Government and Civil Society in Central Asia Advance National Level Implementation of SCR 1325 with the OSCE and NGOWG

The NGO Working Group and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) partnered to conduct a series of SCR 1325 trainings in Central Asia with the aim of raising awareness and enhancing national level implementation of SCR 1325 in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The workshops identified possible areas of national priority in regard to gender and security and steps forward to enhance national level implementation of SCR 1325.

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The consequences of women’s exclusion and marginalization pose a significant threat to human security and sustainable peace and development. These consequences are far-reaching and manifest into core security risks such as the absence of legal and human rights, lack of protection against gender-based violence, lack of access to justice, health, education, and exclusion from participation in economic life, credit, land and natural resources. These issues not only constitute underlying sources of political and economic instability, but also result in the weakening of social and family units and the welfare of communities as a whole. Including women’s needs and priorities in peace and security policy is critical to sustainable peace and development.

With this in mind, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) have partnered to conduct a series of Training Workshops on National Level Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 in Central Asia with government and civil society from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as a follow-up to the OSCE Regional Roundtable on SCR 1325 held in Kazakhstan in September 2006. The first workshop, conducted in Bishkek, Kyrgyzsta n in June 2007, brought together government, civil society actors and gender experts from around the country to build on key issues in relation to gender, women and human security from a national perspective. Within this context, the workshop reviewed the provisions of UNSCR 1325, and participants identified possible priority areas for national-level implementation, with the aim of taking concrete steps forward in advancing the domestication of UNSCR 1325 in Kyrgyzstan.

Five key priority areas in regard to gender and security in Kyrgyzstan were identified.

Five key priority areas in regard to gender and security in Kyrgyzstan were identified: Political Participation; Economic Insecurity; Human Trafficking/Migration; Violence against Women/ Physical Insecurity; Religion and Cultural Tradition. In addition to these priority areas, the needs of rural populations and the rule of law were identified as cross-cutting themes.
Aiming to advance gender and security issues at the national level, the participants formed a national Working Group on Gender, Peace and Security at the end of the two-day workshop to take their recommendations forward, with the immediate aim of incorporating gender and security elements into Kyrgyzstan’s National Action Plan on Gender Equality which will be finalized on 3 July 2007.
The working group is comprised of both government and civil society representatives nominated and elected by the workshop participants. The members of the national working group plan to collaborate to further identify, develop and refine strategies for enhancing the integration of gender into key security priority areas at the national level, in line with the implementation of UNSCR 1325.

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