UN Women Tajikistan Hosts Open Day for Peace Dialogue, Offering a Platform for Women Leaders to Share Experiences, Best Practices, and Solutions

The event featured two sessions, with presentations from representatives of government entities, UN agencies, and civil society organizations. Over 50 participants attended, including representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Committee for Women and Family Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Committee on Youth and Sports, as well as women activists, experts, and international partners.

The International Day of Peace was declared by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1981 as a Day devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, became the first linking the status of women in conflicts with the agenda of international peace and security. UN Security Council relevant resolutions affirm the vital role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response, and post conflict recovery. These resolutions also contain recommendations to take specific measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence. UN Women practices an annual dialogue at the national, regional, and global levels to support women peace activists to voice their views and priorities regarding peacebuilding, conflict prevention and resolution and to link to global dialogue on peace and security to address root causes of conflict and crisis emerge.

The opening session began with a speech by the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan, Ms. Parvathy Ramaswami, who emphasised: “Promoting women’s participation in political and economic affairs is crucial for addressing modern challenges and ensuring security, as their involvement leads to sustainable peacebuilding outcomes. However, women’s underrepresentation in peace processes reflects the broader issue of gender inequality in leadership roles, indicating that no country has yet achieved gender equality, which undermines the rights of half of humanity.”

The Head of UN Women in Tajikistan, Ms. Malika Jurakulova, officially opened the sessions and welcomed the participants to the event: “For example, analyses of around 40 peace processes since the end of the Cold War shows that when women's groups exercised a strong influence at the negotiation table, there was a much higher chance that an agreement would be reached than when women exercised weak or no influence at all. In the situations when women had strong influence, an agreement was almost always reached.”

 The event facilitated discussions on key topics, including:

• a current progress, the implementation gaps and challenges as well as emerging trends and priorities for action to enforce efficiently WPS commitments in the national and local levels;
• emerging priorities for a future WPS policy;
• addressing women’s views and priorities, including for meaningful participation in decision-making to promote peace, security and development in line with a New Agenda for Peace;
• enhancing the role of women in building trust, reconciliation, and gender responsive diplomacy to promote peace and security in Central Asia.

“Advocacy for peace should be a constant endeavor, particularly among the youth in all regions and districts. Many of them do not recall the horrors of the Civil War that we once endured.”- said, Ms. Guljahon Bobosadikova, Gender Expert.

“The issue of Women, Peace, and Security has been significant for Tajikistan since the Civil War years. Today, it has gained even more relevance due to ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world. The role of women in this issue is undeniably crucial, given women constitute half of the population.”- shared, Ms. Marhabo Olimi, Gender Expert.

In the second session of the Open Dialogue, Ms. Nargis Azizova, Policy Advisor for Governance, Peace, and Security at the UN Women ECA Office, delivered a presentation titled “Moving from 'Business as Usual' in Women, Peace, and Security National Policies to Address Emerging Priorities and Opportunities.”

“Human rights and gender equality are integral to conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding. They are not separate issues but are deeply interconnected. They are at the heart of efforts to build a peaceful and inclusive society and ignoring these aspects can risk perpetuating the root causes of conflict and hinder the path towards peace.” - emphasized, Ms. Nargis Azizova, Policy Advisor for Governance, Peace, and Security at the UN Women ECA Office.

At the conclusion of the event, a summary of key discussion outcomes and agreed recommendations was compiled and shared with all participants.

For further details, please refer to the following documents related to Women, Peace, and Security (WPS):

⮚         A New Agenda for Peace;
⮚         Women’s participation in peacebuilding. Report of the Secretary-General ;
⮚         Latest UNSG report on WPS;
⮚         National Strategy and Action Plan of the Republic of Tajikistan on Countering Terrorism and Extremism for 2021 – 2025.

For further details, please contact: Davroni Davronzoda, National Communication Consultant, E-mail: davroni.davronzoda@unwomen.org.