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Kyrgyz students returning from India to apply their knowledge in population and development in their own country BISHKEK, 16 February 2006 – Two university students from Kyrgyzstan returned from their 9-months long diploma course in population studies in India. They were fully funded by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, with the objective of increasing the number of specialists in population and development in the Kyrgyz Republic. The students attended classes at the International Institute of Population Sciences in Mumbai. “I learned so much”, Alina Sulaimanova, one of the selected students, said. The topics ranged from statistics to maternal mortality, fertility and migration. “The accent was put on technical knowledge and it went quite in-depth”, Gulzada Usupova, the other student, underlined. Both students also had to complete final research papers on an issue of relevance to their country of origin. UNFPA selected the girls at the beginning of 2005 and provided funds for their academic fees, travel and living expenses. “This programme is very important to build the local capacity in population and development”, Lesia Nedulzhko, UNFPA Population and Development Adviser, said. “Kyrgyzstan really lacks professionals in this crucial branch for the sustainable development of the country”, she added. The students had an opportunity to visit various institutes and organizations around India during a study tour organized by the Institute. “India is really advanced in this field of study”, Gulzada noted, “we were able to witness all the differences that exist across the subcontinent, and how the situation differs from what we know in Kyrgyzstan”. "This was an inspiring experience and made us understand a lot about population and development in practice”, Alina added. A requirement of the UNFPA scholarship is for both students to teach what they have learnt in a Kyrgyz university for one year. They will then be able to move on to other projects: “I want to do a Masters in population and development and I want to do it in India”, Alina said. “And ultimately, I hope that this knowledge will be beneficial to Kyrgyzstan”. For more information, contact us!
8 March 2006 – International Women’s Day Read the statement of Thoraya Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director, and visit the official website. Read the interview of Carlos Zaccagnini, UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic a.i.: Zaccagnini: The world that men inherited and gender inequality By Elena Chadova, TCA correspondent BISHKEK (TCA). “The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – the role of women in decision-making – is central to the advancement of women around the world, and to the progress of humankind as a whole,” wrote Kofi Annan in his address, published on the UN website for March 8. In the spirit of the UN Secretary-General’s message, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan (a.i.), Carlos Zaccagnini, describes to TCA his vision of a world, equally shared by men and women. His remarks come after the year, in which Kyrgyzstan saw a U-turn in the country’s struggle for gender equality: No woman has been elected to the Kyrgyz parliament and only few serve the republic at the ministerial level. Q: Could you share with us some highlights of the Secretary-General’s message for the International Women’s Day? A: The statement of the Secretary-General highlights, as the theme for tomorrow, the issue of decision-making. The women’s movement for equal rights has a long history. However, the issue of decision-making comes at a particularly appropriate time. As you probably know, the women’s movement has transited from what has been called ‘women in development’ to what is currently called ‘gender in development’. So the issue at present is no longer one is addressing women’s issues and implementing women’s projects, but it is more about seeing in the world of today women and men sharing power. In terms of power, be it economic, social, military, political, although we have now over a hundred years of women’s struggle, it must be said that a lot has been achieved, but a lot more needs to be achieved. As an echo of the achievements, the Secretary-General highlights that today there are 11 women Heads of State or Government in the world. He also highlights that, in terms of equality, for example, of members of parliament, only three countries have achieved this goal. I may add, not ironically, that Kyrgyzstan is not one of them. I think these two examples reflect well the Secretary-General’s message that so much more needs to be done. The world of the economic and financial power, for instance, in multinational corporations, is void of women chief executives. Likewise for the armed forces of sovereign nations, women generals are very scarce. This is the essence of the UN’s message for tomorrow [March 8]. That is, we need together, men and women, to work for more women in decision-making positions across sectors and countries.” Q: Last year in Kyrgyzstan, we have seen the reversal in the positive trends regarding women’s empowerment. Why do you think this happened? A: I’m not sure I have the answers, but I do understand that this surprises and shocks many people, particularly following the March revolution last year. At the root of the problem, I suppose, is the issue of education and, perhaps, cultural values. However it is indeed surprising that in Kyrgyzstan, after over 15 years of independence and what may be seen as strong civil society, women are conspicuously missing from positions of power. Q: Some people suggest establishing a quota for women, say, in the parliament. Would this approach solve the problem? A: I believe, personally and institutionally, that this is a way forward. It has, of course, constraints and flaws, but, generally, this issue of quotas has been seen as a positive tool in reaching the goal of gender equality. In this regard, the linked concept of positive discrimination can help in selecting women candidates in order to attain this equality. That is in fact the tool that the United Nations utilizes for the recruitment of its own staff. And, of course, the countries that I mentioned earlier, which attained the gender equality in parliament, have used this tool. This is not to suggest that quotas are a fixed-form formula, but you have to start somewhere. Q: What is the UN planning to do to deal with gender inequality issues worldwide? A: You are probably familiar with the UN’s vision of the world’s development, the Millenium Development Goals. In this vision, gender equality is prominent in all the aspects of the strategy. So, at least, on the theoretical side, the UN is ensuring that whatever objectives it sets, they would be, as it is said, gender mainstreaming. This basically means that they would go for quotas, for positive discrimination, for ways in which to empower women. Of course, it is important that the UN leads the efforts to empower women. However, ultimately, the issue is also left to sovereign countries to address. Sovereign countries that elect women to power, at the top-most, presidential, level, or the parliament, are showing the way and are putting the issue of gender equality up-front. It is one hundred years ago that the first women parliamentarians were elected to office in Finland; yet, one hundred years later, we see that in Kyrgyzstan there are no women parliamentarians. I may add, in the spirit of self-criticism, that the UN itself does not do a very good job in achieving gender equality within its own staff. You will note that we have not had women Secretary-Generals, and at the level of Assistant Secretary-Generals and top-most Directors of the UN, gender equality has not been achieved. It is at mid-management level that the UN is faring rather well in terms of achieving equality. So, to go back to the question itself, I think that the UN’s bodies, mechanisms, plans, statements, and resolutions are helpful. But a more vigorous effort at the national level of the sovereign countries is required to achieve more concrete results. Q: If we do the positive discrimination of women, wouldn’t men object to the corresponding negative discrimination against men? A: This, I think, is a very important issue, which hits the very heart of the matter. This is the reason why women’s struggle for gender equality has gone from, what I mentioned earlier, its emphasis on women to the new emphasis, which brings in the question on gender. The emphasis on women has a number of shortcomings, which have now been well documented. Gender research has now shown that unless men are involved in the cause and struggle for women’s rights, the movement will not progress much. One tragic example of this is the issue of sexual and gender-based violence. It is clearly seen that just assisting women, be it legally or otherwise, will not solve the problem of domestic violence or the more general gender-based violence that we see across the world. For this reason, a new study within the gender research has begun, which, for the lack of a better word, is called ‘masculinities.’ ‘Masculinities’ is a trend in the gender movement that seeks to unmask men’s violence and put it squarely into the education process of men from birth, through childhood, youth and adulthood, rather then through focusing on men’s violence as a biological and natural deficiency or urge. Gender is about the roles that men and women play in the society. In ex-socialist republics, like Kyrgyzstan, I think due to the education that you have received it is easier to understand and to conceive that what we are, is what we have been taught after our mothers have delivered us to this world. This is crucial because the conclusion is that men’s violence is socially induced. ‘Masculinities’ is about having men realize that the roles they play are very convenient because they rely on the perpetuation of men’s power; that gender inequality in today’s world is perpetuated by men, and the structures and institutions that have been in the society. So it is men, Kyrgyz men, MPs and politicians that have to realize that it is very cozy for them in the world they have inherited, through education and social setting. Until men do realize that they are responsible for the unequal world in which we live, we will not make a substantial progress, because, what is required now is for us [men] to change, rather than anything else. Q: Some fear that if too much priority is assigned to women, we will have to live in the world of matriarchy.A: What we need is a world where, as in the parliament of Sweden, or Chile, or Spain today, there are 50% women and 50% men. What we want is to share the world, its riches and its problems, and work together to overcome these problems. It is my personal conviction that the gender struggle is the last and most significant struggle of humanity in its course of evolution. For more information, contact us!
15 February 2006 – Premiere of the TV serial Love as a Test on KOORT Read our special feature on the TV serial and visit the official website. For more information, contact us!
UNFPA international expert training local health workers on reproductive health in emergency situations BISHKEK, 13 February 2006 – From February 7 to 10, UNFPA brought its special expertise of reproductive health to local health workers from disaster-prone zones in Jalal-Abad and Osh Oblasts. 35 people from various institutions, including representatives of the Ministry of Ecology and Emergency Situations, received an in-depth training on medical and social skills for reproductive health in emergencies.
"One of the significant results of the training was the joint development of recommendations on reproductive health services for vulnerable groups residing in dangerous areas”, Cholpon Asambaeva, Senior Adviser on Reproductive Health said. “These recommendations will be used in UNFPA contingency plan and shared with government structures”. According to the Ministry of Ecology and Emergency Situations, 57 persons died, 500 houses were destroyed and 6’000 families need to be resettled to safer areas in 2005 due to natural disasters, mainly in the South of the country.
“It is vital to emphasize the importance of providing reproductive health information and services from the very beginning of crises and on the stage of emergency preparedness”. For more information, contact us! UNFPA launches new materials on sexual and reproductive health for young people BISHKEK, 31 January 2006 – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, launched last week a series of informational materials on sexual and reproductive health destined to young people.
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