked to evaluate the validity of KRTI‘s programmatic assumptions and determine whether activities achieved their intended output and outcome objectives. The studies were also intended to evaluate the success of a group of small grants, aggregating outcomes to determine a broader programmatic result. In this way, the studies are a key component of the program‘s overall monitoring and evaluation effort.

Second, these case studies are intended to identify programmatic and strategic lessons learned and provide recommendations to inform future programming. As KRTI ends, initiatives by government, civil society, and the international community will continue to address the themes and sectors KRTI targeted. These case studies will serve as one means of contributing to future efforts. These case studies will also help to inform stabilization and political transition work more broadly within OTI and USAID.