The first activity in the Project developed the capacity of the four law faculties in the country to encourage the development of analytical and communication skills among their female law students. In the first week 16 professors from the country’s law faculties received training from visiting international professionals, and then the trained professors and visiting law professors led a five-day co-training session for 18 female law students from around the country. This provided a nurturing environment for the students to gain valuable skills and openly communicate about their experiences as young women in the country. Kibriyo Roziqova, fourth year student of Dangara State University, said, “I am so excited and grateful that I was able to take advantage of this opportunity for the first time, and hope to participate in the related training in the nearest future as they will definitely allow us to make a positive impact in our community.”

The program concluded with a mentoring event hosted by visiting American Law professor Danya Reda where young women shared with the professor their career ambitions, and candidly discussed gender stereotypes that prevent Tajik women from pursuing legal careers after law school. The audience, which included family members of the training participants and deans and law faculty, was pleasantly surprised by the how confidently young women from areas far away from Dushanbe spoke in public following the training. 

The activity also shed light on the barriers to gender equality in Tajikistan. During the training, the participants described that the main barriers preventing them from participating in similar initiatives to boost their career prospects were lack of trust, safety concerns, and cultural norms. The digital communications gap was also revealed as several did not have access to the Internet or even mobile phones.  

The second activity under the Project was a digital skills training for female law students at the Dangara State University when the academic year started in September. This event contributed to narrowing the digital gender gap by equipping 45 female university students in Dangara with essential digital knowledge and skills empowering them to be competitive candidates in the justice sector job market. The majority of the female law students were attending this type of training for the first time, and they had no idea how to use basic IT equipment apart from smartphones.

Recognizing that with access to digital technology comes concerns for contemporary challenges in the online space, the two-day training also included a separate session on how to handle with misinformation and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is reportedly a serious issue in Tajikistan and women and other vulnerable communities are the main victims of cyberbullying and misinformation.