[Updated] Activism, Civil society and Rights Based work in Central Asia

Activism, Civil Society and Rights Based Work in Central Asia Welcome to the exhibition Activism, Civil Society and Rights Based Work in Central Asia!

This exhibition is about four Central Asian countries’ (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) civil society and its struggle for change and influence in the region. The aim is to shed light on Central Asian actors, their analyses, how they organize themselves and what methods they use to achieve change. All too often people in developing countries like countries in Central Asia are viewed as passive victims in need of help. This perspective fails to account for humans’ capacity to take charge of their own lives and determine their path.

In this exhibition we introduce groups, organizations and activist networks that are doing exactly that.

This exhibition was created by Central Asia Solidarity Groups (CAG), with financial support from Forum Syd. It started touring Sweden’s major cities from the fall of 2016 and will continue doing so throughout the upcoming years.

Central Asia Solidarity Groups

Rights Based Approach (RBA)

How You Can Help

Central Asia Solidarity Groups (Swedish: Centralasiengrupperna, CAG) is a politically and religiously independent non-profit organization founded in 2012. Our aim is to advance a democratic Central Asia with a vibrant and inclusive civil society, where human rights are respected, exclusion is minimized and social justice is extended to all. Our geographic focus is on Central Asia, in the sense of the five postSoviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. For several years now we have been organizing projects and collaborations, first mainly in Kyrgyzstan, but since 2014 in the other Central Asian republics as well.

Our efforts consist primarily of long term solidarity work, exchange programs, as well as trainings and capacity building, all conducted in close cooperation with civil society actors in Central Asia. We currently pursue four thematic working areas:

For many years there have been lively debates within the international aid community about what the relationship between aid organizations and aid benefactors should look like. For a long time the understanding was that aid was to satisfy needs of people who themselves were incapable of satisfying them. However, this approach has been criticized for creating a relationship of dependence, and preventing structural change in the long term. The so-called Rights Based Approach (RBA) is an attempt to get away from charity and change the world change the world sustainably in a long term perspective.

There are several ways to support the groups featured in this exhibition. To start with, you can follow them on social media, and stay up to date with their work and the situation in the region.

In cooperation with BFI and Labrys, two of the groups portrayed below, CAG has also initiated a fund to assist activists in cases of acute threats to their personal safety. The money is used exclusively and without deductions for that purpose, for instance to cover the costs of evacuating activists at risk. Since donors do not provide grants for this type of relief, we are entirely dependent on private donations to be able to continue this work. The fund has previously helped with the evacuation to Sweden of LGBTQ-activists being persecuted in Central Asia.

If you would like to donate to this fund, please transfer an amount of your choice to the below account, marked with the word ”activist”.

1. Democratic youth organizing 2. Gender 3. Conflict transformation 4. Culture Aside from our work in Central Asia we also engage in a number of local projects in Sweden, as well as international information and advocacy work. Our ambition is to function as a platform for people who want to get engaged in issues concerning the region – should you be interested in getting active, there are plenty of ways for you to develop and launch projects with us! While we prioritize ideas that fit our four thematic areas of focus, we would of course love to hear any other ideas or suggestions you may have as well!

Check out www.centralasien.org or contact us at info@centralasien.org for more information!

RBA defines the two main parties in the development context as rights-holders and duty-bearers. While all humans have rights, the term rights-holders here is meant to signify marginalized groups whose rights are not fulfilled. The term duty-bearers describes those with power, such as the state. Within RBA, and in contrast to older development models, the challenges faced by rights-holders are not seen as unsatisfied needs, but as unfulfilled rights.

RBA emphasizes both the importance of structural change, and the process of change itself, rather than focusing solely on problem solving. This means that right-holders receive support in the form of knowledge, contacts, and methods in order to empower them to demand duty-bearers the fulfillment of their rights. This exhibition wants to illustrate what a Rights Based Approach to development can look like in practice.

Swish: 1233698479 Bankgiro: 316-1338 You can also become a member of CAG. For your convenience, and to ensure a stable budget for our long term efforts, the membership fee is paid via monthly direct debit. Within CAG, untied funds such as membership fees are used directly to cover the costs of our projects and collaborations in Central Asia (that is, not for administration in Sweden). In other words, it is thanks to your support that we can facilitate people’s struggle for influence, democracy and rights in post-Soviet Central Asia. The membership fee is 25kr a month or more.

You can apply for membership online, at www.centralasien.org

About Central Asia Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north.

It composes five states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Central Asia has always been populated by nomadic people, composed of numerous tribes and served as a crossroads between different civilizations since the earliest times. The Silk Road connected nomadic cultures of Central Asia with the people of Europe, India, and China. Throughout centuries, Central Asia was dominated by Iranians, Turkic people, and starting from the mid-19th century by Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Thus, it has witnessed tremendous amount of historical incidences and every major religion has passed through Central Asia, including Buddhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism. All five states of Central Asia received its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and pursued hitherto unknown processes of nation-building and self-determination in international arena as independent states.

Newly independent states faced tremendous challenges at their time of independence. It is widely claimed that Central Asian leaders were unintentional founding fathers. Nevertheless, the leaders were aware of the highly vulnerable conditions of their nations as premature states.

Economies of Central Asian countries were seriously damaged by the collapse of the USSR: the absence of central management obscured an immediate recovery of common regional systems such as water and electricity supplies.

In addition to the disappearance of central structures, Central Asian states stopped receiving subsidies from Moscow that had long helped feed Central Asia’s increasing population.

The nations were left in a predicament with a choice of liberating their economies, followed by economic shocks and severe impoverishment of their populations or opting, as some Central Asia states did, to rely heavily on natural resources and take a path of gradual transition from a planned economy to an open market economy.

Almost every state has unsettled border issues with one another that increase hostile tendencies in the region. Early Soviet rule ensured that no Soviet republic would have an easy succession from the union and drew borders that did not take into account ethnicity thus creating large minorities in every country. Fergana Valley, which is shared by three countries of Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, ended up with the most complex and sensitive border delineation. Fergana Valley is a fertile and most densely populated region in Central Asia with a quarter of the region’s population amounting to more than ten million people.

Increasingly, Central Asia finds itself in a situation that is similar to the “Great Game” of the 19th century between Great Britain and the Russian Empire. The new great game of the 21st century started after 9/11 events and Central Asia found itself between Russia, the USA, China, Turkey and to some extent Iran. For the United States and its allies, the region became a valuable supply hub for the Afghanistan war effort until 2014. For Russia, it is an arena in which to exert its traditional sphere of influence. For China, it is a source of energy and a critical partner for stabilizing and developing the restive Xinjiang province in the country’s west.

Kazakhstan The area of present day Kazakhstan was conquered by Russia in the 18th century. Later in 1936, Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic. Due to the vast territory of Kazakhstan, Soviet citizens were encouraged to cultivate northern parts of the country. Immigrants from Russia eventually outnumbered ethnic Kazakhs. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, large non-Muslim ethnic minorities left Kazakhstan, while the national program has repatriated about a million ethnic Kazakhs back to Kazakhstan. This dramatic demographic shift has also undermined the previous religious diversity and made the country more than 70 percent Muslim. Kazakhstan’s economy is considerably larger than the other four Central Asian countries due to the country’s large share of natural resources.

According to the organization Human Rights Watch, there has been no meaningful improvement to Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record in 2018. Restrictions remain on peaceful protests, trade unions as well as on the work of civil society. Independent journalists, rights activists and opposition members or supporters are harassed, tortured or imprisoned under vague and politically motivated charges. These issues have gained increased attention following the shift of power in March 2019, when the country’s long-serving first president Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned. Following his resignation, the parliament voted in favour of changing the name of the country’s capital from Astana to Nur-Sultan, in order to commemorate the first president. The senate chairman KassymJomart Tokayev assumed the position of interim

president and was later re-elected to become president following the national elections in June 2019. What the change of power entails for the developments in Kazakhstan still remains to be seen.

Having ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as well as having adopted a constitution that guarantees equality before the law and courts together with a nationally coordinated gender equality Action Plan does not offer enough protection for women in Kazakhstan as they continue to face a widespread gender-based discrimination. Kazakhstan’s anti-discrimination laws have failed to produce any prosecutions, and Kazakhstani NGOs have long called them insufficient to address gender inequality. The rise of non-consensual bride kidnapping is an increasing problem in Kazakhstan. The majority of young women who are kidnapped against their will, remain in these marriages to avoid the shame and stigma of returning home.

Kazakhstan highly restricts media freedoms.

Independent journalists and media outlets face harassment and interference in their work, and outlets have been shut down in recent years such as Ratel.kz in 2018. The same year, Aset Mataev, an imprisoned journalist, was denied parole despite his eligibility after serving one third of his term. Problematic amendments to media and information law were adopted in April of 2018 empowering authorities to arbitrary and falsely detain journalists.

Area: 2 725 000 sq km Population: 18,590,691 Date of independence: December 16, 1991 Capital: Nur-Sultan Ethnic groups: Kazakh (63 %), Russian (24 %), Uzbek (3 %) Religion: Islam (70% of the population)

LGBT+ people in Kazakhstan live in a climate of fear fueled by harassment, discrimination, and violence. On the rare occasions when LGBT+ people report abuse, they often face indifference and hostility. Parliament passed bills that sought to introduce a broad ban on propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientation, but final drafts were not made public and the end-stage of the legislative process was non-transparent.

Kazakhstan was the first to put forward the idea of creating the Eurasian Union back in 1994.

From the very beginning, Kazakhstan wanted the Eurasian Union to be purely economic, without any political dimension despite its current view as a rather political tool of Russia. Together with Belarus and Russia, Kazakhstan signed a treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union in May, 2014. Today, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are also part of this regional club.

Adil Soz Adil Soz is one of Kazakhstan’s most veteran rights organizations, standing up for freedom of expression and the press, and defending journalists from increasing repression.

Adil Soz protest action in support of journalists.

Kazakhstan has recently been witnessing a government crackdown on independent media.

When in 2016 the country was shaken by large scale protests against a planned land reform, over 50 reporters covering the demonstrations were detained. Several prominent journalists have since been sentenced to long prison terms.

In addition, countless social media users and bloggers are serving sentences for posts critical of the president or discussing other sensitive matters. Others have fled the country to avoid repression.

Due to these developments, the work of NGOs like Adil Soz is more important than ever. The International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz, as it is officially known, was started in 1999, which makes it one of the most senior civil rights groups in Kazakhstan. Based in Kazakhstan’s main city, Almaty, with a staff of about a dozen jurists and (former) journalists, the group monitors freedom of speech violations, provides legal aid to media organizations, and does advocacy on behalf of the independent press and persecuted journalists.

With authoritarian tendencies in the country on the increase, however, their work has become more and more difficult in recent years. “We used to be able to hold rallies”, Tamara Kalayeva, the group’s chairperson, remembers, “but now, all forms of protest are basically banned.” Pickets, even of single individuals, require official permits, which are practically never granted. In order to get their message out, rights defenders like Adil Soz need to get creative. To protest the recent imprisonment of high profile journalists, Tamara Kalayeva and her colleagues wore matching t-shirts with the prisoners’ faces on them.

“Wearing t-shirts is still legal”, she laughs.

In addition to actions like this, Adil Soz frequently works with artists to bring the plight of journalists to the public’s attention. The walls of the organization’s headquarters are adorned with frames displaying the winning submissions of past cartoon competitions dealing with freedom of speech, organized by Adil Soz. On May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day, the organization cooperated with an independent theater company to put on a play to mark the day.

Given the authoritarian nature of the regime, though, rights defenders like Adil Soz are themselves always at risk. Various never ending bureaucratic audits are a common form of state harassment. Extreme diligence and obedience to the letter of the law is paramount to avoid giving the authorities a reason to shut them down.

But even though almost everything ultimately depends on the will of those in power, and although the general outlook is gloomy, Tamara Kalayeva remains optimistic. “Many of the court cases our legal experts work on end successfully”, she says. There have been some victories in the legislative realm as well. According to recent changes, which Adil Soz had long lobbied for, it is now more difficult to sue journalists for defamation when somebody does not like how they have been portrayed. “Offending somebody no longer carries a potential jail sentence either. It is a modest success, but it shows that improvements are possible”, Tamara Kalayeva says.

Follow Adil Soz on facebook (posts in Kazak and Russian): @adilsoz.kz or visit their webpage: http://www.adilsoz.kz/site/index/lang/en

“We used to be able to hold rallies”, Tamara Kalayeva, the group’s chairperson, remembers, “but now, all forms of protest are basically banned.”

Adil Soz President Tamara Kaleyeva, at her office in Almaty.

An Adil Soz protest action in support of jailed journalist Zhanbolat Mamay.

“Together we are strong”; Adil Soz protest action.

Alma-TQ The Transgender Initiative Alma-TQ is the first advocacy group of and for trans-persons in Kazakhstan.

The first Kazakhstani trans camp, Almaty, 2017 Life for trans-people in Kazakhstan is marked by stigma and complicated bureaucratic hurdles.

Like in other countries in the region trans-people risk social sanctioning and being ostracized by their families. Most of them therefore decide to keep a low profile. Changing one’s gender in official identification documents involves a complicated and often humiliating bureaucratic process.

“People are subjected to patronizing comments such as that they would never be real men since they have too pretty eyes”, one of Alma-TQ’s activists explains.

In 2014 a group of trans-persons in Kazakhstan’s biggest city Almaty decided to do something about this, and started the country’s first advocacy group of its kind: The Transgender Initiative Alma-TQ. While based in Almaty, the small group of activists have a network of supporters across the country, and cooperates with likeminded organizations across the postsoviet region.

Fear of being refused by the commission has put people in a position where they began transitioning in preparation for their appearance.

However, transitioning without the corresponding identification documents can lead to serious problems in other spheres of life, such as a person’s chances of finding and keeping employment. One of Alma-TQ’s key successes has been a reform to the functioning of this commission.

For security reasons Alma-TQ’s activists do not come out publicly, and most of their work takes place behind the scenes. “We pursue various goals”, one of the group’s members, who is a social worker by profession, explains. “For example, we find reliable doctors for transpersons to get help from, and help people get in touch with them. We also provide trans-people with information about their rights when it comes to officially changing their gender.”

As things are now, anyone seeking to transition is required to appear and plead their case before a government commission based in Almaty.

Though this appearance is supposed to initiate the transition process, people have previously been turned down for not already looking male or female enough.

Transgender people visit friendly endocrinologist.

Support group Alma-TQ, 2016

While gender transition prospects used to have to appear in front of twelve experts, the commission is now usually smaller. In addition, Alma-TQ’s activists have been able to get more competent experts to join the commission. By building relationships with these government experts Alma-TQ has been enabling them to receive people more sensitively and come to more considered decisions. “Our greatest goal would be to have corrective genital surgery scrapped as a requirement for officially changing one’s documents, and for the entire process to be de-pathologized” one of the activists says. “But unfortunately abolishing this entire procedure is not a realistic demand at this point”, he continues.

Alma-TQ presenting its collection of “Living Stories”, composed of 15 interviews with Kazakhstan’s transgender persons, Astana, 2017.

While Kazakhstan is certainly no easy place for trans-people, the activists of Alma-TQ feel that things are moving forward. “There is no legislation directly targeting LGBT people, and attempts to have such legislation introduced have been defeated”, one of the activists says. Some victories have even been won in unexpected places. When a trans-woman from a small town in northern Kazakhstan had her request to change her identification documents changed refused, a local court ruled in her favor, citing international principles on trans-rights, setting an exciting precedent for the whole country. When government officials there held a roundtable to further discuss the matter, members of Alma-TQ were invited to participate as expert advisors.

Follow Alma-TQ on facebook: @AlmaTQKZ

Round table on “Provision of medical assistance to transgender persons in Kazakhstan” with activists and volunteers from Alma-TQ, “Health Institute”, representatives from the medical commission for the examination of transgender persons of the Republican Center for Mental Health in Kazakhstan, Astana, 2016

Alma-TQ on site training with a psychologist for LGBTQI community. Mountains, Almaty region, 2016

Feminita Feminita is a newly launched queer-feminist initiative based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, intended to function as a platform for the country’s feminist activists.

In Kazakhstan, it is undoubtedly the men that hold power. Politicians and businesspeople are overwhelmingly male. Women get paid about 70% of what their male colleagues get for the same work. Often enough, motherhood is considered women’s primary role in society. For queer women who do not conform to traditional gender roles, this results in double discrimination.

It is to combat this double discrimination that in March 2016 a small group of women started the Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative Feminita. According to Zhanar Sekerbayeva, one of Feminita’s cofounders, the initiative has two main tasks: international advocacy and educational work on the issues of sexuality, identity, feminism, and queer theory.

“We see feminism as a human rights movement. Since in Kazakhstan, women, and especially lesbian, bi and queer women, do not count as people, this is what we focus on”, Zhanar Sekerbayeva explains.

Two of Feminita’s founders, Zhanar Sekerbayeva, left, and Gulzada Serzhan.

As the country’s first organization dedicated specifically to the struggle for lesbian, bi and queer women’s rights, one of Feminita’s first major project was to survey the field and learn more about the lives and challenges faced by the LBQ community. In a large-scale research project, they conducted surveys and in-depth interviews with over 200 women across the country, the results of which are to be published as a book in the fall of 2017. While researchers have previously investigated conditions of the LGBT community in general, this is the first time the particularities of female members of that community are looked at more closely.

In the long run, such work is intended to provide a basis for an independent, alternative report to the official one Kazakhstan will be submitting to the UN as part of the country’s commitments to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Another aspect of Feminita’s work has been to conduct trainings for open minded psychologists.

“We know many LBQ women are in need of psychological support, but finding psychologists that can help is difficult”, Gulzada Serzhan, another one of Feminita’s co-founders explains.

“Many psychologists are either apprehensive to help for fear of being associated with lesbianism, or are very insensitive, telling their clients to just find a man and get married, like a normal woman.”

In order to be able to do such work long term, Feminita is currently preparing to officially register as an NGO. However, in a country where patriarchy and homophobia are as pronounced as they are in Kazakhstan, this is no easy matter.

“While our approach is to try and be as open about our work as possible, some of our friends are advising us to formulate our application in general terms, and hide what it is specifically we stand for”, Gulzada Serzhan explains. “We are currently still making up our mind about the right way forward.”

Luckily, things in Kazakhstan are not as dire as, for example, in Russia. Homophobic hysteria is not part of public discourse to the same extend as it has been made to be there, and in some cases the stereotypes of those in power actually can work in favor of groups like Feminita. “Since it is men that traditionally hold power, we are not seen as a serious threat” Gulzada Serzhan explains. “While this does not do us justice, it can work in our favor” she says with a smile.

On the whole, Gulzada Serzhan is hopeful about the future. “The young generation, growing up with the internet, have access to so much more information. They are more open minded”, she says.

Follow Feminita on facebook (posts in English and Russian): @kazFeminita

Shyrak Shyrak is an advocacy group, based in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, that represents the interests of and unites women with disabilities.

“Hug me” action at closing ceremony of the first school of independent life for girls with disabilities from Central Asian countries, Arbat, Almaty, 2013 Like in many other parts of the world, attitudes toward people with disabilities in Kazakhstan are often marked by stereotypes. Wheelchair users and others with visible physical disabilities, for example, are used to being offered handouts by passersby who see them as helpless victims, or having busses go past them without stopping, as drivers cannot imagine them having their own errands to run. The Association of Women with Disabilities Shyrak fights to eradicate such attitudes and ensure people with disabilities, especially women, are able to live their lives as equal members of society. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Kazakhstan’s former capital and largest city Almaty, Shyrak unites around 300 women and girls with various types of disabilities.

“Part of our mission is to show that we are normal people, with a different lifestyle”, Zakhira Begaliye-va, Shyrak’s project coordinator, says.

One of the ways the organization has spread this message has been to organize flash mobs in shopping malls and on city squares, offering hugs to people passing by. “At first people would try to avoid us, thinking that we were asking for something”, Zakhira Begaliyeva remembers with a smile. “But then they understood we were actually there to give something, and their attitudes changed.” On other occasions Shyrak has been involved in monitoring and public campaigns aimed at highlighting accessibility issues on public transit.

Even though stereotypes and accessibility in public space are still major issues, especially in rural areas, Zakhira Begaliyeva is hopeful.

According to her things are better in Kazakhstan than in neighboring countries. Kazakhstan,

Seminar of leaders on issues of people with disabilities in Central Asia, Dushanbe, 2014.

for example, has ratified the international Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Shyrak often plays the role of expert advisor to different state institutions when it comes to implementing policy. “It is possible to affect change for women with disabilities”, Zakhira Begaliyeva says, citing as examples the recent appearance of an accessible gynecological chairs and a maternity ward especially geared toward mothers with disabilities.

Aside from tackling public attitudes and external obstacles, Shyrak itself also provides active support to its community. Among other things the organization offers stipends for vocational trainings, allowing young women with disabilities to gain the qualifications necessary to become economically independent. Another venue for this type of work has been reoccurring summer camps, aimed at improving the self-confidence and independence of girls with disabilities.

Shyrak’s camps are specifically held at sites that host other youth groups as well, something which according to Zakhira Begaliyeva caused confusion at first. “The staff at these sites originally suggested our group eat at specific times, as to not have to share the cafeteria with the other kids.” Since Shyrak’s mission is to normalize, rather than stigmatize disability, they declined. “Nowadays you see these kids hanging out together and mingling. It’s just become natural”, Zakhira Begaliyeva says fondly.

“Part of our mission is to show that we are normal people, with a different lifestyle”, Zakhira Begaliyeva, SHYRAK’s project coordinator, says

Fourth school of independent life for girls with disabilities from Central Asian countries, session on reproductive and sexual health of women with disabilities, Almaty, 2016.

Visit the webpage of Shyrak for more information: http://Shyrak.kz/eng/

“Hug me” action organized together with partners and volunteers at one of the shopping centers in Almaty, 2014

International seminar on creation of Central Asian forum for people with disabilities, Almaty, 2012.

Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law The most prominent human rights organization in Kazakhstan with it’s main office in Almaty and 12 branches across the country.

A meeting gathering human rights defenders in Kazakhstan.

Back in 1991 when Kazakhstan became independent, human rights was an unknown concept to many in the country. Led by today’s eminent Kazakh human rights defender, then an engineer, Evgeny Zhovtis, an initiative to promote people’s civil and political rights was born and joined by a few other human rights enthusiasts. A few years later, in 1994, the group registered as an organization in order to have a legal ground to consult and lobby the newly formed government.

The same year, it organized its first conference on human rights in Almaty expecting to have around 50 people, yet the turnout reached over 150 participants. This was a sign of an increasing interest in human rights, however, there remained misconceptions about their work by the public.

For instance, people would contact them to help with a neighbor who flooded their apartment or regarding a dog who is causing disturbances in their neighborhood .

The first project of the Bureau was timely as ever.

It was aimed to increase the knowledge of human rights in remote areas and it was implemented in partnership with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Today, the Bureau continues to organize seminars, trainings and roundtables for law enforcement agencies, civil society activists, teachers and students at schools and universities. Its website and the online library serve as an educational platform for many and especially for students. They contain publications about the Bureau’s work and the overall human rights situation in the country and other human rights documents translated into Russian. Moreover, the external relations department in the Bureau produces handbooks on various themes and publishes daily online bulletins. On a daily basis, there is an average of 2000 visits on the Bureau’s website and 8000 visits on its social media accounts.

Another part of the Bureau’s work is consulting.

There are jurists in every office consulting victims and assisting them in getting access to a lawyer and taking legal action. Due to limited funding, most often the Bureau reaches out to lawyers who care about its work and who can provide their services for lesser remuneration. Working with consulting individuals demands a lot of time and human resources which paralyzes the Bureau’s ability to be as fully invested in their main activity.

The Bureau’s main activity is monitoring the observance of political rights and civil liberties in Kazakhstan. Both the Kazakh and the international community rely upon the Bureau’s alternative reports to evaluate the human rights situation in the country. The Bureau actively demands the Kazakh government to fulfill the obligations it assumed when joining international organizations and signing international treaties on human rights. It condemns all government actions that restrict human rights. It also analyzes and comments on legislation making and other processes that affect human rights. Its critiques are not welcomed and recommendations are rarely considered.

For its work, the Bureau was regularly checked by government agencies, it has been named a “foreign agent” and “the enemy of the people and the state” and received constant threats. Some of its outspoken journalists have been imprisoned.

Also, the office of the Bureau has been robbed, the tax authorities tried to close it down and it has even been set on fire. After all of this, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law continues its active promotion of political rights and civil liberties across the country and has no intention to stop.

Journalists protesting in Almaty.

The Ecological Society Green Salvation An Almaty- based environmental organization protecting the people’s right to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

“The ecological situation in the 1970s and 1980s started to deteriorate drastically. One could see the smog hanging all over the city,” says Sergey Kuratov, mountain sports lover and one of the founders of Green Salvation. When Kazakhstan’s democratization processes started in the 1990s, Sergey Kuratov and his fellow mountain sports lovers saw an opportunity to create an organization, turning their love for nature into a passion to preserve it. Since then, some founders have left the organization and new members have joined, but the mission of the Ecological Society remained the same.

Green Salvation operates mainly in four ways: 1) Data collection on the environmental situation in Kazakhstan The organization does research and compiles available statistics and resources to produce articles and publications with the goal to inform the public on environmental challenges in Kazakhstan.

2) Advocacy and monitoring The organization monitors the observance of national legislation and international agreements and takes part in campaigns. For example, it was actively involved in the anti-nuclear campaign against importing radioactive waste from other countries and burying it in Kazakhstan.

3) Environmental awareness and education The organization produces bulletins, special courses, textbooks, articles and videos. To date, over 30 publications about the environmental situation in Kazakhstan have been shared in Russian, Kazakh and English. Also, the organization representatives present their work during training programs and conferences.

4) Consulting and defending people’s right to live under favorable environmental conditions.

On an annual basis the organization offers more than 200 legal consultations on different ecological issues as well as files and leads around ten court cases.

The establishment of Green Salvation preceded even the independence of Kazakhstan. Therefore, from the outset, it was involved in parliamentary working groups on environmental issues and contributed to drafting legislation. These experiences helped to build the organization’s institutional knowledge, which serves useful today in its active monitoring and litigation.

In 2004, the organization appealed to the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee, a convention on access to information and justice in environmental matters as well as public participation in decision-making. The Green Salvation became the first organization from Central Asia and Europe that brought a case before the Committee. This occasion is also marked as the beginning of the organization’s referrals to international conventions. Later in 2013, Green Salvation together with other civil society organizations felt compelled to address the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention again. In all these cases, the Committee recognized non-compliance

by Kazakhstan on several provisions. However, the decisions of the Committee were not implemented at the local level. Rejections and prolonged proceedings in courts are common in the work of Green Salvation – a case can move from one year to another making it difficult for the organization to make long-term plans.

Svetlana Spatar of the Ecological Society Green Salvation is inspecting the damage caused to trees on a construction site together with state representatives and a journalist.

As a result of the actions of the Ecological Society Green Salvation and the public, the World Heritage Site of Talgar was completely fenced, cattle grazing and traffic in the area was stopped. In the photo, the fence is on the western side of the fortification.

There have been times when the organization’s efforts are crowned with success. For instance, Green Salvation strongly opposed the construction of the “Moinak Electricity Transmission Project” because its two overhead transmission lines were planned to cross the territory of the Charyn and Altyn-Emel National Parks. The World Bank accepted their complaint and demanded its local partners to change the project and place the transmission lines outside the territory of the national parks. Government agencies changed their original decision and supported Green Salvation in this matter. Moreover, the organization’s activities have contributed to the halt of the destruction of the World Heritage Site of Talgar, not far from Almaty, and the suspension of the construction of a ski resort, where the territory would have been taken from a national park. Successful cases like these motivate the active members, staff and other volunteers of the organization to continue their work, and when they feel drained and low, they climb up the mountains and spend time in nature to re-energize.

Sergey Kuratov, the founder of Ecological Society Green Salvation is together with government representatives visiting the riverbank which has been cleared of construction waste, in the Kimasarovsky gorge of the Ile-Alata National Park.

Ravil Nasyrov of the Ecological Society Green Salvation is taking footage of the Kaskelen gorge at the Ile-Alatau National Park. This is part of the organization’s monitoring of national parks in the Almaty region.

The Illegal construction of a highway through the World Heritage Site Talgar.

The highway completely destroyed the southern part of the settlement.

MediaNet One of the few independent media organizations in Kazakhstan, supporting the development of civil society through strengthening the capacities of free and unbiased mass media.

Over the years, MediaNet has focused on the issues related to fact-checking and media literacy, by conducting up-to-date research, raising awareness and leading workshops.

In a country where freedom of speech and assembly remains restricted, critical journalists are imprisoned and independent media organizations are forced to shut down, MediaNet has managed to operate for over a decade!

In 2004, four journalists noticed a shortage of qualified journalists in the country. The formal education offered by the Journalism Faculties at state universities lagged in new developments.

Motivated by the need and the desire to share their knowledge, the group registered MediaNet as an organization and started their first project called “Media School”. MediaNet has implemented other educational programs over the years involving thousands of people, but the Media School has been the organization’s longest running project and it is still ongoing in Kazakhstan’s two biggest cities of – Almaty and Nur-Sultan. In total 800 people aged between 15-45, coming from different professional backgrounds took part in educational workshops in, among others, journalism ethics, data visualization, multimedia journalism, investigative journalism, public speaking, blogging, photojournalism and fact-checking.

MediaNet is similarly involved in promoting human rights journalism. Following the request from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), MediaNet created content for an online course for journalists interested in the professional coverage of human rights. The course offers comprehensive training on the four universal rights of the right to freedom of speech, the right to freedom from torture, the right to freedom from slavery and the right to freedom of movement.

Meanwhile, independent and human rights journalists are increasingly under pressure from authorities in Kazakhstan. Non-governmental organizations are labeled as foreign agents and enemies of the country, especially by progovernment media outlets. In the meantime, a very small proportion of the population understands the role of civil society and NGOs. To address this gap, MediaNet introduced a project targeted at the broader public with the aim to reframe narratives about non-governmental organizations and civil society. They do this by engaging their online audience in discussions and by sharing real examples of civil society’s positive impact on society on social networks and main media outlets.

While some projects are born as a reaction to local needs, others are inspired by practices in partner countries. Study visits to Ukraine and the United States motivated Adil Jalilov, the founder of MediaNet, to launch Central Asia’s first factchecking resource (Factcheck.kz). The project aims to fight against unreliable information, fake news and information manipulation by verifying popular news, facts, figures and statements of public persons.

The Annual Central Asian Internet Forum on “Internet Development in Central Asia” was organized by MediaNet. It covered the issues of the internet’s main technological and legal trends.

In addition to working with building capacity of media practitioners and actively ensuring good quality journalism, MediaNet is involved in research and producing publications. Within the Demoscope project (demos.kz), experts analyze the public’s views on trending topics by conducting phone polls and organizing focus groups to better understand society’s needs and views.

Moving forward, MediaNet wants to grow regionally and internationally and to decrease its dependence on a single donor from 30% to 8% by using crowdfunding and other modern tools to fundraise.

Media School Astana

Fact check training covering methodology and tools for fact checking

Institute of equal rights and equal opportunities “Individual initiatives are not heard. The authorities in Kazakhstan only listen to those who have an institutional approach, a specific concept and an elaborate program when promoting a social agenda,” says Margarita Uskembayeva, child psychologist, who therefore registered the Public Foundation Institute of equal rights and equal opportunities in 2010.

At the time of the organization’s establishment, Kazakhstan had the highest suicide rate in the world among people aged 15-19. It was second for suicide among teenage boys and first among suicide for teenage girls. Margarita Uskembayeva used the skills from her profession to conduct suicide interventions and to research “contemporary reasons for suicide among young girls between 15 and 19 years old”. The Foundation combines academic and activist methods in its work. In order to map and understand social issues in communities, the project team conducts research using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. The findings from their research allow them to create a comprehensive plan to work with the studied issues. To address the acute problem of the high suicide rate among teens, the Foundation created a project called “Girl’s rights to life” that targeted young girls aged 15-19. As part of the project, trainers led sessions on suicide prevention, sexual harassment, domestic violence, early marriages and pedophilia. During such sessions, the Foundation meets inspired girls who join the Foundation as volunteers and become socially active in their respective communities.

Also, the Foundation focuses on advocacy and believes in the importance of using mass media to draw public attention to the issues of gender equality and the socio-psychological wellbeing of Kazakhstani people – two thematic program areas of the Foundation. Members of the Foundation are very active online, commenting on events and offering their perspectives by writing posts and articles.

Margarita says, “it’s essential for us to keep an active online presence because many women who contact our Foundation learn about us on the Internet”.

Some women reach out to the Foundation by calling its hotline. Those are the women who are victims of domestic violence. Many cases of domestic violence remain unreported in Kazakhstan; hence it is difficult to share the total number but suffice it to say that it is a serious issue in this patriarchal society. To support and empower women who have suffered physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence, the Foundation has opened a shelter under the name “ARASHA” in 2017. The project was formed by the vision that everyone has the right to safety and the right to freedom from violence and fear of violence. Since it opened hundreds of women and their children, around 25 at a time have stayed in the shelter for up to 6 months and received a range of services from medical and psychological support, economic and legal assistance to socio-economic guidance. After completing an individually-tailored rehabilitation and resocialization program, women re-enter job markets, children continue their education and some individuals remain active in their communities further empowering other women.

A training session on the standards of social services offered to victims of domestic violence given to teachers and psychologists.

Celebrating Child protection on June 1st at the shelter.

Turkmenistan The present-day territory of Turkmenistan has a long history that dates back to the times of emergence of civilizations. The land was ruled in ancient times by Persian empires, and was conquered by Alexander the Great, Mongols, Turkic army, and finally by Russian empire. City of Merv, formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria, was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, located on the historic Silk Road near today’s Mary in Turkmenistan. Annexed by Russian empire in the late 1800s, Turkmenistan fought fiercely against Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. Turkmenistan became part of the USSR in 1924 and became independent in 1991.

Turkmenistan’s human rights’ record remains atrocious. The country is extremely repressive and is closed to independent scrutiny. The government imposes restrictions on media and religious freedoms and controls access to information. Authorities continue to impose informal and arbitrary travel bans on various groups, including students leaving for study abroad, activists, and relatives of exiled dissidents. Local activists report the fiercest government pressure against them. Websites tied to the government published smear articles against several human rights defenders in the country and in exile.

Saparmurat Niyazov known as “the president for life” died in 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first presidential elections in February 2007.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who is still in power,became a new president in theelections widely regarded as “a democratic sham”. Like his predecessor, he constructed a cult of personality and even built himself his own gold monument in a form of Bronze Horseman that resembles a monument of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg.

Domestic violence against women and girls remains a serious problem. The poor implementation of 2003 domestic violence law results in failure by government agencies to offer adequate protection to victims of domestic violence and punish abusers.The absence of services and the authorities’ inaction or hostility toward victims obstruct survivors’ access to protection and justice. Police do not systematically enforce protection orders and few domestic violence complaints reach the courts. Pressure to keep families together, stigma, economic dependence, and fear of reprisals by abusers prevent some women from seeking assistance.

Area: 488,100 sq km Population: 5,958,772 Date of independence: October 27, 1991 Capital: Ashgabat Ethnic groups: Turkmen (85 %), Uzbek (5 %) and Russian (4 %) Religion: Islam (89 % of population)

LGBT+ activity in Turkmenistan is punishable by imprisonment (up to two years). Homophobia is widespread, and homosexuals hide their sexual orientation to avoid discrimination in Turkmenistan. Criminalization and social prejudice create widespread homophobia, and medical institutions and judicial authorities often regard homosexuality as a disease. In the midst of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Turkmenistan kept to decriminalizing sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex.

The economy of Turkmenistan is dependent on hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves, which are not fully exploited. In recent years, Turkmenistan is moving to expand its exploitation of natural resources and attempts to diversify its gas export routes beyond Russia’s pipeline network.

In 2010, new gas export pipelines delivering the Turkmen gas to China and Iran were built. The new pipelines curbed the Russian control over Turkmen gas exports.

Kyrgyzstan Most of the territory of present-day Kyrgyzstan was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1876. The Kyrgyz people revolted against the Tsarist Empire in 1916. It resulted in killing of almost one-sixth of the Kyrgyz population. Kyrgyzstan is the most liberal state in Central Asia, and its independence is marked by coups, most frequently referred as revolutions and inter-ethnic clashes. Nationwide demonstrations in the spring of 2005 resulted in the ouster of its first president Askar Akayev, who had fled to Russia. He was replaced by Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who manipulated the parliament to gain new powers for his presidency.

In April 2010, protests in Bishkek led to the removal of Bakiyev from the office. He eventually sought an asylum in Belarus. His successor, Roza Otunbaeva, served as a head of interim government until Almazbek Atambayev was inaugurated in December 2011 following peaceful proceedings. During the unpredictable elections of 2017, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the protege of Atambayev was elected. This marked the second peaceful transfer of presidential power in independent Kyrgyzstan’s history. According to reports by international observers, the elections were competitive, however cases of misuse of public resources, pressure on voters and voter buying were found.

Kyrgyzstan has long been known to enjoy the most vibrant civil society in Central Asia. Nongovernmental organizations were established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and strive to bring justice, fairness and equality in their thematic areas of work. These organizations are usually led by highly-qualified staff and funded by international donors. This helped to establish a large, professionalized, institutionalized and measurable form of civil society, which is vibrant and active, and most importantly, affects political processes, voicing the needs of the groups they work with.

However, for the past years the civil activism in the country has shrunk as a result of hostile rhetoric of the government against NGOs. Authorities targeted and harassed some human rights groups, journalists, and lawyers. Impunity for ill-treatment and torture persist, and there is still no justice for victims of interethnic violence in 2010. Human rights defender Azimjon Askarov is serving a life sentence against the government’s obligation before the UN Human Rights Committee to release him in 2016. The Central Asia researcher and the director of Bishkek Human Rights Watch office, Mihra Rittman, is still banned from entering the country.

Area: 199 950 sq km Population: 6,434,689 Date of independence: 31 August 1991 Capital: Bishkek Ethnic groups: Kyrgyz (72 %), Uzbek (15 %) and Russian (9 %) Religion: Islam (88% of population)

Domestic violence against women and girls remains a serious problem. Despite a new law passed in 2017 on the Prevention and Protection of Family Violence, the absence of enforcement mechanisms and services limits survivors’ access to protection and justice. Pressure to keep families together, stigma, economic dependence, and fear of reprisals by abusers hinder some women from seeking assistance.

LGBT community in Kyrgyzstan experience ill-treatment, extortion, and discrimination from both state and non-state actors. There is widespread impunity for these abuses. For the past two years, parliament has been considering an anti-LGBTQ bill banning propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations, which aims at silencing anyone seeking to openly share information about same-sex relations in Kyrgyzstan. The bill was condemned by the international community and local civil society activists. However, it remains under consideration in the parliament, especially following the 2019 8th of March Bishkek demonstrations involving LGBTQ groups In August 2015, Kyrgyzstan became a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a common market of five Eurasian states, enabling Russia to exert its traditional sphere of influence in the region.

Bishkek Feminist Initiatives Bishkek Feminist Initiatives (BFI) is group of feminist activists whose work is based on the principles of collective emancipation, solidarity, mutual support, equal decision making and non-violence.

Members of BFI marching in the Women’s Day demonstration on March 8th 2016, in Bishkek.

BFI can be described as a community of activists creating, nurturing and sharing a common space.

The collective took shape in 2012 and has been based at what they simply refer to as “the house” since 2014.

This house is the heart of BFI. Located on a quiet alley near the center of Bishkek and surrounded by shady fruit trees, this one story building is where BFI is at home. It is a space for organizing, reflecting, learning and exchanging; for empowering, meeting and supporting one another. It includes a library, a collective garden and movie screening facilities.

This vibrant center has been the staging point for many successful public actions and interventions. On March 8th 2016, for example, BFI, together with other groups, gathered for a peaceful occupation of the premises out front the Presidential Office to mark International Women’s Day. While the collective regularly organizes similar public protests and campaigns, it is actually the day-to-day processes of building feminist community that they consider most important. In line with the feminist motto of the personal being political, and inspired by grassroots organizing principles, there is a strong focus on the process of their work, as opposed to merely on its outcome.

What this means is that feminist practices of mutual respect, shared responsibility and collective emancipation mark all activity at the house. One of the challenges faced by local women in general, and feminists in particular is a lack of places to gather freely. Cafés, squares and parks tend to be male-dominated spaces and restaurants are not an affordable option for most. The BFI House is an attempt to offer those lacking the privilege to gather freely elsewhere a safe space.

The long term goal of this work is to strengthen and expand the feminist community in Bishkek, at the house itself, as well as elsewhere in the city. As a result, the house has already spawned a number initiatives that are semi-autonomous from the core group, and which operate according to their own respective feminist perspective. This includes feminist parents groups, book circles, and art initiatives, as well as Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan.

BFI has been one of CAG’s closest partners in Kyrgyzstan since 2013, having jointly organized a number of projects, including campaigns, trainings and feminist art projects.

Follow BFI on facebook (posts in English and Russian): @bishkekfeminists

In the fall of 2016 BFI organized a trans-feminist music camp together with the LGBTIQA organization Labrys.

“By living feminism through our practices and interactions, rather than just advocating it, we hope to inspire more people to come out and become conscious feminists.” - BFI activist.

The walls surrounding the garden of BFI’s social center are decorated with feminist graffiti.

Center for Protection of Children The Center for Protection of Children is an NGO that does advocacy and provides social services for vulnerable children.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent weakness of state structures in the 90s led to issues like child labor, poverty and homelessness intensifying in Kyrgyzstan. The Center for Protection of Children was launched in 1998 in Bishkek, as a response to this crisis, initially helping street children working on the city’s bazaars. In its early period the group was exclusively focused on providing some of the elementary services the children were being denied, for example by serving food from a mobile cafeteria. However, after realizing that many of the children also lacked access to medical care, something the Center did not feel they were able to provide, the focus expanded to include advocacy as well.

Much of this advocacy has aimed at achieving legislative changes to some of the regulations governing internal migration in Kyrgyzstan. The majority of the vulnerable children that the Center works with today are the children of the many informal settlements of internal migrants on the outskirts of Bishkek.

While the Center for Protection of Children has been working to combine sustainable relief, advocacy for systemic change and empowerment of the vulnerable since at least 2001, they say it was only in recent years they realized that there was a term for their methodology in international development discourse - the Rights Based Approach (RBA). With its focus on empowering persons in vulnerable positions to claim the rights they are entitled to - as in the case of the petition, mentioned above - the Center ’s method is an example of how RBA can be implemented in practice.

Follow Center for Protection of Children on facebook (posts in Russian): @Center ForTheProtectionOfChildren

One of the organization’s key advocacy achievements on a national level was a 2008 reform simplifying school enrollment for children lacking proper registration at their place of residence.

Aside from thus pressuring and helping the state live up to its responsibilities, the Center for Protection of Children also works to empower vulnerable children and their families to demand and realize their own rights. One of the most recent successes of these efforts has been the construction of a school in the informal settlement of Dordoi in Bishkek in 2015. Thanks in part to the Center ’s help with media relations, local parents were able to collect over 2000 signatures in their neighborhood and petition the municipality to commit to constructing the school.

“We apply a holistic approach, providing direct social services as well as advocating for systemic change.” - Mira Itikeeva, Director of Center for Protection of Children.

With support from the Center for Protection of Children, the residents of the informal Bishkek neighborhood of Dordoi organized a petition which affected the construction of a school for their children.

Internal Migrant Registration system in Kyrgyzstan Under Soviet law internal migration was strictly regulated, requiring citizens to be registered at their place of residence. As is the case in most of the former Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan inherited these regulations, making it very difficult for internal migrants without the hard to obtain registration, to receive basic government services like medical care or education. As the socio-economic upheaval that followed the Soviet breakup led to an influx in internal migration, especially from the countryside to the big cities, large numbers of citizens came to be excluded from many basic services.

Nazik Kyz Nazik Kyz is an activist group of young women with disabilities that works to empower girls and women like them in their daily struggle with inaccessibility and discrimination.

Some of the members of Nazik Kyz in their studio.

Of the approximately 168.000 people with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, 60% are women. With neither the labor market nor city spaces being geared toward accessibility, many of them are forced to spend much of their lives at home, dependent on the goodwill of their relatives.

State support is minimal, the only option for those requiring an assistant is to find and hire one themselves. Unable to contribute to the family budget economically, and often considered a disgrace to the family’s honor, many young girls with disabilities face a life deprived of the rights to self-fulfillment and self-determination.

This is especially true in matters of sexual and reproductive rights. For women with disabilities to pursue a love life or have children is often viewed as inappropriate, frequently even by their own gynecologists.

While there are a number of organizations in the country representing the interests of people with disabilities, Nazik Kyz is the only group focused specifically on the sexual and reproductive rights and health of young women and girls. Part of the organization’s work consists of reaching out to other young women with disabilities. This includes conducting regular seminars on matters like self-determination and sexuality, and organizing summer camps on the shores of Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk Kul Lake. With the trainings including topics like relationships, sexual health and masturbation techniques, they break with the prevalent notion that sees people with disabilities as merely pitiful, non-sexual victims without desires of their own.

Nazik Kyz’s annual summer camps have been held for the past three years, and are usually attended by about 30 girls. The aim of this work is to strengthen the agency of young women with disabilities, to encourage them to develop a healthy relationship with their own bodies, and to empower them to pursue their own desires.

As employment is one key factor in attaining self-determination and independence, one of Nazik Kyz’s key projects has been the production of fashion accessories at their own sewing shop.

A collection of tote bags adorned with feminist slogans, made by some of their members and sold at cafes around Bishkek, has been successful enough to cover the workshop’s rent.

The other main focus of the activists’ work is to change society and its perceptions of disability.

One of Nazik Kyz’s main successes in this regard has been the creation of the reality TV show Real Girls, produced in cooperation with the production company Rentgen Media, and with the support of Internews Network and the broadcasting corporation NTS. The first season of the program, which premiered in June 2016, introduces viewers to the lives of several young women with disabilities. By showing how they live, work, and love, what they dream of and what challenges they face in daily life, the show intends to educate the public about the realities of what it’s like to be a young woman living with a disability in Kyrgyzstan.

Bags produced by Nazik Kyz.

“Being a young woman isn’t easy in Kyrgyzstan, but being a young woman with a disability is a constant struggle.” - Ukei Muratalieva, member of Nazik Kyz.

Bir Duino Bir Duino (“One World”) is one of the most prolific human rights organizations in Kyrgyzstan, focusing on a variety of issues, including women’s rights, the rights of migrants, and reform of the criminal justice system.

In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan’s civil society developed a rich array of independent non-governmental and non-commercial organizations working for the public good on a wide range of issues. One of the most established and well known of these NGOs today is Bir Duino. The organization grew out of anti-corruption movements in the early 2000s. It sees its mandate as ensuring the full implementation of civil, political, cultural, and economic rights. The main methods Bir Duino employs in its work are monitoring, analysis and advocacy, but also educational events and social projects, actively involving young people and marginalized communities.

One of the main recurring events arranged by Bir Duino since 2007 is the Annual International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights, showing dozens of films from Kyrgyzstan and abroad. Last year over 500 visitors, including activists, policymakers, foreign dignitaries and members of the public, attended the festival’s opening night, taking advantage of the opportunity to mingle in an informal setting.

After the main event in Bishkek, smaller versions of the festival are held across the country, in regional centres and even villages. One of the social side effects of the mingling that happens at the festival is the building of bridges between activists and the bureaucrats and politicians that attend the event, something that can be very crucial in other contexts, where the group’s work clashes with the interests of the powerful.

Currently one of the issues the organization is strongly focused on is the case of one of Kyrgyzstan’s most prominent political prisoners, Azimjon Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek community leader who was arrested and sentenced under dubious circumstances for allegedly inciting interethnic hatred during an episode of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010.

As this episode is a highly contentious one in Kyrgyzstani political consciousness, Bir Duino’s com-mitment to Askarov has exposed them to harassment by the authorities.

In addition, Bir Duino is credited by LGBT activists as being one of the few established human rights groups in the country to not shy away from taking a principled stance on the rights of LGBT persons, publicly opposing, for example, proposals to introduce Russian-style homophobic legislation in Kyrgyzstan.

The precariousness of the position outspoken human rights defenders like Bir Duino are in was recently illustrated when the Kyrgyzstani former President Almazbek Atambayev, in a Mothers’ Day speech, publicly slandered, among others, the organization’s founder and Chair Tolekan Ismailova, as a foreign agent and troublemaker.

Bir Duino’s annual International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights is a chance for civil society and decision makers to mingle.

Follow Bir Duino on facebook (posts in English and Russian):@bir.duinokyrgyzstan

Bir Duino’s Director Tolekan Ismailova.

Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan is a Bishkek-based group of teenage feminist activists working to empower girls.

The organization is one of the initiatives born out of the social center run by Bishkek Feminist Initiatives. It’s most distinctive characteristic is that it is entirely made up of teenage girls under the age of 18. The group was born in 2013, when number of girls got to know another at a summer camp on women’s rights and decided to continue meeting on a regular basis. Later that year they adopted the name Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan and moved into BFI’s space.

The Girl Activists’ first project was collecting every-day stories of girls from across the country and publishing them on a blog. Since then the girls have learned how to apply for project grants and initiate projects, and have even sent delegates to international conferences in the region. Some of their main areas of focus are gender-based violence, discrimination in education, and restrictions on the freedom of movements for girls.

Since their inception Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan organized a number of notable projects and campaigns aimed at empowering girls and pushing their voices into the public debate. In the spring of 2015 they, in coordination with CAG, hosted a series of drawing workshops for young girls held by the Swedish feminist comics collective Dotterbolaget. Other highlights have been the production and spreading of music videos featuring traditional songs, adapted to advance their message of emancipation. One of the group’s members has publicly used her talent for reciting the Kyrgyz national epic of Manas, a uniquely challenging task generally considered exclusive to prestigious male performers.

“Hacking” and integrating some of Kyrgyz culture’s most iconic treasures in the name of gender equality, thus works to challenge elements of patriarchy often defended in the name of tradition.

“We are the first initiative of its kind - by and for teenagers - and we are proud of that.” - Daria Kasmamytova, founding member of Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan.

When they are not busy working on specific projects, the roughly 15 currently active members meet at the social center that is their home base to do crafts and art, read texts together, scheme for the future or to simply hang out.

In early 2016 the group was awarded the Stars Foundation’s “With and For Girls Award” for their efforts.

Follow Girl Activists of Kyrgyzstan on facebook (posts in English and Russian): @devochkiaktivistki

Arysh Arysh is a Bishkek-based organization of internal migrants and residents of informal settlements working to end structural discrimination against their communities.

Arysh has worked with the issue of internal migrants’ informal settlements since taking shape as an initially unoffical group of five individuals in 1999. The organization has four strategic trajectories: 1. To improve the provision of government services like medical care, education, social services to unregistered internal migrants.

2. To raise the standard of living and incomes in informal settlement communities.

3. To reform Kyrgyzstan’s discriminatory population registration system.

4. To preserve biocultural diversity, including traditional knowledges and practices.

While the organization does engage in policy advocacy, for example by lobbying for simplification of the population registration system with the State Registration Services (GRS) and the Bishkek mayor’s office, they see themselves primarily as a grassroots organization and are most at home in the field. Most of the organization’s paid staff of eight, half of whom live in informal settlements themselves, spends much of their time in the communities they represent, meeting and consulting with residents.

However, according to Arysh’s philosophy, the point is not to solve people’s problems for them.

Instead, their guiding principle is collective selfhelp and self-reliance. As part of this approach, Arysh has been able to spawn numerous mobile teams in many of Bishkek’s informal settlements.

Independently from the organization, these groups of residents offer their neighborhoods help on anything from how to legalize a home built without official permits, to setting up small agricultural projects like backyard greenhouses.

Arysh is proud to thus facilitate the selforganization of internal migrant communities. A side effect of this practical everyday work is also a greater mobilization potential during elections.

This makes it harder for the voices of the people of these communities to be ignored, and easier for them to have their rights and interests respected.

Arysh hopes to eventually expand to the rest of the country, and become independent of external donors.

Follow Arysh on facebook (posts in Russian and Kyrgyz): @Arysh.kg

“No one believed internal migrants, with different regional backgrounds and worldviews, could ever self-organize - but we did.” - Mamatkul Aidaraliev, Director of Arysh.

Novi Ritm Novi Ritm (“New Rhythm”) is a youth organization based in Kyrgyzstan’s second biggest city of Osh, promoting the realization of democracy, equality, justice and sustainability in society.

The organization was born out of an initiative to create a meeting place for people of different backgrounds. As an indirect response to the so called “June Events” of 2010, in which ethnic clashes left hundreds of dead in the city of Osh, a group of young people started gathering regularly to create a space for youth, regardless of ethnic, language, gender or educational background to meet and get to know one another. This informal setting was formalized into Novi Ritm in 2014, and has since focused on activating youth around issues such as conflict prevention, human rights, and gender equality.

The spacious house where Novi Ritm has its office and the green garden surrounding it function as the base for the frequent workshops, trainings, and campaigns the group puts on.

Even the organization’s own structure seeks to facilitate such a development. By avoiding excessive bureaucracy and hierarchies the organization maximizes inclusivity and accessibility. Allowing newcomers to quickly launch initiatives of their own and rotating the position of Chair on an annual basis enables a wider spread of responsibility and exposure to leadership experiences. Using participatory methods and democratic principles in its work, Novi Ritm makes sure that the end goals of the organization are inseparable from the means of reaching them.

One particularly successful example of Novi Ritm’s work has been the Girls’ Group, which focuses on how gender stereotypes limit the opportunities for girls and young women in the country to live their lives. By illuminating taken-for-granted norms and gender roles, the group empowers girls and young women to organize and challenge the status quo of gender-based discrimination and violence. One of their projects has been the creation of a video in which men call on other men to speak out against violence against women.

Novi Ritm is one of CAG’s closest partners in Central Asia. The groups have cooperated since before Novi Ritm became a formalized NGO, a process which CAG facilitated. Their partnership has included exchanges, joint trainings, and other forms of mutual support.

In many respects Novi Ritm applies aspects of the Rights Based Approach (RBA) in their work.

When it comes to their trainings, for example, they are guided by a principle called the “trainthe-trainer” approach. The idea is to pass on skills and knowledge such that those who have gained them, can in turn pass them on to others. By empowering youth in this way, Novi Ritm hopes to plant a seed which will over time have structural effects and lastingly change society for the better.

“The problem is in people’s heads - people are very suspicious toward strangers. Our work grew out of a desire create a space for different people to talk to one another.” - Aida Ahmedova, founding member of Novi Ritm.

Labrys Labrys is one of Kyrgyzstan’s chief advocacy groups for LGBTIQA rights.

Labrys was launched by a group of lesbian and bisexual women and trans-men in 2004, after some of them were expelled from a Bishkek cafe after one of the women kissed her partner while celebrating her birthday there. A number of the founding members had already for some time been meeting informally at a community center to watch movies, exchange information and educate themselves on how to do advocacy, but that experience of discrimination convinced them to get properly organized.

Since foundation, Labrys’ work has covered a wide range of activities. Part of their efforts consists of providing members of the LGBTIQAcommunity with consultation, psychological counselling and support with medical issues, like finding trustworthy doctors. The group also hosts seminars for LG-BTIQA-persons to help them accept themselves and for their parents to help them accept their children. In addition, Labrys conducts leadership and activism trainings, helping to strengthen and empower the LGBTIQA-community in Kyrgyzstan to challenge homo- and transphobia.

“Tenderness is not propaganda”

A tough but rewarding form of support Labrys provides to LGBTIQA-persons is immediate assistance for those who have been arbitrarily detained by homo- or transphobic police. It is not uncommon for the group to have to send a team to a police station in the middle of the night to deliver legal and emotional support for someone experiencing such harassment. Often these interventions affect the release of the person being detained.

At the same time Labrys works with state organs and other professionals, like doctors, to help prevent discrimination, stigmatization and homo- and transphobic violence. One of their key advocacy efforts has been to lobby for a reform that would permit trans-persons to change the sex registered in their identity documents without having to first undergo expensive corrective surgery.

These attempts to establish relationships with and affect improvements within state structures are not easy. Officials largely ignore or deny the existence of LGBTIQA-people in Kyrgyzstan, while a looming proposal to introduce an even harsher version of Russia’s infamous law banning “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relationships” threatens to enshrine homophobia in Kyrgyzstani legislation. Labrys has been a driving force within the coalition of groups publicly opposing that proposal.

Labrys also actively supports the development of analogous groups in other Central Asian as well as some Eastern European countries, and functions as a resource center for them in their establishment.

Follow Labrys on facebook (posts in English and Russian): @LabrysKG

“Our work demonstrates to people that LGBTIQA-persons are not alone, that someone defends them.” - Labrys activist.

Faced with widespread aggressive homophobia, one of the techniques Labrys has used to engage in the public debate has been graffiti messages on Bishkek’s sidewalks. This stencil says “We exist.”

MoveGreen MoveGreen is an environmental youth movement striving to educate, inspire and support environmental awareness and ecofriendly actions in Kyrgyzstan. Based in Bishkek, they are mainly catering to the country’s capital where they are best known for the air quality sensors that they have installed around the city.

Earth Day demonstrations organized by MoveGreen.

“Bishkek is for people” is the slogan that leads the organization’s activities, but its director, Maria Kolesnikova adds that “unfortunately today it is for cars”. There are around 500 000 vehicles in Bishkek alone, for its population just over a million. While the organization acknowledges the impact cars have on air pollution, it attempts to expand the discourse around air pollution.

“The government’s mainstream position is that the people are to be blamed for using cars and cheap gasoline’’ says Maria. However, the organization conducted research and identified that the air quality index is largely impacted by emissions from the governmental central heating as well as the burning of coal, old tires and plastic by households and businesses. The outcome of their research has shifted the responsibility to act back to the government.

In addition, MoveGreen works actively with the general public by increasing their sense of environmental responsibility. At the time of their establishment, other environmental organizations existed, but the founders saw the need for a youth-led environmental movement. This element of their work is still particularly strong today.

They hold interactive workshops at schools and encourage students to come up with their own initiatives. Initiatives can range from installing recycling points at schools to organizing the Bishkek Free Market where people can exchange old clothes and take part in eco-quizzes.

MoveGreen supports the students throughout their initiatives and offers them small financial grants to realize their projects. MoveGreen also organizes events such as Eco films, Eco festivals, Eco Hackathon and Smog Talks to raise awareness and educate a wider audience of youth.

Move Green’s slogan: “Help the Earth - Save the Environment”.

After five years of working with youth, the movement has expanded its role and included a policy dimension to its work. MoveGreen has grown to become an important link between the public and the government as a result of their active engagement in research, monitoring of air pollution, advocacy and legislation change. They monitor the air and noise pollution in Bishkek, promote recycling as well as campaigning against the city’s deforestation. The Movement is mainly involved in monitoring the air pollution in Bishkek, where they have installed 22 air pollution sensors across the city. The data from the sensors is shared in real-time through an application called “Aba.kg” that also offers recommendations to its users on routes to take and ways to protect their health. Further, the statistics from the collected data is gathered, compiled into reports and shared on MoveGreen’s platform.

Four months following their first report, the Prime Minister established a working group which involved MoveGreen. The government adopted a “5-year plan of comprehensive measures to improve the ecological situation in Bishkek”.

MoveGreen is, besides their role in the working group also monitoring the implementation of this plan.

Initially, the movement was prompted by a lack of data on air pollution in Bishkek. Once they had made their data available, discussions went viral.

Over 150 articles were published by media outlets and countless social media posts and comments discussed this pressing environmental concern. At first, the government’s response was to deny the validity of the data and question the technology used to collect it. It was, however, inevitable for them to keep this stance as air pollution in Bishkek became a widespread issue.

Hence, the organization is working hard and using creative methods to reach out to the public about ways to protect the environment and their health. They have also tried to reach out to the private sector but unfortunately, it has been a challenge to convince them to adopt eco-friendly practices in their work, but Maria is hopeful that soon it will be possible to engage businesses in these issues.

Young people participating in Earth Day demonstrations in Bishkek.

Maria Kolesnikova notes that “sometimes there is no need for innovative ecological solutions, but rather effective ways to communicate information to people.”

Area: 143,100 sq km Population: 9,360,347 Date of independence: September 9, 1991 Capital: Dushanbe Ethnic groups: Tajik (80%) Uzbek (14%) and Russian (1%) Religion: Islam (96% of the population)

Tajikistan The Tajiks were part of the ancient Persian Empire ruled by Darius I and later conquered

by Alexander the Great (333 BC), hence Tajik language is almost identical to the Persian language spoken in Iran. In the 7th and 8th centuries, Arabs conquered the region and brought Islam. The Tajiks were under the Uzbeks and then Afghans until Russians conquered the area in the 1860s. In 1924, Tajikistan was consolidated into a newly formed Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within Uzbekistan, and only in 1929, Tajikistan received status of the republic.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan gained its independence, and shortly after in 1992, Tajikistan was plunged into Civil War that lasted for 5 years. The protesters were against the presidential elections and demanded fair representation. The civil war was a chaotic, complex and multi-sided affair. It was a power struggle between clans and regions, neo-Communists, moderate Muslims, democrats and intellectuals. There were clans and warlords who took side of the neo-Communists opposing Islamic force. Only in 1997, the sides came to a treaty and a peace accordance was signed, that ceased the war.

The Civil War debilitated the economy and stability of the country and its consequences left deep scars and fear in the population.

People fear to object and protest to the current government led by President Emomali Rahmon, who is in the position since 1994.The president Emomali Rahmon dictates his image on media.

Since 2017, a new law requires journalists and media to refer to Rahmon as “The Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon.”

People fear that protests can lead to another civil war. Albeit, according to the ICNL (The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law) the Civil Society is one of the most dynamically developing sectors in Tajikistan today. However, CSOs undergo meticulous scrutiny by the government that impedes and limits their efficiency. According to Human Rights Watch, Tajikistan’s human rights record continues to deteriorate amid an ongoing crack down on freedom of expression and political opposition and pressure on the independent media.

Tajikistan remains the poorest country in the post-Soviet region. Its economy faces major challenges, including dependence on remittances from Russia, high levels of corruption, and narco-trafficking plays the major role in the country’s informal economy. The main sources of income are cotton and wheat crops, aluminum processing, mining of precious metals, hydroelectric power exports, and remittances by migrant workers. Due to its water resources Tajikistan has a significant potential for hydropower generation as it already has the world’s highest dam that supplies 98% of the country’s needs. According to World Bank, the economic growth has been increasing by 7% per year since years and significant poverty reduction is observed.

Internet access has always been a challenge for the population as the government meticulously scrutinize the usage of already slow Internet and even shuts down major mainstream sites such as Google, Facebook and many other communication applications. In 2019, the government initiated the increase of the Internet cost evoking indignation in society. As a result, the law has not been ratified.

Domestic violence against women remains to be a challenge. There has been an attempt to combat domestic violence against women and children in 2015 that included establishing several police stations staffed by female police inspectors who received training in gender-sensitive policing. However, it is reported that Tajikistan’s 2013 law on the prevention of violence in the family remains unimplemented and victims of domestic violence continue to suffer and do not receive adequate protection.

LGBT+ community is subjected to discrimination and homophobia. In 2014, the State Committee for Religious Affairs informed imams across the country to preach against “nontraditional sexual relations.” Public beatings and discrimination as well as detention, harassment, and extortion by police are commonplace. Police routinely arrest men under suspicion of “homosexual acts” and charge them with “moral crimes.” In 2015, more than 500 individuals, who were suspected of being part of LGBT+ community were arrested in order to eradicate “immoral behavior” in the country.

Ghamkhori Ghamkhori is a non-commercial care, education and development organization based in Tajikistan’s third largest city, Kurgan-Tyube. Its mission is to enable vulnerable segments of the population to take control of their lives.

Agricultural educational programs are one of Ghamkhori’s areas of work.

Although Kurgan-Tyube, a three-hour drive south of Dushanbe, is Tajikistan’s third largest city, it has none of the glitter of the capital.

Many of the large factories that used to provide employment during the Soviet era lie in ruin.

Power outages are common. Many of the city’s decaying apartment blocks are still riddled with bullet holes from the civil war. It is in one such unassuming building that Ghamk-hori has its office.

Ghamkhori staff working with one of their clients.

Ghamkhori staff in contact with local law enforcement.

“It’s not Paris”, Bahodur Toshmatov, co-founder and chairperson of Ghamkhori, laughs “but it is here we are needed most. Due to the hot climate and the lack of big city comforts, few international aid organizations are active here.”

Started by a group of medical professionals and teachers at the end of the civil war, in 1996, Ghamkhori today employs over 50 staff, including pedagogues, medical professionals, social workers, agronomists and legal experts. With the range of challenges in this part of the country being as broad as it is, Ghamkhori runs numerous projects tackling different social issues. Three of the currently most central ones involve working with Tajikistan’s migrant labor population, operating a center for children with disabilities, and the issue of domestic violence.

Due to its dysfunctional economy, Tajikistan is one of the most remittance-dependent nations in the world, with as many as 1.5 million (of Tajikistan’s roughly 8 million citizens) migrant laborers at one point working in Russia. With the Russian economy in stagnation many of these mostly young men from rural areas are now returning home. In order to help reintegrate returning migrants Ghamkhori is currently running a project that aims to help them stand on their own feet. This includes assistance in starting small businesses and farming lots. At the same time Ghamkhori works to spread information on legislative changes to Russia’s migration policies, to ensure that potential future migrants have a realistic understanding of their chances in attempting to find work there, before making the expensive and potentially risky journey.

Another one of Ghamkhori’s main projects is a center for children with disabilities, which the municipal administration in Kurgan-Tyube has entrusted the organization with operating. At this center, children with all kinds of disabilities receive vocational training to prepare them for a life independent of the meagre pension provided to them by the government. In addition, Ghamkhori’s social workers provide various kinds of support to the children and their families, to help them cope with the stigma which much of Tajik society associates with disability. The longterm vision that guides the work at the center is to effect a change in attitudes so its clients are accepted for who they are – normal children, with some special needs.

Another key focus for Ghamkhori is working with the issue of domestic violence. To this end the or-ganization runs a crisis center and shelter for those needing to get away from an abusive environment. The number of people seeking the services offered there, including psychological, medical and legal support, has grown steadily in recent years. In 2016 over 1000 individual clients received help. Accord-ing to Ghamkhori, this to be taken as a positive sign, since it is indicative of a greater willingness to see domestic violence as a serious problem, rather than a private matter.

Interestingly, it is not only women that seek help, but also men who suffer abuse from relatives.

Aside from acute harm reduction work and rehabilitation of survivors, Ghamkhori works with families, communities and religious leaders to de-normalize and combat domestic abuse in the long-term.

Ghamkhori is guided by rights-based principles, meaning that sustainable social change is understood to rely on empowerment and enabling clients to take charge over their own life, rather than having their problems addressed for them. Ghamkhori’s work has been recognized with several prizes by municipal and national authorities.

Visit the webpage of Ghamkhori for more information: www.Ghamkhori.tj/en

Independent Center for Human Rights Protection The Independent Center for Human Rights Protection is a human rights organization in Tajikistan, fighting against the use of torture, for greater public access to information, and for the rights of those forcibly evicted from their homes.

Founded in 2010, and based in an office building in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe which houses several of the country’s top rights organizations, the Independent Center for Human Rights Protection pursues three key directions: the fight against torture, improving public access to information, and assisting the victims of forced evictions.

One of the Center’s key areas of focus is the fight against torture, inhumane and degrading treatment. The organization is part of the civil society Coalition against Torture, which unites a number of groups and individuals seeking a commitment from the state to a zero-tolerance policy on torture. Partly due to this work, Tajikistan recently saw an amendment to the country’s criminal code to include torture as a criminal offense. In addition to coordinating the Coalition against Torture’s working group on media, the Independent Center for Human Rights Protection works with citizen complaints of torture, inhumane or degrading treatment perpetrated by officials, represents victims in investigations, and assists them in securing compensation.

The Center’s second concentration is on access to information. Tajikistan’s authorities do not always observe the public’s right to access to information about their work. The Independent Center for Human Rights Protection therefore assists journalists as well as ordinary members of the public to gain access to such information.

While the Center’s first two directions of work are also pursued by other likeminded organizations, its third area of focus is quite unique. Mass forced evictions are a very problematic but common occurrence in Tajikistan. The reasons for such evictions vary: sometimes it is the municipal authorities tearing down older buildings to make room for new construction, in other cases people’s homes are in the way for the construction of administrative buildings. Cynically, one of the justifications given to displace people which has become increasingly popular with the authorities, is to say that their resettlement is necessary for environmental reasons – even when they have lived in the given spot for generations. To make matters worse, those forced to leave their homes are frequently denied adequate compensation, forcing them to move to a distant part of town, or worse yet, into homeless.

Given the disastrous consequences such evictions often have for those affected, forced evictions are both a human rights and a social rights issue. “We are currently the only human rights organization in Tajikistan working actively with social issues like this”, Shoira Davlatova, the Center’s executive director says. While often an uphill battle, the organization’s work with evictions is both vital and rewarding. In several cases they have been able to secure compensation where none was initially offered. A common and valuable side effect of the Center’s work in such cases is the facilitation of ordinary people’s own potential to stand up for themselves. Not infrequently former evictees, who turned into activists while working with the Center on their own case, later come to the aid of their neighbors when they become threatened with the same fate. In some cases, these citizens have then been able to carry on this struggle with only occasional advice from the experts at the Center.

Given that international financial support for Tajikistan’s civil society organizations has been declining, and government audits of their activity have been on the rise, this development is crucial.

“These ongoing contacts with citizen-activists really help.

The greater the number of people involved, the greater the resonance among the population”, Shoira Davlatova, executive director of Independent Center for Human Rights Protection says.

Visit the webpage of Independent Center for Human Rights Protection for more information http://notorture.tj/en/page/ po-independent-Center-human-rights-protection

The executive director of the Center for Human Rights Protection, Shoira Davlatova.

Light Light is the first and only initiative for the rights of Trans-persons in Tajikistan, organized by trans-people.

Like elsewhere in the region, trans-people in Tajikistan face stigmatization and discrimination.

With society deeply traditional, most live a double life, some of them hiding their gender identity from even their closest family members.

While not officially, directly persecuted by the state, social ostracization and sanctions by other members of society and state authorities are common.

In September 2015, a small group of transpersons in the country’s capital Dushanbe decided to start the initiative Light, to advocate and advance their rights. In a place like Tajikistan, this comes with many challenges. Without official government registration, the group cannot rent office space, and is forced to meet at activists’ homes or in public places like parks and cafes.

In spite of this, the activists of Light do what they can to achieve progress for the trans-people.

Inspired by, and with support from the well-established ”LGBT-advocacy group, in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, Light has been working to strengthen the trans-community of Tajikistan. This work has included networking with trans-persons in other cities, searching for trustworthy psychologists, gynecologists and endocrinologists, and establishing contact with lawyers willing to defend trans-persons facing discrimination. Given the level of stigma attached to transsexuality in the country, this is a very difficult task. “Most jurists are very apprehensive”, one of the trans-woman who co-founded Light says. “While we know some friendly lawyers, who are willing to consult us in secret, hardly anyone dares to defend us in court, for fear of being associated with us”, she continues.

With legal support limited, part of Light’s work has revolved around improving security practices.

Together with allied groups from other Central Asian countries, the group has participated in workshops dealing with organizational and cyber security, and with how to dodge the wrong kind of attention.

Given the prevalence of negative attitudes toward trans-people in society, most of Light’s work needs to take place outside of public view.

As a way to make their voice heard without risking their personal security, Light now plans to produce video material, to be posted on social media, highlighting their situation. “That way we can show that we exist”, the activist says.

“Perhaps even some government officials, who we could never meet openly, will reluctantly take a peek and notice us, sort of in the corner of their eyes” she says with smile.

“While we know some friendly lawyers, who are willing to consult us in secret, hardly anyone dares to defend us in court, for fear of being associated with us” says one of the transwomen who co-founded Light.

Nansmit The Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan, Nansmit, has been the country’s leading defender of freedom of the press since the 1990s.

A workshop on digital security for journalists, organized by Nansmit.

The impoverished mountain nation of Tajikistan is not an easy environment for independent journalism. Still recovering from a devastating civil war that followed independence, the economic outlook is dire. The lack of perspective for young people and the ongoing war in neighboring Afghanistan have provided a fertile ground for militant Islamism. Volatile borders with post-soviet neighbors are an additional source of instability. The government’s attempts to strengthen the state have mostly made themselves felt in the form of growing authoritarianism. In this context, independent journalists have come under increasing pressure, and the need to defend them is ever more acute.

The Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan, Nansmit for short, has been working to defend freedom of expression, the media and its representatives since its foundation in 1999. Based in the capital Dushanbe, this NGO’s work consists of variety of activities, including monitoring, legal support and capacity building.

One of the main challenges for journalistic work in Tajikistan consists of the constant risk of legal repercussions in response to critical coverage of the powerful. Due to problematic defamation legislation, those wanting to suppress public scrutiny of their affairs often resort to lawsuits against journalists. At the same time, to avoid undesirable coverage, the state frequently puts pressure on uncomfortable journalists by charging them with ostensibly unrelated, fictitious offenses.

This has led to widespread self-censorship among the media.

Nansmit tries to confront this by providing legal counseling and aid to those facing defamation lawsuits and government pressure. To this end, Nansmit runs three mobile legal aid clinics, based in the country’s biggest cities Dushanbe, Khujand, and Kurgan-Tyube. Each consisting of one legal expert and several volunteers, these clinics have successfully defended journalists in several high profile cases. Another important way the organization works to protect journalists from repression, in the context of widespread government surveillance, is to conduct trainings in digital security.

However, where possible, Nansmit also cooperates with state structures to improve the working environment for journalists. One common problem when it comes to reporting on official matters is that state press offices and the country’s courts usually provide little access to information on their activities. Nansmit has been working with these institutions to develop better practices, like allowing for more thorough question periods during official press briefings.

International conference on the issue radicalization, co-organized by Nansmit.

While Nansmit’s main goal is to defend the rights of journalists, they also do not neglect the serious responsibility that comes with the journalist profession. In May 2017, for instance, the organization participated in an interregional initiative that brought together Tajik journalists with their Kyrgyz colleagues to discuss how to cover the frequent conflicts involving the local populations along their common border without inflaming tensions.

One of Nansmit’s main goals for the future is to help establish a country-wide union of journalists.

Though there is apprehension among media professionals to such attempts, due to negative connotations stemming from the Soviet legacy of state control over journalist unions, they hope that existing local unions can be united into a strong independent force for independent journalism in Tajikistan.

Follow Nansmit on facebook (posts in English, Tajik and Russian): @Nansmit.tj or visit their webpage: http://eng.Nansmit.tj/

Some of the literature produced by Nansmit.

Notabene Notabene is one of Tajikistan’s leading non-governmental organizations, working to promote human rights through research, analysis and advocacy.

Compared to its Central Asian neighbors, Tajikistan used to receive little attention from the international community. “Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have been facing widespread international criticism for serious human rights violations, Kazakhstan has received a lot of attention for its global business ambitions and investment potential, and Kyrgyzstan has been seen as a dynamic and interesting country”, Nigina Bakhrieva explains. But in recent years the human rights situation in Tajikistan took a very challenging turn, and the country’s civil society is in great need of international solidarity. “We have managed to attract more international attention to our country – recently the EU passed its first resolution on the human rights situation in Tajikistan and we hope this will translate into a constructive dialogue with the authorities”, Nigina Bakhrieva continues.

In 2009, following many years of managing a different human rights organizations in Tajikistan she had helped establish, Nigina Bakhrieva started Notabene. Rather than providing assistance to victims of human rights violations, their mission is to carry out monitoring and analysis of the situation, to identify the key issues and gaps in legislation, policy and government practice and to advocate on the international level on behalf of Tajikistan’s civil society.

With over 18 years’ experience as a rights defender, Nigina Bakhrieva helps civil society actors and colleagues that work with various vulnerable groups and individuals, express their work through the language of human rights.

For instance, while much work has been done by various actors in Tajikistan on the issues of people with disabilities, it is only recently that this work has been formulated increasingly in terms of rights, rather than in medical or social welfare terms. A similar transition to a more rights focused approach, according to Nigina Bakhrieva, can be observed in the area of sexual and reproductive health. “This is a very important change”, she says.

Civil society actors working directly with marginalized groups of the population, such as sex workers, drug users, or LGBT persons, often face stigmatization by association. However, through partnering with Notabene they are able to contribute to human rights advocacy work without some of the pressure usually associated with their area of work.

Despite these positive developments, Notabene and other civil society actors have been under increasing pressure related to the overall turn in Tajikistan human rights practice. Examples of this type of pressure include negative press NGOs receive in state-owned media, often accusing civil society of subverting moral values and stability. They are also subjected to inspections by various state agencies related to finances and taxes, labour laws, and internal procedures. The frequency of these inspections and lack of clear legal procedures for conducting them puts a great burden on the NGOs, preventing them from focusing on their human rights work.

In this situation, solidarity and close cooperation among civil society organizations is key. Notabene’s office is located in a building that houses many of the country’s top rights groups, allowing them to drop by, and support one another at any moment. One of the greatest examples of this strength in unity is the Coalition against Torture, of which Notabene is an instrumental member.

“We are proud to be a member of the Coalition, which has helped secure compensation for victims of torture and change laws and practice of state agencies in this area” Nigina Bakhrieva says.

Visit the webpage of Notabene for more information: http://www.Notabene.tj/en/

“Say No to Torture” action, 2014

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan – the only country at the heart of Central Asia, neighboring with all the other four Central Asian countries. Its territory is nearly the size of Sweden with vast diverse terrain from Tian Shan Mountains in the southeast and Kyzylkum Desert in the north and fertile lands of the Fergana valley in the east from Kyzylkum.

Uzbekistan is home to more than thirty million people, making up the biggest population of Central Asia. It has a rich history and is known for its historical sites connected to the Silk Road.

The territory of present-day Uzbekistan was conquered by Russia in the late 19th century.

Resistance to the Red Army was eventually suppressed after the Revolution in 1917 and the Uzbek Socialist Republic was established in 1924.

Uzbekistan was the main producer of cotton in the Soviet Union, which was achieved at the cost of water supply depletion that left lands and Aral Sea degraded and dried certain rivers. Churning out white gold (cotton) in Uzbekistan not only created precedent for environmental debilitation, but also for human rights abuse such as forced labor, slavery, child labor and others.

Uzbekistan has gained its independence in 1991 and was ruled by the authoritarian leader, Islam Karimov who was atop of the power since 1989 until his death in 2016. Then the country’s rigid, state-controlled economy was very dependent on exports of cotton, gas and gold. Also, Uzbekistan’s human rights record was atrocious.

It was not only one of ten nations labeled as the “Worst of the Worst” by the Freedom House in 2015, but has received the worst possible score every year since 2006.

In 2016, after the death of Islam Karimov, who ruled the country 25 years, the former Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over the office.

The change of the power gave hope for positive developments in the country and its stagnant economy. He has improved relations with Uzbekistan’s neighbors and introduced wideranging economic, judicial, and social reforms. As a result, its economy was slightly diversified and its dependence on the cotton monoculture was decreased. Also, Shavkat Mirziyoyev improved the country’s appalling human rights record, by liberating political prisoners, loosening the restrictions on free expression and increasing accountability of government institutions to the citizenry. Some journalists are now covering sensitive issues that were previously taboo.

Despite the new president’s attempts to bring about positive changes the country, human rights violations, torture, politically-motivated prosecutions, and forced labor still remain prevalent. Journalists are still persecuted and charged for offences on the freedom of speech.

Area: 447,400 sq km Population: 33,072,099 Date of independence: September 1, 1991 Capital: Tashkent Ethnic groups: Uzbek (81 %), Russian (5 %) and Tajik (4 %) Religion: Islam (90% of the population)

The strict laws regarding the registration of NGOs are loosened and have given more freedom to conduct their activities; yet, tedious administrative procedures requiring a record of organizations’ each activity are still in place.

The new government removed 16,000 names from a blacklist list containing 17,000 people suspected for religious extremism raising hopes for religious liberty in Uzbekistan. Yet, the current administration seems reluctant to lift stringent religious restrictions introduced by the previous government as it continues to detain and imprison individuals for expressing their beliefs on religious matters.

Women in Uzbekistan are denied their fundamental right to be free from violence.

Current legal, economic, and social structures prevent women from receiving protection and appropriate services for domestic violence crimes. The absence of law on domestic violence causes inappropriate prosecution of such cases and indicates a lack of acknowledgement of the severeness of the problem by the government.

LGBT+ community is subjected to severe discrimination and homophobia. Consensual sexual relations between men are criminalized, with a maximum prison sentence of three years.

It is often reported that police use blackmail and extortion against gay men, threatening to out or imprison them.

Ilkhom When Ilkhom Theatre first opened its doors in 1976, it was the Soviet Union’s only independent theatre. Since Uzbekistan became independent this institution of Tashkent’s cultural scene has remained a hub for critical and high quality creative production, and continues to attract theatre lovers from across the region.

The late Mark Weil, founder of Ilkhom, in the theatre’s lobby.

Back in the Soviet days, the Uzbek capital of Tashkent was a good place for creative minds who wanted to push the strict limits imposed by the state. The Kremlin was far away, and the bureaucrats in Moscow were less aware of what was happening in the plains of Central Asia.

So, in 1976, at the height of the Brezhnev era stagnation, a young director named Mark Weil decided to do what seemed impossible: with a group of local drama graduates he founded the first independent Soviet theatre. Ilkhom Theatre quickly became legendary across the country: Its unique and daring productions, often dealing with sensitive political and social topics, attracted theatre enthusiast from as far as Moscow and St Petersburg. The long corridor leading to the theatre’s main stage is still covered in countless messages of love and admiration, scribbled there by its many fans over the years.

Much has changed since then. When the Soviet Union was dissolved, many former Soviet states developed a thriving and independent cultural scene, while independent Uzbekistan remains an authoritarian regime. Today, Ilkhom Theatre is the still the only independent theatre in Uzbekistan.

But despite all odds, Ilkhom is still going strong, even after suffering the most tragic imaginable loss: in 2007, Ilkhom’s founder and director Mark Weil was murdered, according to officials, by religious fundamentalists upset about his work.

“Mark Weil was an innovative mastermind, and a true patriot of Tashkent. His death was a tragedy,” Nikita Makarenko, one of Ilkhom’s staff musicians explains. “He was irreplaceable, really, and many thought that without him Ilkhom would have to close its doors,” Nikita remembers, “but Ilkhom kept going, and is continuing his work.”

The word “Ilkhom” is Uzbek for “inspiration”.

Since 2011, this has been meant to include other art forms as well, and today Ilkhom is home to musicians and visual artists too. The venue is a veritable hub for Tashkent’s independent and creative spirits. The audience of the frequently sold out performances typically consists of people of all ages.

But while Ilkhom is supported by a dedicated community of friends, it is still struggling. Though the government generally tolerates the freespirited atmosphere there, some plays have previously had to be adapted to pacify state bureaucrats displeased by offensive language they featured. Financing is also a challenge. Since Ilkhom gets no funding from the government, most of its staff hold other jobs to make a living. In addition, the ongoing emigration of Uzbekistan’s Russian diaspora eats away at Ilkhom’s core group of fans, many of whom are ethnic Russians.

Ilkhom Theatre, in Tashkent.

Despite the many challenges, Nikita is optimistic.

“There are now several really strong creative collectives, trying to out-do one another. This has led to really big audiences, and helps us financially”, he says.

“If you want to do your thing, get productive creatively, without having to deal with a lot of bureaucracy, this is the place to be”, Nikita Makarenko concludes.

Over the years, fans have left their mark on the walls of Ilkhom Theatre.

Follow Ilkhom Theatre on facebook (posts in English, Uzbek and Russian): @ilkhom.theatre or visit their webpage: http://ilkhom.com/en

Upcoming shows.

The Hayot Centre An organization that believes in an inclusive society as a tool for development and positive change.

Numerous circumstances influence the living conditions of persons with special needs. Legal protection is crucial, yet people’s perceptions and attitudes can affect their lives immensely. Social factors such as ignorance, neglect, and fear aggravate the isolation of persons with special needs. “Many families hide their children with special needs because they are seen as bringing “shame” to the whole family,” says the director of the Center, Rano Khalilova while emphasizing the role of organizations like Hayot.

The Hayot Centre has been working since 1999 to increase public awareness about the lives of people with special needs and altering narratives about them in mass media. Cases of ill-treatment and marginalization persist in all spheres of children’s lives. Some schools refuse to accept children with minor difficulties to see or hear. With the help of the project funded by the European Union, the Centre managed to transfer 136 children with similar minor conditions from special schools to public schools in Samarkand.

Promoting inclusive education is one of the main missions of the Centre. To achieve this, “it is imperative to work with teachers, first to deconstruct their stereotypes about children with special needs, then to equip them with the necessary skills to create supportive and respectful learning environments in their classrooms,’’ adds Rano Khalilova. Therefore, the Centre have involved over 100 teachers in such workshops.

Besides involving children with special needs in formal learning, the Centre encourages them to engage in extracurricular activities offered by a local artistic development centre for children. There, they can discover their interests and unleash their abilities and talents. Most importantly, these activities allow the children to build their self-esteem and self-worth.

Children with special needs are in some families treated differently than other children. They receive less attention, poorer upbringing, and less encouragement than others. Considering this, the Centre created a Parent’s Club to create a platform for families to support each other and share advice and experiences. The Center also organizes seminars with specialists to help parents better communicate with their children and to understand their needs.

Children playing games at the artistic development centre.

All these activities are run by 12 active members who are full-time employees at other institutions and who are involved in the organization on a voluntary basis because they are convinced that

“Inclusive society is a great power!” *Here children are considered all individuals below 18 years of age.

Staff member Rano Khalilova with participant Buned. Buned aspires to become a builder and enjoys watching houses being built.

Children and parents playing: “Find your mom’s hand!”

A walk in park organized by Hayot’s Parent Club.

Nemolchi.UZ A volunteer-run online initiative with a mission to raise awareness and highlight the problem of gender based violence in Uzbekistan. The project was created independently, but later the founder came across existing initiatives with the same name “Nemolchi” in Kazakhstan and also in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The name “Nemolchi” in Russian means “Don’t stay quiet” thus encouraging women to speak up. Although they are all separate projects, they have created a network in order to exchange ideas and experiences

Until recently, there were no statistics available on domestic violence in Uzbekistan. A country where society is characterized by patriarchy, violence at home remains to be a private matter.

The absence of national legislation proscribing gender-based violence, in particular, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment leaves women vulnerable to violence, unprotected and silent when it happens.

To give voice to the women who are victims of violence, the founder of the project “Nemolchi.

UZ”, Irina Mativienko, created a social platform for women to share, learn and support each other. The initial idea of the project was to draw attention to and inform the public of the existing gender-based violence in Uzbekistan.

“Globally I have observed an increased discussion about violence towards women.

However, in Uzbekistan, once in a few months, a media article is published on a resonant case that shocks the public but fails to point out the issues linked to gender-based violence. Yet violence happens every day, and it is all around us” says Irina Matvienko.

Since open discussions on domestic violence were still socially stigmatized in Uzbekistan, Irina decided to remain anonymous for the project’s first six months. Only after the president himself publicly acknowledged the problem of domestic violence in the country, did she feel safe to disclose her name. She started by sharing stories from the Internet connected to Uzbekistan and articles on issues of violence. It took some time until a group of somewhat informed followers who knew about concepts such as sexism and victim-blaming was formed.

Once at the beginning of the project, a woman listed point by point all the situations of sexual assaults she had faced in the past. It was such a comprehensive list that some of the group started commenting that “if all of this happened to her, she must have provoked them”. This case prompted the page administrator to establish strict rules about disparaging and criticizing individuals sring their stories, though they are anonymous. In every post it is stated if the author wants suggestions or to receive support. In the case of the former, the hashtag “sovet” (advice) is used. The page administrators actively monitor comments and immediately remove those who violate the rules. This allowed people to keenly engage in conversations in the group and sometimes share their own stories openly under their names.

Previously girls and women used to send stories to the page through Facebook, and now they can share their stories completely anonymously through an online form with only one box to fill out. This drastically increased the number of stories received by the Nemolchi project.

Hundreds of stories were submitted. A group of the project’s volunteer editors note that some stories date back to the Soviet times, and they believe that sharing experiences, even online, can sometimes have a therapeutic effect.

The work of NGOs is highly regulated in Uzbekistan despite minor reformations in this sector by the second president who assumed office in 2016. Hence Irina Matvienko wants to register the initiative as a mass media organization because she believes media outlets are less controlled. In addition, she wants to open a website and create content in Uzbek to accommodate non-Russian speakers and to have a bigger outreach. Both of these plans will require funding, something which is hard to receive in Uzbekistan.

It was for this reason that she created a platform by opening a Facebook page in July 2017 despite not having registered as an organization. She knows from experience the arduous administrative barriers one is faced with when trying to establish a non-governmental organization in Uzbekistan.

Irina Matvienko is the founder of Nemolchi as well as a member of the National Commission to Combat Human Trafficking and Forced Labor.

International solidarity among Irina Matvienko and a fellow Joyce Godio who have been furthering their knowledge in Human Rights.

Time of Wonders One of the biggest youth movements in Uzbekistan, supporting young people to initiate their own volunteer projects and providing them with a network and a platform to meet volunteers from different parts of the world. The volunteer’s initiatives are often responsive to current issues and topics vary, one volunteer implemented a project to help the areas affected by the pressing Aral Sea crisis.

Students brainstorming ways to preserve the environment in their communities.

The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest freshwater lake located between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south, is one of the world’s major ecological disasters. The water which runs from the two rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, pooled together to form the lake, was diverted to transform the surrounding desert area into cotton farms and other crops under agricultural policies introduced during the Soviet Union. The irrigation system devastated the Aral Sea, leaving only a 10th of its original size and splitting the lake into two. On the Uzbek side, the east has dried up and only a strip of water remains in the west. Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in Uzbekistan, is the region most affected by the devastating environmental consequences caused by the Aral Sea crisis. The effects of water depletion are also visible in the Khorezm region at the Aral Sea Basin which is highly dependent on water from the Amu Darya river. The water in the region is contaminated with high levels of minerals and toxins, which have a negative impact on the health of the local population.

Time of Wonders believe in the importance of networking, both nationally and internationally and therefore enable and encourage their participants to engage in events such as the Forum for Volunteers in Moscow. Azam, a local activist attended this exact forum, where he was surprised to meet Robert, a foreigner who is knowledgeable and concerned about the Aral Sea Crisis. Never having engaged in environmental efforts before, Azam was not only encouraged to implement a project together with Robert from the World Aral Region Charity but also inspired to continue the work in tackling environmental challenges in Uzbekistan.

From across the ocean, they continue to discuss sustainable solutions to the problems caused by the Aral Sea Crisis, and ways to fundraise money and realize their ideas. Despite some challenges, It was possible to receive donations from the United States as well as to fundraise money locally in Uzbekistan through payment systems such as Click and Payme, where the local population could donate using the hashtag help2aral. From the total amount raised, they installed a drip line irrigation system to establish water efficiency. In addition, three Reverse Osmosis filters to clean salinized water were set up near schools to prevent anemia, which is widespread among rural children. Every schoolchild and low-income families receive 2 liters of clean water a day. The rest of the population can purchase water for 50 Uzbek soms (0,005 Euros), which is below the market price. This payment plan was developed to ensure sustainability and a local NGO is entrusted to coordinate and maintain the upkeep of the filters.

Volunteer Azam speaking to students in the Khorezm region.

Activities raising pupil’s environmental awareness at a school in Khorezm.

The educational program was another significant element of the project. Like in other Central Asian countries, the population’s ecological awareness is very limited. Hence, it aimed to empower both rural and urban youth and to unify their advocacy for the improvement of ecological situation both regionally and nationally. The advocacy efforts took place in schools in Khorezm and Karakalpakstan. Azam sees the need for a common platform for young people engaged in environmental activism so that they connect, exchange ideas and support each other.

Furthermore, he is grateful for the opportunities that he has received from Time of Wonders and is excited about his future ambition to establishing his own non-governmental organization working with eco volunteerism.

Schoolchildren picturing their lives without the Aral Sea’s water depletion.

Eco NGO Zarafshan ECO NGO Zarafshan comprises a group of environmental experts and volunteers based in the UNESCO Heritage City of Samarkand.

A work plan is being created for volunteers at the Samarkand State University’s Faculty of Biology.

A decade after independence, Uzbekistan was no longer at the state of shock and adaptation from the breakup of the Soviet Union. The priorities for the country had been set , and evidently, ecological research was not one of them. Even the laboratory, where scientists studied surface water pollution from mercury, arsenic, and antimony, stopped receiving government funding.

An excursion to the bank of the Zarafshan River in order to collect samples and run analyses on the quality of water.

A workshop with rural residents within the project “Restoration of tugai forests in the Zarafshan River Valley - potential for preserving the region’s biodiversity”.

Following this, a group of the laboratory’s experts united and registered an organization under the name of “Zarafshan” in 2002. The co-founder and director of the organization, Gauhar Deusheva, has since 1989 been researching the animals and plants affected by heavy metal pollution in the Zarafshan area, which inspired the name for the organization. Zarafshan is a city in the center of the Novoiy region and it is known as “the gold capital of Uzbekistan”. Zarafshan is also translated from Persian as the “spreader of gold”. The area includes Zarafshan National Park and Zarafshan River, which especially attract environmental experts working to preserve the country’s nature.

Naturally, the first project of the organization took place in Zarafshan. The organization’s experts conducted a chemical analysis of the water and soil and established a practice of independent monitoring of Zarafshan. The findings were published in the form of a toolkit with recommendations and seminars on ecological monitoring were held for students and professors. Seminars of this kind and other educational initiatives are frequently held by the organization in an attempt to increase environmental awareness on a regional and national level. Although a majority of the organization’s activities are implemented around the city of Zarafshan region, they also have projects in Samarkand, where they have their base.

Samarkand is known worldwide for its mausoleums, mosques and its Silk Road legacy, but little is said about its scenic mountains, wide valleys and thick tugai forests, which are home to different fauna and a unique flora. Therefore, ECO NGO Zarafshan implemented a project to promote ecotourism in the Samarkand region.

Ecotourism is the practice of responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to explore and discover the natural beauty and attend cultural attractions which ensure the general principles of environmental sustainability.

The first principle is to opt for an environmentally friendly means of transportation. Other principles include ways in which the traveler can reuse and reduce their usage of energy and water and thus cause minimal to no damage to the environment. The goal of the project is to coordinate and encourage the usage of natural and cultural resources, while acknowledging the importance of preserving them. Ecotourism also contributes to the financial well-being of the area allowing locals to continue the maintenance and preservation of nature. In order to promote Ecotourism, ECO NGO Zarafshan also publishes booklets, brochures and conducts seminars in the Samarkand region.

School children are being taught about medicinal plants.

A project manager and a coordinator are using a GPS to determine the boundaries of a project’s territory.

Rahmdillik The only women’s shelter in the Samarkand region for victims of domestic violence. The organization is guided by the slogan “Life without violence - is life in harmony”.

Some women who have been exposed to domestic violence turn to self-immolation, as a suicidal protest, known mainly as the act of setting fire to oneself. The exact numbers are unknown and most cases are disguised as accidents, but according to a burn specialist, Bibisora Oripova, the suicide attempts are clear and the consequences for survivors are horrifying.

Families turn away from many of the women who have attempted to commit suicide, leaving them vulnerable and increasing the likelihood of relapse. In order to help women in such difficult situations, Bibisora Oripova, established a rehabilitation center called “Umid” in 1998, which was reregistered as “Rahmidillik” in 2006.

The women seeking refuge at the shelter are not only offered a safe place for themselves and their children but also receive legal, psychological, medical and educational help. To better assist women in need of medical aid, the organization in partnership with the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and other donors have built a twofloor medical center with an operating room.

Women and children undergo medical checkups and sometimes receive free reconstructive surgeries at hospitals. The organization is also engaging other local medical centers and training their staff to increase their capacity to help women who are the victims of domestic violence.

The number of places in the shelter kept increasing from 6 to 16 to 30. At the same time, the organization’s work has also become more accepted in society as more women started sharing their positive experiences of rehabilitation. This shift in people’s perception has contributed to the betterment of the organization’s relations with the local municipality. Initially, it was difficult for Rahmdillik to receive permission for establishment from the local municipality, since they viewed it as a place where women were incited to revolt against the government. Over time, the organization showed its real societal impact and is currently working closely with the local municipality and committees to raise awareness of domestic abuse.

Besides its efforts to help victims of domestic violence, Rahmdillik attempts to address the root causes of domestic violence in its prevention activities. Its staff leads talks about gender, stigma, discrimination, and tolerance in mahallas (a closely knitted form of neighborhood community), and establishes legal-social support offices in mahalla committees representing neighborhoods with high rates of domestic violence. To challenge stereotypes about women, Rahmdillik selects a group of women for their leadership program, where the participants undertake computer classes, language courses, entrepreneurship and professional training.

This also allows women to start their own small businesses, become independent and to further promote social and economic gender equality in their communities.