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 …

Published by Progres (progres.online)   18.12.2025 At a meeting of People’s Council on September 19, 2025, Yazmyrat Atamyradov, a member of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan (Halk Maslahaty), proposed to terminate the long-standing policy of annually increasing public sector wages, pensions, and social assistance payments by 10%. He justified the proposal by claiming that “the living conditions of the …

Published by The Ministry of Health of Ukraine (moz.gov.ua)   18.12.2025 The outcomes of the 2025 efforts of the country’s regional centres for disease control and prevention [ЦКПХ – центри контролю та профілактики хвороб], as well as the priority areas for work in 2026, were discussed at the final meeting of the year between the Ministry …

Russian regions have made proposals of ideas to be included in a new strategy for the development of volunteering up until 2030   17.12.2025   Article published on the ASI website   Dobro.rf has completed its analysis of proposals for a new volunteering development strategy.   As part of a Dobro.rf initiative, more than 2,600 …

A new study found that the significant economic and social costs of violence against women in Georgia, stressing that insufficient prevention and response efforts place a burden not only on survivors but also on families, communities and the national economy. 15.12.2025 The research is based on a nationwide survey on violence against women conducted in …

The Russian President endorses a proposal to make changes to the palliative care system   10.12.2025   Article published on the ASI website   At a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) held on 9 December, a proposal was discussed to amend the criteria for the …

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture rejects a petition calling for LGBTQ+ people to be protected   10.12.2025   Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website   Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture and Information has rejected a petition on “We oppose laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people”, which appeared on the Epetition platform on 17 November. The Ministry explained …

The problem of violence against women with disabilities in Central Asia   09.12.2025   Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website   A teenage girl with developmental disorders was raped by her two brothers for many years. A woman who uses a wheelchair was constantly harassed by a taxi driver during a journey. Two patients with …

Russia has set up a hotline for victims in rehabilitation centres   08.12.2025   Article published on the ASI website   The launch of the hotline comes amid a wave of scandals surrounding rehabilitation centres.   The Second Chance Foundation for People with Drug Addictions and the New People Party have announced the launch of …

A new digital platform for transparent charity information to be launched in Russia   05.12.2025   Article published on the ASI website   This is a Dobro.rf initiative in strategic partnership with the Alfa-Bank.   This new venture was announced at the International Civic Participation Forum, #WeAreTogether, which was held in Moscow from 2-5 December. …