News, insights & analysis
The challenges facing our societies are complex, fast-moving and deeply interconnected. We convene our Fellows’ community online and in person, creating spaces for constructive dialogue, exchange and learning. Here, you can find individual and collective perspectives, analysis and stories from JST Fellows and partners – leaders working at the frontlines of social change across Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
From policy analysis to personal reflections and practitioner insights, this is where the JST network thinks out loud – curious, constructive and grounded in experience.
Youth Advocacy in Kyrgyzstan
Zamira Isakova (JST 2018) is a political analyst and peacebuilding specialist from Kyrgyzstan’s ‘southern capital’ Osh. This old Silk Road city at the heart of the Ferghana Valley is known…
Uniting civil society in Georgia during Covid-19
Little did Ketevan Chachava know that the concepts for civic initiatives she developed while in the UK in 2019 on her John Smith Trust Fellowship Programme would be a life…
Developing financial services in Turkmenistan
The John Smith Trust has welcomed Fellows from Turkmenistan to its Fellowship Programmes since 2012 – and Maksat Keshiyev was our first. Turkmenistan has been taking steps to modernise…
Protecting the Environment in Belarus
Anastasia Zhdanovich (JST Belarus Fellow) with Baroness Catherine Ashton, then Chair of the John Smith Trust. Anastasia Zhdanovich is a lawyer from Minsk – a 3rd generation lawyer in a…
Access to pro-bono legal services in Azerbaijan
Legal aid and pro bono legal services are available in Azerbaijan in some form, but a structured and efficient system at the national level which guarantees access to vulnerable and…
Leadership in Kazakhstan’s Akmola Region
One hour outside Nur Sultan is the rural village of Rodina in the Akmola region. Rodina is the home of Bella Gazdiyeva (JST 2017, Kazakhstan), a passionate educationalist and environmentalist….
Dialogue and Devolution in Moldova
Following the finalising of a protracted and controversial governmental reform process, the 12-month period between 2018 and 2019 in Moldova was politically turbulent. Parliamentary elections were followed by political crises…
Innovation for citizen participation in Ukraine
Vadim Georgienko (JST 2006, Ukraine) is a social entrepreneur working to find innovative solutions for development challenges. He has an impressive track record for innovation and problem-solving in the area…
Medical Ombudsman’s Institute in Armenia
Currently medical errors in Armenia are considered a crime and judged according to criminal law. Without the independent and impartial investigation of an ombudsmen the rights of both patient and…
Promoting impact investing in Russia
Social entrepreneurship in Russia is a relatively recent concept but in the past 12 years it has been actively developing. So in 2017, when Sergei Ponomarev applied for the John…
Inspiring girls to dream big in rural Tajikistan
Muhaiyo Nozimova, Sabrina Kandenova and Regina Sokolova (JST 2018, Tajikistan) have been supporting girls at a remote school in Tajikistan’s Abdurahmoni Jomi District to follow their professional dreams –…
Raising awareness through documentary making
In 2019, Kyrgyz journalist Aigul Adzheiva produced her first documentary, a hard hitting look at issues of injustice connected with gender inequality in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The documentary, called…