The “Roza Otunbayeva Initiative” International Public Foundation is a non-profit, nongovernmental organization established in January 2012 with the aim of initiating and implementing programs and projects that can contribute to the social, political, and economic development of the country, as well as respect for the environment in the Kyrgyz Republic.\n\nThe founder of the Foundation Roza Otunbayeva, is a former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, member of the high-level group of advisers on mediation under the UN Secretary-General, member of the Club de Madrid, and member of the Governing Board of UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP).\n\nMain goals of the Foundation:\n•\tPromoting human development, expanding civic participation, strengthening civil society;\n•\tImplementation of educational, cultural, environmental, and charitable programs and projects;\n•\tSupporting initiatives for peacekeeping, expanding communication platforms on issues of international political, economic, and humanitarian cooperation.\n\nSince its establishment, the Foundation has initiated and implemented throughout the country, in cooperation with various partners, more than 30 projects. \n\nMuch attention is paid by the Foundation to supporting the level of accessibility of art, music, literature, and folk crafts, both for children and for the general public. Thus, the Foundation has published several books about ICH elements of Kyrgyzstan adopted for children e.g. Manas comic book based on the Manas epic, “To Visit My Friends!” which explores the diverse culture of ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan, etc.\n\nOne of the well-known projects implemented by the Foundation is "Development Centers on Jailoo". Jailoo is a summer pasture. The purpose of the project is aimed at creatinig conditions for equal access for the vulnerable population – the children of cattle breeders to preschool education. The project also includes programs aimed to promote traditional knowledge and cultural and historical heritage of the Kyrgyz people, introducing children to culture through the study of traditional games, and the formation of knowledge and skills of young children on the bases of tolerant interaction with representatives of different ethnic groups and nationalities.\n

The Craft Council of Kyrgyzstan is the craftsmen association that has united more than 5000 craftsmen throughout Kyrgyzstan and with the representatives of all regions in the country. \n\nThe Crafts Council was established in 2013 with the aim of uniting craftspeople on the basis of common interest to support efforts in promoting the handicraft sector and traditional crafts in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Crafts Council represents and protects the interests of Kyrgyz craftspeople at the national and international levels. \n\nThe Craft Council of manages the work of communities and NGOs and their cooperation in implementing measures to safeguard traditional craftsmanship. It cooperates with different stakeholders and connects craftspeople with governmental institutions or educational organizations for instance. \n\nNational Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO and the Crafts Council have a long successful cooperation history, which is reflected in joint nomination files such as “Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdak, art of Kyrgyz traditional felt carpets” inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List of UNESCO, preparation of periodic reports, organization of community-based events and traditional crafts documenting activities. All members of the Crafts Council are usually encouraged to actively take part in the safeguarding, popularization, and transmission of common heritage. \n

The iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture (TILC) is responsible for safeguarding iTaukei culture and heritage. In that regard, it updates and edits entries into the iTaukei monolingual Dictionary. It is also custodian of significant iTaukei records such as iTaukei dialects from the fourteen (14) provinces. An important program of the Institute is the culture mapping of the 1,171 villages in the 14 Provinces of Fiji. This exercise is focused on recording all traditional knowledge and expressions of culture significant to the iTaukei but more importantly, it is for the purpose of addressing issues such as intellectual property. nnThe Institute was initially formed as the Fijian Dictionary Project funded by renowned actor Raymond Burr and the American-Fiji Foundation in 1974. The Government later funded the project and in 1986, the Great Council of Chiefs, with Cabinets' endorsement renamed the iTaukei Dictionary Project as the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture. The Institute was then charged with the three major responsibilities: completion of the iTaukei Monolingual Dictionary; safeguarding and preservation of iTaukei Culture; research and documentation of all iTaukei dialects from the 14 Provinces.

The World Crafts Council AISBL (WCC-AISBL) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that was founded in 1964 to promote fellowship, foster economic development through income generating craft related activities, organize exchange programs, workshops, conferences, seminars, and exhibitions—and in general, to offer encouragement, help, and advice to the craftspersons of the world. The organization is now formally registered in Belgium as an international organization and AISBL is there the French shortcut for an international association without lucrative purpose. The WCC is organised into five regions: Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America. The organization is affiliated to UNESCO.\nThe WCC was founded in 1964 by Kamaladevi Chattopadhay and Aileen Osborn Webb (who had founded the American Craft Council in 1943.) The WCC (Europe) meets once a year and the 2011 meeting was held in Dublin, Ireland.\nThe World Crafts Council meets every four years. In 2012, the General Assembly occurred in Chennai when Usha Krishna was the President. After this General Assembly the Presidency will move from India to China. Mr. Wang Shan was the president, Ms. Jing Chen was the Secretary General. In 2014, WCC Golden Jubilee Celebration Summit was held in Dongyang, China, more than 2000 craftspeople from 63 countries participated. In 2016, the General Assembly occurred in Isfahan, Iran from September 22 to 29.

Public Fund "Rural Development Fund" (RDF) is a non-profit non-governmental research organization, registered in November 2003.\n\nThe main activity of the RDF is to conduct applied research on various aspects of rural development, and the implementation of projects in the field of rural development and sustainable management of natural complexes that contribute to the development of policy and the decision making at the local and national level, the evaluation of ongoing projects and the development of recommendations to improve their effectiveness.\n\nThe RDF provides interactive adult education tailored to the needs and background of the rural population. The RDF is also involved in various exchange visits, facilitation and organization of international and national conferences, seminars and working group meetings.\n\nRDF has unique experience in conducting the research on pastoral traditional knowledge funded by the Christensen Fund, USA. They carried out the traditional knowledge research with the involvement of local researchers, which was very successful. RDF also conducted a study for the World Bank on traditional natural resource management and existing conflicts over natural resources.\n

The Kyrgyz Alliance of Midwives (KAM) is an independent professional association in the Kyrgyz Republic, which represents the interests and rights of midwives in the Kyrgyz Republic. KAM was created in 2011 and unites more than 2,500 midwives from all provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic. They are actively involved in strengthening the role of midwives in safeguarding traditional medicinal knowledge. In 2014, the Alliance became a Member of the International Confederation of Midwives.\n\nKAM regularly organizes activities to improve the skills and capacity of midwives, implements and monitors programs and projects such as Safe Motherhood, cooperates with the Kyrgyz State Medical Institute of Postgraduate Education to update the curriculum for midwives, etc. Moreover, the Alliance is engaged in safeguarding and promoting the traditional midwifery knowledge of Kyrgyz and supports communities and individual bearers including those from far mountainous areas. \n\nKyrgyz traditional midwifery knowledge and skills have been safeguarded and passed down through generations. From ancient times, the midwives played an important role in the communities as they possess knowledge and skills pertaining to childbirth, care for the mother and the newborn, as well as rituals and ceremonies dedicated to children. Moreover, midwives support women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the afterbirth period. They also share their knowledge about childcare and traditional remedies for mothers and their children and that is why they have been always respected by the Kyrgyz.\n\nIn 2021, the Alliance was actively taking part in preparing the multinational nomination file "Midwifery: knowledge, skills and practices", which was submitted from 8 countries (Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Slovakia, and Togo) for the possible inscription to the UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity in 2023.\n\nThe Kyrgyz Alliance of Midwives collaborates with various stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture, etc. as well as various development partners such as WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, GIZ, AgaKhan Foundation to improve the quality of health services, strengthen the capacity of the Alliance and promote traditional medicinal knowledge.\n

The World Ethnogames Confederation is an international organization whose activities are aimed at preserving, reviving and developing the ethnocultural, ethnosports and universal world ethnic movement, as well as the development of intercultural and interfaith dialogue.\n\nThe main goals of the World Ethnogames Confederation are to develop and popularize the ethnoculture heritage and ethnosport movement, and to provide access to the ethnosport and ethnoculture education.\n\nThe World Ethnogames Confederation has realized several large international projects such as “Nomad Universe”, "Ethno-Festival of the Silk Road" and the “World Nomad Games” the biggest program initiated by the Kyrgyz Republic for the safeguarding and promotion of traditional games and sports. During the First, Second, and Third World Nomad Games (WNG) the World Ethnogames Confederation served as a Secretariat of WNG and supported the preparation for the games, crafts fairs, scientific conferences, etc. \n\nThe Confederation’s activities are coordinated by Mr. Askhat Akibaev. He is the head and author of the projects of the World Confederation of Ethnogames. He graduated from Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn and continued his studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. \n

\nThe Persian Garden Institute for Living Heritage (PGILH) is a non-governmental body which has as its primary purpose to contribute to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Iran and Western and Central Asia and to the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO, 2003) both at the national and international levels. It aims to achieve this through research activities and projects, inventorying and documentation projects, capacity-building (in Iran and the region), developing files for international inscription, promotional activities, heritage needs assessment (tangible and intangible), providing stewardship services for museums and memory institutions, researching and promoting handicrafts, developing culturally-appropriate and sustainable tourism, translating, and publishing specialized texts, providing legal and policy consultation services, and providing other expert services in the field of cultural heritage.