Kyrgyzstan
The Kyrgyzstan project is no longer active. For more information, please see the Past Projects page.
The Global Justice Center worked to eliminate the alarming disparity in access to political power for women in Kyrgyzstan and other parts of Central Asia by advocating that the government has a responsibility to enforce SCR 1325 and other binding international legal guarantees of equality. By 2007, Kyrgyzstan had fallen from a relatively high number of women in political decision-making positions to none at all. This mirrored the dramatic decline of women in Parliament and other high level political positions throughout the region. Why this trend? For the most part, isolated states are unfiromed about evolving legal standards.
As a member of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, GJC lawyers designed and led three traiings in five Central Asian countries in 2007. The trainings focused on each countries' responsibilities under international law, particularly SCR 1325, to ensure parity in all aspects of conflict resolution, peace-building and transitional government. As a direct result of the trainings, SCR 1325 was added to the Kyrgyzstan National Action Plan on Gender and the participants made the connection between legal mandates for gender equality under CEDAW and their responsibilties in implementing 1325.
In 2007, the GJC established an ongoing partnership with the Forum of Women NGOs in Kyrgyzstan to support the work of the Forum, including its "50 Women for 50 Campaign" designed to address the lack of political representation of women in Kyrgyzstan. Nurgi Djanaeva, Founder and President of the Forum of Women's NGOs in Kyrgyzstan, received outside funding to travel to New York and work at the GJC for four months in 2006. At the GJC, she researched and analyzed international legal tools to apply her work on political power for women in Kyrgyzstan.
The GJC's work with the Forum demonstrated the power of incorporating a transnational legal strategy into our advocacy apporach. Nurgal utilized her extensive networks throughout Asia to garner support for the GJC Burma Campaign calling for the prosecution of the ruling junta in Burma sexual violence against women. She also tapped into the GJC's networks to assist her in drafting legislation violence against women in Kyrgyzstan, which she presented to Parliament upon her return.