Working more and earning less, carrying the weight of the family on their shoulders and trapped in their role: The fate of women in Central Asia   04.02.2026   Article published on the azattyqasia.org website   The high level of education among women in Central Asia is not leading to economic independence or political influence. …

Patriarch Kirill believes women are emotionally unstable and should be banned from having abortions without their husband’s consent   29.01.2026   Article published on the Moscow Times website   Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has proposed a legal ban on married women having abortions without their husbands’ consent.   During a speech at …

A €10 million grant to be used to bolster essential services for children and families in Moldova   28.01.2026   Article published on the moldpres.md/rus website   The Moldovan and German Governments, with the support of the German development bank KfW and UNICEF, have joined forces to improve and expand key services for children and …

How hospitals and emergency services in Ukraine are coping during extended power outages   22.01.2026   Article published on the moz.gov.ua   Ukraine’s Minister of Health, Viktor Lyashko, has paid a working visit to the Sumy region  to assess the readiness of regional leaders and medical facilities to operate amid ongoing energy difficulties and to …

Published by Progres (progres.online)   21/01/2026 The UNICEF report, titled “Generation 2050 in Central Asia”, provides a comprehensive demographic analysis of the five Central Asian nations from 2025 to 2050. It examines the evolving population structure of children and youth to quantify the potential for a “demographic dividend” created by a rising share of working-age individuals …

HPV testing to be included in the first stage of free medical check-ups for women aged between 21 and 49   21.01.2026   Article published on the ASI website   Quoting an official document, TASS are reporting that testing for the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is now included in a reproductive health-screening programme and covered …

Only 17% of Russians living in difficult situations look to non-governmental organisations for help, says VCIOM The majority of survey participants believed that in difficult times, assistance should come primarily from the state. 12.01.2026   Article published on the ASI website.   On 12 January 2026, VCIOM (the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre) published the …

In December, the Moldovan public association CASMED launched the initiative ‘I have the right to be healthy’ (“E dreptul meu să fiu sănătos”) in partnership with the Ministries of Health and Education, the European Union, the World Health Organisation and Switzerland. 06.01.2026 The national initiative ‘I have the right to be healthy’ aims to raise …

How the law on foreign representatives has impacted civil society in Kyrgyzstan   30.12.2025   Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website   In Kyrgyzstan, the law on foreign representatives, analogous to Russia’s foreign agents’ legislation, has already had a major impact on civil society. It was adopted eighteen months ago, according to the Office of …

The World Bank has approved $250 million in financing to help Armenia expand access to affordable housing for refugees and strengthen its mortgage market, a move that appears primarily aimed at Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, even though the press release does not explicitly mention them. 24.12.2025 The funding, approved by the World Bank’s board on …