The combined impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, international economic decline, domestic instability, and regional conflict have taken a toll on the resilience of people in recent years. An estimated one-quarter of the population live below the poverty line and estimates suggest that a majority of the population are vulnerable to income poverty, with significant disparities in regional inequality and between urban-rural areas.1 A weak domestic private sector and limited investments mean labor markets cannot absorb a rapidly growing young population and the 1.1 million Kyrgyzstanis, 59 per cent of which are women, who migrate for work. Labour remittances make up 31 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP) and are largely channeled into consumption.