Kyrgyzstan
Partner: Forum of Women's NGOs of Kyrgyzstan (http://forumofwomenngos.narod.ru/english_index.htm)
The GJC is partnering with the Forum of Women's NGOs in Kyrgyzstan, established in 1995 to coordinate the work of women's rights organizations in Kyrgyzstan and to explore how international mechanisms can advance their work in promoting gender equality in governance and law reform. There are currently no women in the Kyrgyz Parliament. In addition, women face an increasingly precarious situation as concerns about the threat to gender equality from Islamic fundamentalism grows. Instead of becoming a region of new democracies hoped for after independence in 1991, Central Asia has become a haven for authoritarian dictatorships.
Through the Forum's 50 Women for 50% campaign, which aims to elect 50 women to the national parliament in 2010, the GJC will conduct trainings for the candidates on international law and how it applies as a legislative tool as well as how it can be used to enhance current lobbying efforts for gender equality in Kyrgyz government bodies, including the judiciary. The GJC will also provide legal assistance to the Forum's Violence Against Women program by researching arguments based on CEDAW and other international legal arguments to include in key cases aimed at reforming domestic violence laws and drafting amicus briefs for those cases, which will promote the use of international law in Kyrgyzstan. In addition, the Forum is applying for a Human Rights Study grant that would enable one of their members to work in the GJC offices, in order to develop this project.
Finally, as a member of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), the GJC is helping conduct interactive workshops on national-level implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 with representatives of five Central Asian countries (specifically Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan). These workshops, funded by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), seek to raise awareness of the SCR 1325 provisions for relevant government and civil society actors, as well as elaboration on how the respective States can enhance their level of implementation. The GJC has been asked to apply its legal expertise and experience in developing creative strategies to promote women's involvement in governance, peace and security processes. The first of these trainings took place in June 2007 and the remaining trainings will take place in September 2007.