Health Connections International (HCI) was invited to take part in a roundtable forum in 
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 14 September 2010 focused on the sexual and reproductive 
health and rights (SRHR) of women living in the remote regions of Central Asia. 
The forum–entitled ‘Services to the People: Safe motherhood and the promotion of 
SRHR in rural areas of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan’–was held at the Hyatt 
Hotel in Bishkek. 

HCI’s Medical Co-ordinator for the Kyrgyz Republic, Dr Kaliya Toguzbaeva, took part in 
the forum. In addition to meeting with the organisers of the forum to discuss possible 
co-operative links on HCI’s work in the region, Kaliya also expressed the high demand 
amongst HCI’s Medical Moderators in Kyrgyzstan to interact and share professional 
experiences with experts in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology.  

Kaliya also met with the Dutch Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 
Kazakhstan, Mr Frans Potuyt, to express the gratitude of the Kyrgyz people to the 
Dutch government for its on-going and generous support of HCI’s in-country programming. 

The safe motherhood and SRHR roundtable was made possible through a partnership 
between the Reproductive Health Alliance and the Netherlands School of Public and 
Occupational Health (NSPOH), with financial support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

HCI welcomes and looks forward to a continuing dialogue with the participants of the forum 
as well as with the organisers on how we may work towards improving SRHR and ensuring safe 
motherhood for all women across the Central Asian region.