Mountain Universities Collaborate on Research

Representatives from UCA, Khorog State University and Naryn State University at the MSME research project launch.

Representatives from the University of Central Asia (UCA), Khorog State University (KSU) and Naryn State University (NSU) participated at an inception workshop of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) research project on February 4-5. As part of this research project, UCA’s Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA) will help build research capacity of KSU and NSU to conduct a study on MSME in mountainous regions of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (Tajikistan) and the Naryn region (Kyrgyzstan), through the delivery of training, and mentorship on research design, and quantitative and qualitative methods. This will allow the project participants to gain indispensable knowledge and skills on questionnaire design, qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as data collection and analysis.

The MSME research project has been initiated and supported by the Mountain Universities Partnership (MUP) programme, an initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and centred at UCA. The overriding goal of MUP is to support four mountain universities, namely - Khorog State University in Tajikistan, Naryn State University in the Kyrgyz Republic, Badakhshan University in Afghanistan, and Karakorum International University in Pakistan. All are located in mountain communities and share many common issues. MUP is a long-term programme committed to helping the mountain universities improve their research capacity, academic programmes, and services, which are serving populations in mountainous areas.