UNSCR 1325, National Level Implementation in Central Asia, Strategies for Ways Forward
Thursday, 25 October, 2007
New York, NY
Representatives from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan spoke about the current status of gender policymaking and challenges to women and security within the context of SCR 1325 in their respective countries.
Alla Kuvatova, the director of the NGO Traditions and Modernity in Tajikistan, addressed the need to train the government and to integrate gender perspectives into Tajik law. Kuvatova indicated that polygamy is still widely practiced and that sexist stereotypes dominate domestic discourse and promote psychological and domestic violence against women. Currently, women comprise 16% of Tajik parliament, up from a mere 2% in 1998. Nurgul Janaeva, president of Forum of Women's NGOs: Kyrgyzstan, spoke about the incorporation of new gender language on SCR 1325 into the Kyrgyz National Action Plan, which enforces monitoring mechanisms on gender development. She stressed how effective implementation of SCR 1325 requires linkages to CEDAW and the Beijing Platform. In Kyrgyzstan, there is 0% female representation in parliament, 19% local in representation, and 4% in local heads of self-governance.