Bishkek, February 1, 2022 – One in four women experiences domestic violence (Demographic and Medical Survey, 2012) and harassment in the workplace (Kyrgyz Association of Women Judges, 2019). Domestic violence has become more violent and aggressive; and often ends in killing the victim, crisis center representatives say. Investigative journalists and statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs prove that women suffer from their husbands or in-laws. 96 percent of reported cases of domestic violence were committed by men.

Today experienced gender experts Rimma Sultanova and Myrzash Shabdanbekova introduced the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) approach for the teaching staff of state universities with the support of the Joint EU-UN Spotlight Initiative together with the Public Foundation “Education for Community Development." Earlier, this methodology was successfully tested in Kyrgyzstan and showed its effective results in changing attitudes and perceptions towards the problem of gender-based violence (GBV) and inequality.

The Kyrgyz State Law University, the Kyrgyz National University named after. J. Balasagyn and Osh State University were selected as pilot beneficiary universities.

Upon the results of this workshop, a group of educators will integrate gender equality in the learning process and introduce the issues of prevention of gender-based violence in the training modules of law schools.

Kynatbek Smanaliev, Dean of the Faculty of Law at J. Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, noted: "We must make efforts to jointly develop a teaching manual and integrate values into the educational process in order to convey to students that violence, torture is not acceptable and violates the constitutional rights of citizens." 

The training is aimed at increasing the gender sensitivity of university teachers and shaping their values and behaviors based on gender equality. Participants will learn from February 1 to 2 and from February 24 to 25. 

Nurai Mamytova, coordinator of the Spotlight Initiative project, noted: “This is the first-of-its-kind experience when gender aspects are holistically integrated into the higher education system of the Kyrgyz Republic. To ensure the sustainability of the results, it is important for us to work at the value level, changing the personal attitudes and perception of teachers towards gender-based violence, so that further they become active agents of change to promote gender equality agenda in the educational ecosystem.”

In addition to learning about gender sensitivity, teachers will provide their curricula for anti-discrimination and gender expertise in order to promote equal rights and opportunities for men and women in the Kyrgyz Republic.

About the Joint EU-UN Spotlight initiative

In January 2020, in partnership with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, the EU and the UN launched a multi-year country program under the global Spotlight Initiative to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The goal of the program is to create an environment where all women and girls in Kyrgyzstan, especially the most vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and ‘ala kachuu’. The programme includes a set of integrated measures in the field of policy and legislation, strengthening institutions, preventing violence, providing services to victims of violence, collecting quality data and supporting the women's movement and civil society. The program is implemented by five UN agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF and UNODC) under the overall supervision of the UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Media contacts

Ainagul Abdrakhmanova

Head of Communications, UNDP

ainagul.abdrakhmanova@undp.org

+996 770 183493