Raya Kadyrova

Kyrgyzstan

2003 Residency

If you really love your country, if you really want the people to live in peace, if you really care about your children and your family, you have to do something if you see something wrong around you.

Raisa (Raya) Kadyrova is the President and founder of the Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kyrgyzstan operating in the cross-border communities of Central Asia. This dynamic woman committed to peace with justice has become a leader in the NGO community in Kyrgyzstan and neighboring countries as her vision helped to establish FTI in 1998 and her leadership skills helped grow the organization from a four member staff to a dedicated team of 58 individuals.

In its short history, FTI has implemented 14 long-term projects in five countries. Further, FTI has developed a reputation as the premier NGO in its region, respected for both its ability to bring divided communities together in the spirit of peace and for its efforts to help lend a voice to the disenfranchised members of the cross-border communities. Raya credits the success of the organization to her family and colleagues. She never hesitates to acknowledge the on-going support and encouragement of her husband Almaz Kadyrov, and their two children Nurlan and Aijan. Raya also credits her colleagues at FTI and the NGO community for helping to develop the ideas, structure, strategies, and work ethic that have contributed to the organization’s accomplishments.

Raya grew up in an environment of challenges and opportunities. Born March 28, 1957, Raya lived in what was then known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Orphaned at the age of eight-and-a-half, Raya appreciated the Soviet system that gave her access to education, healthcare, and other social services. In meeting Raya, it becomes very clear that beyond the social supports and educational opportunities she experienced early on, it is her own will, sense of responsibility, and her initiative that propel her. This was important because when the Soviet Union collapsed Kyrgyzstan became a poor, independent, struggling, new nation with border and resource conflicts to address.

Raya graduated from the university in Bishkek with a degree in teaching, and taught for several years. She was introduced to the NGO community in 1994 when she began working in her country with United States Peace Corps volunteers as a language instructor in her country. Two years later Raya joined the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) working in the region. Her assignment was helping to implement a tolerance education project directed at minimizing tension between Kyrgyz and Tajik secondary school students. Exposed to the desperate situation of refugees in the cross-border areas of Central Asia during her UNHCR work, Raya was compelled to rethink what might work better. The extent of social inequalities and the seemingly hopeless economic plight that plagued these communities inspired Raya to establish a voice for marginalized populations.

In 1998, seeing the need and wanting the flexibility and freedom to have tolerance education reach a broader audience, Raya created a new organization, FTI. Its mission is to "prevent and transform inter-ethnic conflicts and coordinate community-based activities and civil forums that promote peace, tolerance, conflict resolution strategies and support local initiated solutions to regional inter-ethnic conflicts." FTI assumed responsibility for the UNHCR initiated tolerance education project. The project quickly expanded to incorporate marginalized groups within the community, in particular women who represented 52 percent of the Kyrgyz population.

Beyond the tolerance project, FTI has been instrumental in creating dialogue and opening communication between various populations in the cross-border communities, particularly in the Ferghana Valley. In 1999, when the Small Batken War in Southern Kyrgyzstan resulted in the displacement of thousands of individuals, FTI assisted the population by establishing camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and establishing much needed communication access. Radio Salam and Salam Asia, a radio station and a magazine, are aimed at providing accurate information about the IDP situation and the incursions in the area.

In the first five years of its existence, FTI grew from a single project NGO to a multi-programmatic, international, well-funded organization working for peace and justice at local and national and regional levels in Central Asia. For her and FTI's efforts in the Small Batken War, Raya was conferred the title of Honorary Citizen of Batken Oblast by the government of Kyrgyzstan. She was the only woman among seven recipients. She has been called on to negotiate local community and government stand-offs, facilitate resolutions regarding conflicts about water, and get women to the table in democratization efforts.

Among the many outstanding traits Raya manifests is her desire to learn and see how she can apply (and expand) her newfound knowledge to serve people. She does not think small, yet she is concerned about the smallest, most voiceless, most forlorn.

If you had asked Raya when she was in her early twenties if she would ever be the founder and President of the largest NGO in Central Asia, she says she would have said “No.” It was not in the plans of the young Soviet citizen. Even as the world changed around her, Raya found her internal balance, based on love of the people, unchanged. Her desire to help her community, her belief in equality and justice remain central to her. While she has achieved so very much, both personally and professionally, Raya Kadyrova has no intention of slowing down. Indeed, she envisions a larger goal for her homeland, one that pictures Kyrgyzstan as an example of peace, equality, and tolerance for the entire region.

Made possible by a grant from the Fred J. Hansen Foundation