Security and Resilience Central Asia Solidarity Groups have been working with this thematic area since the aftermath of the 2010 interethnic clashes in the southern region of Kyrgyzstan. A range of armed conflicts took place across the region since 2010, including recurring border conflicts between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, violent coups and revolutions in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and others. CAG has supported our partner organizations, not only in their immediate reconciliation efforts, but also in the provision of training programs in non-violence and support for more inclusive and democratic organizations while reducing conflict and fragmentation. However, the absence of ongoing armed conflicts is not an indication of peace. The threats to peace and security in the region are armed border conflicts, inter-ethnic clashes, the rise of nationalist rhetoric, extreme climate change, political instability, low level human development indexes, poverty, and an unequal distribution of natural resources. These threats are complex and vary from country to country, but are often interlinked.
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The increasing control and oppression of the civil society organizations across the region of Central Asia poses one of the biggest threats to the peace and security of the region. The absence of a secure environment in which the civil society of Central Asia can actively exercise and protect their human rights is also a strong hindrance to the democratization processes of the region. It is the local civil society organizations that are in a position to address the root causes of a given conflict, but it is often the case that these organizations lack the knowledge and capacity to do so. Organizations are affected by the conflicts and are usually forced to close down and operate in the gray zone, which hinders both their ability to intervene and their long-term sustainability.