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Women decision-makers from Central Asia meet to discuss legal reform
DUSHANBE 19 November 2001
DUSHANBE, 19 November 2001 - A two-day international conference on the role of women in legal reform in three of the States of Central Asia and Russia was held on 15 and 16 November in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
The forum was staged on the initiative of the Tajik League of Women Lawyers and a group of deputies of the Tajik Parliament, with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Open Society Institute Dushanbe and the OSCE Mission to Tajikistan.
The forum passed a resolution calling for the promotion of a larger number of women to legislative bodies and executives at all levels with the prospect of engaging women in developing and implementing state and local policy.
"The obstacles for women to become fully-fledged participants in the political decision-making process at all levels should be removed from the current legislation", it reads. The resolution also points to the need to unify and modernize current legislation on issues like protection of family rights, equal employment opportunities, women's rights at the workplace and protection of health and motherhood.
With reference to international commitments and documents on women rights, the resolution further urges governments to take the necessary steps and adopt concrete programmes implementing their obligations to pursue an active gender policy.
"The resolution will be presented to our respective governments in the next couple of days", announced Qanoat Hamidova, chairwoman of the Tajik League of Women Lawyers, at the press conference following the event.
The conference attracted more than 60 leading women decision-makers and representatives of civil society from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The participants agreed to continue with these fruitful discussions and convene a similar forum next year.
The forum was staged on the initiative of the Tajik League of Women Lawyers and a group of deputies of the Tajik Parliament, with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Open Society Institute Dushanbe and the OSCE Mission to Tajikistan.
The forum passed a resolution calling for the promotion of a larger number of women to legislative bodies and executives at all levels with the prospect of engaging women in developing and implementing state and local policy.
"The obstacles for women to become fully-fledged participants in the political decision-making process at all levels should be removed from the current legislation", it reads. The resolution also points to the need to unify and modernize current legislation on issues like protection of family rights, equal employment opportunities, women's rights at the workplace and protection of health and motherhood.
With reference to international commitments and documents on women rights, the resolution further urges governments to take the necessary steps and adopt concrete programmes implementing their obligations to pursue an active gender policy.
"The resolution will be presented to our respective governments in the next couple of days", announced Qanoat Hamidova, chairwoman of the Tajik League of Women Lawyers, at the press conference following the event.
The conference attracted more than 60 leading women decision-makers and representatives of civil society from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The participants agreed to continue with these fruitful discussions and convene a similar forum next year.