WOMENS PERSPECTIVES ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION, PEACE MAKING AND PEACEBUILDING Global Open Day: Partnerships for Peace

Event: National consultations in Dushanbe, Tajikistan Date: 10 October 2012 Meeting Hosts: - UN Mr. Alexander Zuev, UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Representative in Tajikistan - Government of the Republic of Tajikistan Ms. Sumangul Tagoeva, head, National Committee for women and family affairs under the Government of Tajikistan Venue: UN conference room Context: Tajikistan is located in Central Asia and shares borders with Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan gained independence in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union and a civil war broke out shortly thereafter. Since the UN helped broker a peace agreement in 1997 to end the civil war, the nation has struggled to strengthen its democracy and develop a market economy. Tajikistan has a population of 7.6 million people1 and a per capita GDP of $1,800, which is relatively low compared to the other former Soviet republics. The major exports include cotton, minerals, hydroelectric power, and food processing. The population of Tajikistan is composed of numerous ethnic groups that include Tajik (79.9%), Uzbek (15.3%), Russian (1.1%), Kyrgyz (1.1%), and others (2.6%). The religious composition of the population is 85% Sunni Muslims, 5% Shia Muslims, and 10% others. Tajikistan has a population growth rate of 1.9% and a significant youth bulge, with 35% of the population under the age of 15. Tajikistan hosts 5,000 refugees, mostly from Afghanistan. Tajikistan has a negative net migration rate, indicating that the serious share of its population in economically active age leaves the country in search of better opportunities elsewhere mostly in Russia and Kazakhstan. For Tajikistan it is vital to improve the cooperation inside the region and between countries. Improvement of bilateral relations, which were worsened due to increased tensions between Tajikistan and neighboring countries with regard to joint use and management of energy and water resources and collapse on the unified energy supply system in CAR, has to be led by the leadership of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) and the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization).

Data of 1 January 2012, National statistical agency

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Within the Central Asia Ferghana valley is a cross-border area for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is identified as a region with a high risk of potential conflict. Risks are not only linked to influence of radicalism and religious extremism, but also to high tensions between three neighboring countries with regard to rational use and management of natural resources (land and water). The total number of population living in Ferghana valley is more than 11 mln.people. More than 20% of the Tajik-Afghan border is mine-contaminated. So is Tajik-Uzbek border. While mine clearance activities are ongoing on the Tajik-Afghan border, they have not been yet initiated on the Tajik-Uzbek boarder due to pending respective political decisions between these governments. There are also 36 suspected hazardous areas with approximately total size of 3,454,261 square meters in central Tajikistan. Between 1992 and 2008 along Tajikistans borders there have been 793 mine accidents, including 352 fatalities. More than 400,000 people live in Tajikistan in mine-affected areas, 70% of which are women and children. Mine-contaminated areas restrict the opportunity to use land for grazing and agricultural purposes and represent a serious risk to civilian population engaged in farming, wood gathering, grazing and other rural activities. Over 14,860,000 square meters of land in Tajikistan remain under mine and explosive remnants of war threat. As only 7% of the country is suitable for irrigation, this represents a considerable economic opportunity cost for Tajikistans rural communities. There are still high risks of internal instability: in 2010 there were military operations by the Governmental forces against warlords of some former opposition leaders in Rasht valley. In summer 2012 military operations were initiated in Gorno-Badakhshan region. During Open Days in 2010, UN Women supported a series of dialogues in Central Asia and Southern Caucasus at the national, regional and cross-regional levels. As a result, a Consolidated Appeal of Womens NGOs was developed in Dushanbe at 2010 Open Day cross-regional event and handed over to the UN Secretary-General during the OSCE Summit in October 2010. A key and urgent proposal made in the Appeal was for the establishment of Womens Peace Corps (WPC) in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region to improve womens effective contributions to peace building and conflict prevention processes. A main objective of the meeting was to provide a platform for UN officials to get acquainted and discuss priorities and needs of women in the context of conflict prevention and resolution. Expected results Recommendations by women-activists for improving responsiveness and accountability of UN to UNSCRs commitments and targets defined and agreed. Prep Meeting for the Global Open Day preparatory meeting was organized on 15 September 2012 in Khujand, Sughd region (Tajik territory in the Ferghana valley)

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Open Day consultations in Dushanbe

Key Issues raised by Women Peace Activists at the Open Day:
How UN agencies could support women peace activists and their networks to promote practical enforcement of UNSCRs on Women, Peace and Security: recommendations based on findings of the baseline assessment in the Ferghana valley countries Womens views on UN possible response to support the state to enforce NAP on gender equality (especially the commitments related to WPS agenda) Needs to introduce gender responsive mediation as tools for conflict prevention and resolutions

Brief on womens statements:

Integration of international commitments on womens human rights and gender equality into the national policy and legislation Ms. Sumangul Tagoeva, Head for the National Committee for women and family affairs under the Government of Tajikistan In Tajikistan one of the important Governments decrees in the area of womens empowerment was the Presidential Decree on Measures to Promote the Role of Women in Society, adopted in December 1999. It resulted in appointment of women into managerial positions in all governmental bodies. The main current national policy document on promotion of gender equality is the Strategy of Womens empowerment for 2011 2020 adopted on 29 May 2010. The national commitments on promotion of women to a decision-making level are also addressed by the State Programme on development of a young cadre of women-leaders covering the period till 2016. To ensure efficient and consolidated implementation of all national strategies in this area, the Committee for women and family affairs together with womens NGOs developed a National Action Plan (NAP) for enforcement of gender equality policy. There are several chapters and its 9th chapter includes targets to improve womens participation in conflict prevention and resolution. This 9th chapter is a commitment of the Committee to ensure practical implementation of UNSCRs on WPS. A role and position of women within the society have to be strengthened and a voice of women against of conflicts and war has to be heard. Women are always against war! Ms. Tagoeva during discussions with women also stressed the importance of working together to overcome negative social stereotypes, a change the culture and behavior of young generation with regard to role of women and men, especially of men, strengthen legal education of youth and use relevant principles of Islam to further promote womens human rights. She mentioned that a number of women in judiciary and traffic police is increasing. However, her argument that particularity of military service and police work shall be taken into account during discussion about the need to increase number of women in these bodies and their promotion/appointment to high/leadership posts was highly debated by participants. 3|Page

Womens voice on needs and priorities for gender responsive conflict prevention and resolution a statement by Dilbar Turakhanova, member of the Womens Peace Corp in Tajikistan Tajikistan Womens Peace Corp (WPC) was officially registered by the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan on 13 April 2012. It consists of 22 members who represent a network of women-leaders and human rights experts. It aims to unite womenpeace activists to effectively contribute to development of democracy, peace and tolerance building, support efforts of the wide range of partners to prevent and resolve conflicts, to mobilize the national civil society to eliminate violence against women and ensure efficient participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building processes at all levels. Members of WPC actively contributed to preparations for Open Day consultations. The statement was based on key findings of the preparatory meeting in Khuajnd and the baseline assessment for Tajikistan in 2011 conducted by UN Women in the framework of its cross-regional programme Women connect across conflicts: building accountability for the implementation of the UN SC resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889" supported by EU. The following issues and priorities are indentified during the preparatory consultations and by the findings of the baseline assessment by UN Women: there is an institutional framework on promotion of gender equality and womens human rights in Tajikistan (National Committee); financial and human resources are allocated by the state to address these needs, however these efforts are not sufficient; number of women in security sector institutions is decreasing; there is no female staff in the managerial positions at all, however just a simple quantitative increase of female staff in these institutions will not guarantee improvement of gender responsive operations of these institutions, in general and gender responsive reforms in this area, in particular; improving awareness of the personnel of security institutions on gender and human rights , including the international commitments in the area of women peace and security, is a high priority which has to be addressed by the state and the international community in Tajikistan. The international partners, in particular UN agencies, were not consistent and efficient in promotion of UN Security Council resolutions on WPS and incorporation of these international commitments into their programmes and operations in areas related to conflict prevention and resolution stated participants of the preparatory meeting in Khujand.

Recommendations to the UN to address mentioned priorities in its operations in Tajikistan:

in the framework of the ongoing UN programmes in the security sector and rule of law specific commitments, targets and activities have to be included to ensure practical implementation of the UNSCRs and support to the state in this area;

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special attention shall be paid to create and promote positive image of woman working in security sector institutions among the population; study consequences of increasing religious influence on secular way of life from perspectives of womens human rights and gender equality; assistance shall be provided to develop a pool of mediators women and men - at local and national levels with the aim to include them into rapid response teams for their further deployment in conflict areas to support, organize and conduct peace negotiations and ensure peaceful resolution of conflicts. Rapid response teams should also include qualified psychologists, medical staff, social workers and lawyers to provide a necessary assistance to population in crisis situations; support provision of comprehensive training programme on CEDAW/UNSCRs for civil servants, military personnel and civil society organizations; support womens NGOs in their efforts to ensure inclusive/participatory consultations on finalization of 2 draft law on prevention of domestic violence in Tajikistan; expand and support existing networks of women and strengthen their capacity to substantially contribute to policy formulation and implementation and political participation, in general; consider a possibility to create an interagency Coordination Council for Ferghana valley to promote peace and human security; for those regional institutions where UN is represented ensure womens representation and participation through an joint advocacy and lobbying. Statelessness problems in Tajikistan - a statement by Dilorom Atabaeva, NGO Consortium of Initiative, Khujand, Sughd region: There are 450 and 2500 people without defined citizenship (registered stateless people) in Tajikistan . Number of stateless persons is increasing due to high level of tensions between three countries belonging to Ferghana valley and pending demarcation of borders between countries in some areas . In Sughd region (Tajikistans part of Ferghana valley) stateless people are accumulated in cross-border zones, namely in Istravshan, Zafarabad, Matcha-Buston, Kanibadam, Isfara and Spitamen, in a remote districts Aini, Old Matcha and Yagnob. They represent the most invisible and vulnerable group of local population; Reasons of statelessness break-up of the Soviet Union; civil war in Tajikistan in 1992-1997; huge migration flows in past 20 years;

The draft law is in the lowest chamber of the Parliament for consideration

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The following categories of stateless people are identified currently: - cross-border brides citizens of Uzbekistan who married to citizens of Tajikistan in Soviet period, living in Tajikistan and after the breakup of the Soviet Union still use passports/ID cards of Soviet format issued in Uzbekistan before 1991; - economic migrants former citizens of Tajikistan who left for work to Uzbekistan during Soviet time and later received a permanent residence permit. However documents received were expired, citizenship was not granted and residence permits are no longer extended by authorities of Uzbekistan. Based on this, they were deported from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan where they have applied to lost Tajikistan citizenship. - persons with Uzbekistans citizenship former citizens of Tajikistan who left for Uzbekistan and received Uzbek passports/IDs. However due to various reasons they had to return to Tajikistan and currently stay here with visa which has to be regularly extended; - persons who didnt change passports of Soviet Union format (valid till September 1991) mainly people from remote mountain districts; - persons who never had birth certificates and could not received passports after they reached their legal age (passports/IDs are issued based on birth certificates); - persons who contracted marriage on a basis of birth certificates mainly these people from remote mountain districts; - refugees with a residence permit - refugees who got married to citizens of Tajikistan and have a residence permit issued before 2000. Citizenship is not granted, expired documents are not extended and this category of people has no legal status in the destination country. The stateless people experience many challenges in exercising their rights established the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, including inability to register marriages and births of their children, property rights; limitations in free movement; lack of access to public services, especially social security services; informal employment; a lack of access to justice, high level of marginalization of several generations of these group; high risks of personal insecurity, - stated Dilorom Atabaeva.

Recommendations suggested to the UN to address problems and needs of stateless persons:

- Support the government to resolve problem of definition of of statelessness in the national legal framework, through ratification and further implementation of international agreements in this area, i.e. the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; - Support Tajikistan in finalization of drafting of a new law on citizenship of Tajikistan. Currently, the working group to finalize the draft law is operational. Requirement of Tajik citizens to register in consulate of Tajikistan in Russia each 5 years has to be cancelled, since violation of this requirement results in loss of Tajik citizenship; - Undertake a comprehensive assessment of statelessness in Tajikistan and Fergana valley to identify scope of the problems, impact on human security and stability; - Advocate and support exemption of penalty for exchange of old formats of passports/IDs;

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- Replicate the practice of control over issuance of birth certificates by personnel of maternity hospitals that exists in Sughd region. In Sughd region a copy of birth certificate shall be submitted to the maternity hospital before discharge of mother and child from hospitals; - Undertake comprehensive information campaign to improve legalization and naturalization in Tajikistan; public awareness on possibilities for

- Support respective state institutions to develop mechanisms for transparent procedures, ensure public access to information and free legal assistance on issues related to decreasing statelessness; - Support civil society organizations to document cases of statelessness and contribute to policy related processes to solve problems of statelessness; - Support provision of better access of stateless persons to social services and opportunities for their social and economic integration. Lessons leant from womens involvement into conflict resolution in Khorog, Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, July-August 2012 - Ms. Nabot Dodkhudoeva, NGO MADINA, Khorog The crisis in Khorog3 started on 24 July 2012. It is still ongoing in a frozen stage. It demonstrated a need to address risks of conflict at the initial stage to ensure efficient preventive measures. Women are in position to play a peace keeping role. In Khorog on the second day of the conflict women intervened with a suggestion to conclude peace; they left their homes to come to the center of the city with a white flag to stop military actions. And it worked. Both parties of the conflict stopped gun fire said Nabot Dodkhudoeva. A Committee of 20 prominent activists was established to mediate peace consultations between two confronting sides 3 of them are women represented womens NGOs. Women specifically advocated for an urgent need to start peace dialogue and negotiations with involvement of local activists.

On July 24th the government sent troops into Khorog - the incursion was ordered ostensibly to punish the killers of Major-General Abdullo Nazarov, the head of the regional branch of the State Committee on National Security who was apparently stabbed to death on July 22nd. For two days the government troops battled with the local illegal military forces whose leaders were being sought for criminal activities including drug trafficking. Having now declared a ceasefire, the government is in the process of negotiating the handover of those it deems responsible, holding the city of Khorog effectively hostage until these demands are met. Committee 20 was established by local activists to push both confronting sides to stop military actions and start peace negotiations. The conflict in Khorog exposes deep contradictions of governance and the sense of uncertainty that worsens human security and national stability in Tajikistan now.

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Recommendations suggested to the UN to address problems and needs of stateless persons:

- The experience of Khorogs peace consultations demonstrated a need for development of capacity of local female activists to act as facilitators and mediators of peace consultations as well as to provide urgent assistance to affected civilians, especially psychological and legal assistance; - Local Crisis Centers staff could be a core part of the rapid response teams there is a need to develop their capacity to perform these functions; - development of female leaders cadre at local levels shall be a priority jointly addressed by the state and international community; - it is important to promote partnership between local authorities and civil society organizations to work jointly on conflict prevention; - it is important to open in GBAO a local center of conflict resolution it will not require substantial funding. Women have a desire to be involved, but they should be prepared and trained. Voice and needs of refugees - Zarifa Mohammad Alam, Tullu Afghan Womens NGO: - Women are first who are affected by the conflict and they are first who could respond to conflicts; - Prolonged conflict and war in Afghanistan have resulted to serious loses in human capital and development of the country. Terrorism also resulted in worsening the stability and human security in Central Asia; - Violen e against women in conflict situations is a high priority that needs to be addressed; - Partnership and networking of Afghan women with women-activists in the countries of destination of Afghan refugees are very important from perspectives of provision of a joint voice to promote womens human rights; - Problems of high level of uneducated Afghan girls and female unemployment are urgent priorities that have to be addressed by post-conflict rehabilitation programmes; - Efforts of the Government of Tajikistan to provide necessary services and assistance for Afghan refugees in Tajikistan (total number is more that 5,000) were acknowledged. However they are not sufficient to ensure full integration. In particular, they dont address priorities related to social and economic integration of Afghan refugees into the local society. These priorities shall be specifically identified and supported.

Interventions by participants:
Guljakhon Bobosadykova, Coalition of NGOs From equality de-jure to Equality de-facto: NAP on enforcement of national gender equality policy adopted by the National committee for women and family affairs is a good ground to ensure practical implementation of UNSCRs since it integrates commitments on WPS. However, we need to focus on achievement of concrete results and definition of concrete timeframe and resources to implement the planned measures. It is related to creation of mobile groups to react/respond to conflicts and suggestion to establish a Coordination Council for Ferghana valley timeframe has to be identified.

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More than 15 years passed after the conclusion of the Peace Agreement in Tajikistan between the Government and the United Tajik opposition that ended the civil war. However, there is already a new generation of people who doesnt know/understand consequences of civil war and doesnt value current peace and stability. In this respect, peace and tolerance building education is a high priority for youth in Tajikistan. It is a good momentum for women-activists to appeal to the President of the country to make a change in the Decree of the President adopted in 1999 on advancement of a status and position of women in state institutions, specifically to remove the restriction of appointment of women in management positions in the security sector institutions. Women-activists expect a feedback from UNRCCA on recommendations made at this meeting. Zarafo Khujaeva, member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan: Representatives of religious institutions of various confessions should be involved into the dialogue. We need to use them to promote education for girls and improve opportunities for womens political participation. All political parties have to be involved into dialogue on conflict prevention and resolution. We need to attract more women into political parties and follow principles of political pluralism. A Working Group of women who represent all 8 political parties functioning in Tajikistan has been recently established by the OSCE to work together on political empowerment of women. We can use this opportunity to bring issues of conflict prevention and resolution. We need to recognize a phenomenon of frozen conflicts in our region and address risks of escalation of tensions. Alla Kuvatova, head of the Working Group on prevention of VAW under the Coalition of NGOs From equality de-jure to Equality de-facto: - There is a need to focus on early prevention of conflicts. It could be done through creation of womens watch groups at the local levels (piloted in the framework of the UN Women ongoing project in Sughd region); - Youth has to be considered as a vulnerable group due to high level of unemployment, high labour emigration flow, increased tendency of early marriages and suicides among young population; - Famous women respected by the society have to be used as local advocates for peace promotion; - Simple lack of information very often could become a source of conflicts. We need to work with mass media on broadcasting information about conflicts; - Conflict management/resolution studies should be integrated into curriculum of all universities as a mandatory course. This practice was recently introduced by Tajik-Russian Slavonic University which provides a course on conflict management for students of journalism faculty. The course is, indeed, highly demanded and provides youth with skills to define and address potential conflicts.

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Viloyat Mirzoeva, National Portfolio Manager, UN Women Tajikistan: - A Center for conflict forecasting and prevention is needed to undertake necessary analytical work and develop a cadre of specialists on conflict prevention and resolution; - Creation of WPC is not enough. A comprehensive capacity development to negotiate, analyze and mediate is needed; - Women in political parties - chapters of all political parties have to be reviewed and improved to ensure gender mainstreaming into parties operations and activities; - Womens and youth employment is also a priority to prevent instability. Rukhshona Shamsutdinova, member of the Communist party of Tajikistan: Many women have their own understanding and experience of conflict resolution. However their participation in dialogues is still an area that needs improvement. There is a decrease of role and status of women in the society and in the governmental structures. For example there is no female ambassador in Tajik representations abroad. Importance to develop a new female cadre in civil service cant be questioned. Heads of all eight political parties in Tajikistan are men. Women should be active participants of all events related to political sphere. In negotiations at all levels participation of women from all political parties should be mandatory requirement. Rano Bobodjanova, head for the Womens Committee in Sughd region: - last month we had a study visit to Kyrgyzstan to learn their experience on economic empowerment of women from migrants families. It was very impressive to learn and at the same time share our own knowledge; - with regard to suggestion to establish local womens Peace Corp in Sughd region, I would like to emphasize that it could play good and considerable role to identify problems at the community level. In Gonchi district, for example, based on problems and risks identified by local women-activists, local authorities have responded by practical actions to reduce risks; - former women-activities who are now retired, but have rich experience, are not used as advocates efficiently. They can lack a capacity to work as mediators, however their standing and reputation in the local community could play very positive role; - sport and cultural exchanges between neighboring countries should be used widely to promote a culture of peace and good neighborhood; - joint youth and womens forums between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan need to be regularly organized to unite people across the borders and prevent conflicts. We would like to ask UN Women to support social projects, such as kindergarten, schools, etc. 10 | P a g e

Response by Mr. Alexander Zuev, UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan:
Commitments of the UN to WHRs go without saying. All UN agencies follow these principles and commitments in their programming. Establishment of the UN Women is an evidence of serious attention and accountability of the UN to achieve practical results in the area of gender equality and WHRs. I twice met with Md. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director for the UN Women and emphasized a need to strengthen a presence and cooperation in Tajikistan to address gender and womens priorities and needs. There are several factors behind this need: specifics of the country in terms of its current demographic composition; highest labour emigration; lowest rates in access to education and health services; high risks of regional instability and insecurity; etc. Md. Bachelet fully understands specific needs and issues of refugees/IDPs due to her personal experience on this matter. Tajikistan hosts the biggest UN Country team in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: 23 UN agencies are represented in Tajikistan and there are ongoing programmes implemented by UN agencies to improve border management, prevent trafficking, improve regional cooperation and stability. I have personal experience and understanding on conflicts in Central Asia. I had visited several times the region in 90th. Arguments that conflict resolution needs womens participation and contribution are not questionable. It is very important to involve women into prevention and resolution of local conflicts on natural resources management, especially, in Ferghana valley. UNDP implements a project in Sughd region to prevent conflicts at the community level at cross-borders; Issues of gender equality and WHRs are always identified as a priority in all UNCT actions. First question which I asked from our colleagues implementing the projects is about share of women-beneficiaries. I noted that in some regions where men headed microfinance portfolio, share of women receiving credits was 10%. After changes in the management composition at microcredit schemes (2 women were selected as heads) the situation changed. Now 40% of women have received credits. It is a demonstration of womens empowerment and quality participation. I agree with your recommendation on improving womens representation in the security sector institutions, however it is also an issue of building capacity. All staff of these institutions shall comply with commitments on HRs, GE and WHRs, in particular. Problems of refugees/stateless people are dealt with by UNHCR. However UN RC is fully involved into consultations with Government of Tajikistan (Ministry of foreign affairs) on this subject. There are also moral commitments which have to be met, specifically, it is very important to provide support for refugees.

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Equal access to education is a global priority. Womens economic, social and political status highly depends on education! Even childrens health and status highly depends on education of mothers! Please, be assured about my commitment to convey your recommendations to all UN agencies and follow-up on them. I will be also glad to continue our dialogue and take practical efforts together to ensure women enjoy their rights in all spheres.

Response by Ms. Sanoat Jumaeva, UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Representative in Tajikistan:
The UNRCCA is a special political mission (meaning it operates under the Department of Political Affairs) of the UN organization established at the initiative of the governments of the five Central Asian countries. The main goal of the liaison offices in Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe and Tashkent is to contribute to the UNRCCAs Mission Statement, thus, to help the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan respond to existing threats and emerging challenges in the Central Asia and to ensure that the UNRCCA role in this process is maximised through support in building the above listed governments conflict prevention capacities by means of enhanced dialogue, confidence building measures and establishing genuine partnerships. - UNRCCAs activities in the area of WPS interaction with Women Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan through the UN Women, invite women's NGOs to our regional events and the head of UNRCCA/the SRSG regularly meets with women's NGOs while on visit to CA capitals to discuss their involvement in UN preventive and peace building activities; etc. Miroslav Jen a, the head of UNRCCA, stated I would like to express my personal commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1325 and to the promotion of a gender-based perspective in all the activities of the Centre in his appeal to participants of 2010 Open Day meeting in Dushanbe. - There is a new serious commitment by UN to address WPS priorities - UN Seven Points Agenda is being piloted in some post-conflict countries. It includes gender commitments on Conflict resolution; Post-conflict planning; Postconflict financing; Gender-responsive civilian capacity; Womens representation in post-conflict governance; Rule of Law; and Economic recovery. In CAR UN Country team in Kyrgyzstan was self-nominated to implement 7-points Agenda. Its action plan for implementation of 7-points Agenda includes: gender review and monitoring of on-going UN peace-building activities; detailed mapping of UN peace-building programming in line with objectives/commitments under the UNSCR 1325; capacity assessment of UN agencies staff involved into post-conflict rehabilitation programming to define gaps and capacity building needs to improve gender responsiveness of the programming; strategic planning workshop for UNCT and UN agencies programme staff to agree on the common procedures and standards for engendering their peace programming; and engendering the UNDAF review process (incorporating gender sensitive approaches in UNDAF review). UNRCCA is ready for a dialogue with women-activists in Tajikistan and will continue its efforts to bring gender related commitments into policy level consultations with states.

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Contribution by Nargis Azizova, Programme Specialist, UN Women Subregional office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia As a result of the preparatory meeting in Khujand, women-activists drafted recommendations for UN agencies to support efforts the state and CSOs to enforce UNSCRs commitments. The recommendations have to be finalized based on discussions at Open Day meeting and shared with UN agencies though UN Resident Coordinator. UNDAF review process provides a good opportunity to see how commitments on UNSCRs on WPS could be incorporated into concrete actions by UN agencies to address urgent priorities and needs for gender sensitive conflict prevention and resolution. In most cases, it would not require a significant amount of additional funding it is more about integration of commitments into the existing programmes/projects activities. Specifically within 7 points commitments, there are the following recommendations: - for Commitment 1 - Gender commitments on Conflict resolution which means a support for womens networking and actions with a focus on participation of the most excluded groups (different ethnic groups, IDPs, stateless, etc.) UN relevant programmes/projects need to promote inclusion of representatives of these groups into decision making at all levels (through capacity development; assistance to networking; etc.) - for Commitment 2 Post-conflict planning which proposes a support for development of Poverty Reduction strategy and UNDAF taking into account specific needs and priorities of women and girls - UNDAF review process has to include a review on how recommendations made by women-activists at Open Day event and other meetings related to WPS agenda could be addressed by concrete actions by UN and the results of the review have to be communicated to women-activists - for Commitment 3 - Post-conflict financing which stated that at least 15% of UN funds in post-conflict programming should be allocated to address womens needs and priorities. This target has to be followed by UN agencies within their relevant ongoing and planned programmes (in the area of rule of law, access to justice, conflict prevention, national resources management; etc.) - for Commitment 4 - Gender-responsive civilian capacity means a support to develop a cadre to provide urgent assistance to affected population (lawyers, medical and social workers, psychologists, etc.) and to improve capacity of civil servants to ensure gender responsive policy reforms in all spheres (political, economic and social). This priority was specifically highlighted by women-activists and could be also addressed within ongoing UN programming in a consolidated and comprehensive format. - for Commitment 5 - Womens representation in post-conflict governance The UNs technical assistance on elections and governance will support to increase the number of women in elected and appointed decision-making roles (30% of representation of women). The CSOs could be supported by UN to promote equal opportunities for women to contribute to decision making (through support for political empowerment of women; capacity development; improving implementation of national gender equality policy/legislation; gender responsive electoral reforms; introduction of quotas; etc.)

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- for Commitment 6 - Rule of law - Improving access of women to justice (with a particular focus on prevention/response to VAW) - for Commitment 7 Economic recovery - womens equal involvement as participants and beneficiaries in local-development, employment-creation, frontline service-delivery and DDR programmes in post-conflict situations. It is necessary to look at improving vocational education of women, their skills development for formal productive employment and improving their access to economic resources to prevent their involvement into illegal activities, trafficking, unprepared labour migration with high risks of exploitation and violence.

Photographs, Video & Media: Please attach to the e-mail a picture of the women & SRSG, in addition to other pictures, video interview, and press articles

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Story of a stateless woman in Tajikistan (provided by UNHCR Tajikistan) Mukhabbat* carries around a thick wad of documents she has gathered over the last two years in a tireless effort to regain a nationality. "I can't remember how much it has cost, but I have spent a lot of time collecting these documents," said Mukhabbat, who recently approached UNHCR's office in Tajikistan to ask for help in finding a solution. Mukhabbat was born in northern Tajikistan's Sughd province in 1959, when the area was known as Leninabad and formed part of the Soviet Union. Her troubles began a year after independence in 1991, when she fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan after the 1992-1997 civil war erupted in Tajikistan. She lived for 17 years in Uzbekistan, drifting in and out of an unhappy and childless marriage to an Uzbek citizen that finally ended in 2007. She decided to go back home and was shocked to discover that she had lost her Tajik citizenship and was stateless. Today, she lives at a friend's house in Dushanbe, collecting other people's cast-offs and rubbish to help her survive. Mukhabbat had become a statistic one of an estimated 12 million stateless people around the world, including 40,000 documented stateless people in the former Soviet Central Asian republics. These people do not possess a nationality nor enjoy its legal benefits. This often leaves them unable to do the basic things most people take for granted, such as registering a birth, travelling, going to school, accessing health care, opening a bank account or owning property. Among her pile of documents, Mukhabbat has a photocopy of her former Soviet passport dated 1983. She also has an expired certificate of statelessness from Uzbekistan, which was issued after her marriage in 1995 and shows her earlier attempts to acquire a valid identity document. She also shows a UNHCR visitor old school records from the state archives, which she hopes will bolster her case. But she still lacks two crucial documents: written confirmation that she is not a citizen of Uzbekistan and a certificate showing that Uzbekistan was her last place of registered residence. Getting the written confirmation, or spravka, can take years and cost a lot of money Asked how she ended up without a nationality, Mukhabbat said she knew that she needed to secure a new document to replace her Soviet passport, but the complexity of the process and her personal situation at the time made it difficult. "I understood that when there was no more Soviet Union, I would need to get some kind of document. But when I left for Uzbekistan, there was no Tajik passport yet," she said, adding: "In Uzbekistan, I didn't really know what a passport was, what a residence permit was, what a stateless certificate was . . . there are just too many documents and it was difficult to understand." Mukhabbat said that in 1995 or 1996, she heard that "there was some talk that people like me from Tajikistan might get Uzbek passports. But I wasn't able to get one because I was moving around at this stage; my husband kicked me out and I was living on trains, sleeping in railway stations and in cotton fields."
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Ever since returning to Tajikistan, she has been shuttling between Uzbekistan and the land of her birth in search of a nationality. "I even went to the Russian Embassy in Uzbekistan to ask for citizenship. I received a long list of documents and spravkas to submit, and I needed to pay money which I didn't have," she explained. Without any nationality, she cannot get free medical help for her back problems. Nor can she live in the Dushanbe apartment that was issued to her by the textile factory where she worked as a young woman. Two months ago, a frustrated Mukhabbat approached the UN office in Dushanbe for help and was referred to UNHCR, whose non-governmental organization partners are helping her to navigate the process, apply for documents and pay consular fees to the Uzbek Embassy for spravka applications. Ghulam Shermamed, who works for UNHCR's legal aid partner, Society and Law, said Mukhabbat recently had an interview at the Uzbek Embassy and expects to receive her paperwork in about a month. Shermamed, a lawyer, said Mukhabbat checks on her application twice a week while he calls the embassy every day to check on the application for documents. "It is important that these people see that we are serious about it," he said. Meanwhile, Mukhabbat faces the daily risk of being stopped and questioned by the authorities in her own homeland. "She can be stopped at any time for a document check, but she has none," said Shermamed, "She is not registered anywhere and staying without a document is considered a crime," he noted. * Name changed for protection reasons By Ariane Rummery in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, http://www.unhcr.org/4b2222e36.html

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Evaluation of the messages/recommendations by the UN Women: The dialogue in the format of Open Day event has to be continued further at least on an annual basis. It has to result to a concrete set of suggestions by the women to UN agencies. However to have these suggestions really practical and focused, there could be an assessment of ongoing UN agencies projects/programmes by womenactivists results of the assessment would be used by them to come with valuable/specific recommendations. There should be a mechanism for further regular feedback by UNCT on suggestions made a follow-up bi-annual meeting could be arranged to discuss a progress achieved. It is recommended to reflect the findings and a possible action plan to respond to womens concerns raised at Open Day meeting in the UN RC/UNCT annual report. In countries where there is the Civil Society Advisory Board for UN Women operational (In Tajikistan it was created), the Board could be involved into further consultations with UN Women and UNRC to follow-up to decisions taken at Open Day meeting. Post 2015 national consultations in Tajikistan have to be used to followed-up to findings of the Open Day consultations to bring perspectives of WPS agenda into a policy dialogue on further development goals and targets. In particular, priorities related to prevention and response to VAW, womens participation in decision making at all levels, womens economic security and equal access to resources have to be addressed by planned consultations. There has to be a clear strategy for UN Women/UNCT in place on how further work with women in political parties, especially with women in the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan the second one in regard of the coverage of electorate (after the ruling party led by the President). Capacity development for the most excluded groups of women (stateless, Afghan refugees, single women, disabled, etc. ) to raise their voice and improve their representation in decision making and development policy dialogue at all levels has to be supported by UN Women programme interventions in Tajikistan in partnership with UN agencies; There is a need to look how UN agencies could effectively advocate/push for reforms in the electoral and civil service systems of Tajikistan as a country with very centralized/monopolized power/governance by application of the international human rights standards and commitments and meeting principles of the further democratization and equity; Annex 1 indicates suggestions for UN action plan to address concerns raised by women-activists.

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Annex 1 2012 Open Day for Peace in Tajikistan KEY FINDINGS

Recommendations by womenactivists (in line with the national priorities on WHRs and commitments of UNSCRs)

Existing responses and opportunities

Possibilities for UN engagement

Effective participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution Support womens participation in conflict prevention and resolution in all levels WPC was registered by the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan on 13 April 2012 Network of womens NGOs in Sughd region National action plan on GE includes one chapter on implementation of UNSCRs on WPS Introduce relevant provisions of the UNSCR to the ongoing and planned UN programming UNDAF review process could be used to analyse the entry points and formulate practical applications The following actions are suggested in particular: - promote introduction of quota for womens representation in conflict prevention and peace related processes; - support mainstreaming of gender aspects into security sector reforms inter alia though inclusion of perspectives of womens rights and violence against women to trainings/curriculums for security sector personnel; - include women to trainings/capacity building activities of the security sector personnel;

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- provide assistance to the state in enforcement the national action plan on gender equality with a focus on enforcement of UNSCRs commitments; - consider a suggestion by women-activists to create an interagency Coordination Council for Ferghana valley to promote peace and human security; - support to develop a pool of female and male mediators at local and national levels and include them into rapid response teams for their further deployment in conflict areas to support, organize and conduct peace negotiations and ensure peaceful resolution of conflicts; - within relevant UN programmes (BOMCA, etc.) to support capacity development of the military personnel on gender responsive conflict prevention and resolution, international humanitarian law, UNSCRs on WPS. Within a planned UNDAF review to analyze how UN SG 7 points agenda commitments relevant for Tajikistan (in an appropriate scope) could be incorporated into UN joint programming

The 7 points Action Plan on Gender Responsive Peacebuilding was developed in 2010 by the UN system, led by the Peacebuilding Support Office and UN Women, to help implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and its subsequent resolutions. The SecretaryGeneral has identified the implementation of the Action Plan as a priority for his second term. Kyrgyzstan self nominated itself to pilot the initiative and started its implementation. Develop a network of women-leaders and provide capacity building on 19 | P a g e National programme on bringing up female cadre till 2016 is being

Within existing UN programming at the grassroots level to include a component on capacity development of local

promotion of gender equality commitments with a focus on UN SCRs on WPS

implemented and coordinated by the National Committee for women and family affairs New generation of women-leaders has to be created including the security sector.

women leaders to participate efficiently in local decision making Work with women from political parties can provide new opportunities for development of female leadership a UN joint project on womens political empowerment could be introduced

Prevention and response to violence against women Concrete measures to work with men, young boys and boys on the issues of violence against girls, young girls and women, domestic violence Creation of mobile groups, security system (red, yellow, green) including the issues of prevention of family conflicts and domestic violence (the concept itself is interesting, but needs to be elaborated more to put in place) Draft law on VAW is finalized and passed to the Parliament for consideration/adoption by the end on 2012 UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, OSCE, SDC run projects on VAW response A first state-funded Crisis Center is established in Dushanbe and a creation of the state shelter for women is under consideration of Dushanbe city administration 16 steps for efficient national response to VAW are suggested by UN Women Executive Director: http://www.unwomen.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/11/EN-16Steps.pdf Urge the Government of Tajikistan to publicize draft law on VAW and launch consultations with CSOs UN Joint Programme on VAW could be developed/implemented to: support the state to enforce the new law (when adopted); develop a comprehensive national policy on VAW response; create models on universal access to emergency services to survivors; to address early and forced marriages within UN joint Advocacy actions in a context of human rights and gender quality focus better to prevention (overcoming negative stereotypes; legal education; etc.)

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Raising level of education of women and promotion of value of education Public monitoring of school attendance by children, work with men to educate girls, mentoring (elder generation and youth); improve quality of education A global campaign Education First was launched by UN Secretary General on 26 September 2012. Three key priorities are identified for the campaign: - Put Every Child in School - Improve the Quality of Education - Foster Global Citizenship Ongoing reform of education sector supported inter alia by UNICEF Combination of advocacy campaigns with preventive measures aimed at non discrimination of women at home, job places, measures against trafficking in women and children, forced and early marriages, assist in strengthening cooperation between the neighboring countries through study tours, exchange of experts in different fields, joint actions, like forums, conferences, cultural, sport events, etc. The global campaign has to be localized and UN/international community has to co-facilitate the campaign at the country level UNDAFs priorities related to access to education for all have to be analyzed from perspectives of the global campaign commitments and target excluded groups have to be identified to address their needs within UN programming in this area

There are early warning systems (EWS) established at the national and regional levels with the international agencies support (UNDP, etc.)

A review of the EWS has to be undertaken to ensure further gender responsive analysis of risks of conflict and to address them Ongoing international development programming in the area of security sector reforms, cross-border cooperation and rule of law have to be reviewed to incorporate commitments for womens effective participation and contribution to conflict prevention and resolution and to integrate gender aspects into security sectors policies/reforms

Addressing negative impacts of labour migration on wives and children Analysis of social effects of labour migration to womens and childrens rights observance has to be There is a number of ongoing programmes/projects covering different aspects of labour migration, however Gender-sensitive assessment of the national labour migration policy and international assistance in this area from perspectives of conflict prevention

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undertaken

interrelations between migration and risks of conflicts are not addressed

UNDAF review has to be undertaken to analyze impact made by UN programming in the area of employment and labour migration Replication of existing positive models to address social effects of labour migration

Cross boarder cooperation issues on CAR

Joint cross-border initiatives to promote culture of peace and good neighborhood Create a data base of psychologists, legal advisors, social workers and other specialists for further deployment in conflict-prone and postconflict regions

A number of projects are implemented by UN and other agencies to address issues of cross-border cooperation, however there is a need to better focus on promotion of universal rights of people for safety, non-discrimination, freedom for movement, life without violence, etc.

UNRCCA and UNCTs in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to consult with the existing regional institutions (SCO, EurAsEC, ) to support: - creation of a roster of mediators, psychologists, legal advisors and social workers for possible deployment in conflict-prone and post-conflict areas - increase a number of qualified/competent women staff/members of these institutions (at least 30%) - undertake joint cross-border cultural events aimed to promote a culture of peace and good neighborhood

Establishment of the Regional There are several regional security Ferghana Valley Coordination Council organizations as well as treaties on peace building issues with relevant established. womens representation Creation of the network of womens watch groups out of formal and informal women-leaders for constant monitoring of the socio-economic situation in jamoats

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Addressing the statelessness and refugee priorities in CAR Draft the complete list of stateless people, conduct awareness campaigns for those are leaving for another country or coming back on registration procedures, issue and disseminate leaflets on how to deal with documents, use the opportunities of NGOs like the network Dolina Mira in Tajikistan and WPCs in Kyrgyzstan, suggested by Uzbekistan NGOs working in Ferghana valley for lobbying and solving these issues through relevant agencies Number of Afghan refugees in Tajikistan more 5,000 (almost 10 times more that number of Afghan refugees in Kazakhstan) Support for their integration into the local society is a priority Statelessness issues has to be put into the policy agenda at the CAR level To incorporate issues of statelessness/refugees into policy level agenda within the existing regional institutions (Shanghai Cooperation Organization, EurAsEC, Organization for Agreement on Collective Security/CIS)

To integrate adequately priorities of stateless and refugees into UN programming in the area of conflict prevention & resolution

Improving communication and media work A public awareness campaign to improve understanding on the UNSCRs commitments Advocacy/information actions undertaken by the national and international agencies are sporadic and not-consistent To integrate concrete actions into UN Communication plan to support advocacy on WHRs, womens role in the society, etc. To support to observe annually International Womens Day, International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), World Peace Day, 16 Days campaign to eliminate VAW in line with their annual thematic focus a high level statements/appeals by UNCT and international community to bring into the attention of the Government urgent/appealing priorities for WHRs observation

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Womens contribution to setting-up development targets Womens voice to engender targets for POST 2015 agenda To ensure inclusion of targets on enforcement of Women, Peace and Security commitments, targets/indicators on VAW, gender responsive employment/social protection National consultations to contribute to global debates on PST 2015 development agenda have to be undertaken in Tajikistan as a country targeted by global debates in CIS region UNICEF and UN Women are appointed to co-lead the global thematic consultations related to Inequality UNCT ensures a support for womens NGOs and womenactivists to hold the consultations on stronger gender commitments and targets within Post 2015 development agenda

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Annex 2 List of Participants Names State structures: 1. Umarova Guljahon Sattorovna Tagaeva Sumangul Ombudsmans office Head of department Chairperson Dushanbe 2214692 Organization Position Location Contacts

2.

National Committee on Women and Family Affairs under the Government National Committee on Women and Family Affairs under the Government

Dushanbe

372 213471

3.

Marifat Shokirova

Head of Gender Department

Dushanbe

372 271742 rushdimarifat@mail.ru

4.

Rano Bobodjanova

Oblast Committee on Chairperson Women and Family Affairs Women Committee Academy of agriculture Scientific Secretary

Khudjand, Sugd Oblast

Khudjand, 45 R. Nabieva str., 8 3422 65044

Muyassara Otaeva

Dushanbe

2271332

Political parties: 5. Zarafo Khudjaeva Islam Party of Reconciliation Hizbi Nahzati Islom 6. Zarragul Mirasanova Communist Party of Tajikistan Secretary of the Central Communist Party Member of Presidium of the Dushanbe 9887775597 Legal Consultant Dushanbe 918661217

7.

Zarina Kutbiddinova

Democratic Party of Tajikistan

Dushanbe

935144415

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Party NGOs: 8. Guljakhon Bobosadykova Coalition of POs From the Equality de-Jure- to the Equality de-Facto Women Peace Corp/Tajikistan NGO Oshtii Milli NGO Consortium of Initiative Network Dolina Mira Deputy head Dushanbe 907702308

9.

Dilbar Turakhanova

Member

Dushanbe

918651332

10. 11.

Hurinisso Gafforzoda Dilorom Atabaeva

Chairperson Director

Dushanbe Khujand

934315858 919 081701

12.

Musharaf Khasanova

Member/Chairp erson of audit commission of Tajikistan Head

Khujand

8 3422 3 58 82; 8 3422 31282 928388810

13.

Alla Kuvatova

Association on Gender Equality and Prevention of Violence against Women NGO Law and Prosperity NGO Madina

Dushanbe

Suhaili Kodirov

Lawyer

Dushanbe

935311131

14.

Nabot Dodkhudoeva

Director, Member of Group 20 in Khorog

Khorog, GBAO

935554736

15. 16.

Shamigul Aminova Zarifa Mohammad Alam

NGO Fidokor
Afghan Womens NGO Tulu

Dushanbe Head Firdavsi region of Dushanbe

907330038 917 30 03 41

International organizations:

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17.

Alexander Zuev

UNDP

UN Resident Representative Gender Adviser Program Assistant Program Manager Representative

Dushanbe

446005598

18 19

Zaitoona Naimova Sohibtoj Kurbonkhonova

OSCE OSCE

Dushanbe Dushanbe

918689887 918682419

20.

Nodira Safarova

EU/Tajikistan

Dushanbe

907759988

21.

Sanoat Jumaeva

UNRCCA

Dushanbe

446005598 Sanoat.jumaeva@undp.org

22.

Frazona Nazrikhudjaeva

OSCE Border Senior Program Management College Assistant OHCHR Project Coordinator Education Project Coordinator Program Specialist/EECA SRO Portfolio Manager Program Associate Admin/Finance Assistant

Dushanbe

985618159

23.

Hafiza Sanginova

Dushanbe

919531001

24.

Dagmara Mejiya

OHCHR

Dushanbe

934447449

25.

Nargis Azizova

UN Women

Almaty

26.

Viloyat Mirzoeva

UN Women

Dushanbe

918421208

27.

Zarina Urakova

UN Women

Dushanbe

9185349575

28.

Lailo Zamirova

UN Women

Dushanbe

918421209

Mass Media 29. 30. 31. Nargis Hamrabaeva Ismatullo Azizov Muhiddin Tojiev Asia Plus TV Jahonnamo Journalist Journalist Translator Dushanbe Dushanbe Dushanbe 935019096 918498058

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