 This was the first time the American government had provided aid to a Uyghur exile group.In 2004, with a supporting grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, the UAA founded the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other minority groups in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community's democratic aspirations.In 2006, the UAA established a UHRP satellite office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.