LocationsAcross Tajikistan, more young women are becoming advocates, contributing to a 6% increase in licensed women advocates in the country — an important step towards closing the gender gap in law. For Nafisa and Firuza, it meant finding the courage to stand in court and support women seeking justice.
Young Women Lawyers Drive a 6% Increase in Women Advocates in Tajikistan
March 25, 2026
Firuza Ubaydullozoda (in red) engages in group work during the Fellowship Programme, turning legal theory into practice alongside fellow participants.
UNDP Tajikistan
Nafisa Giyosova, 29, is a mother to a seven-year-old daughter from the remote Konibodom district in northern Tajikistan. Married young, she worked as a mathematics teacher at a local high school and lived with her in-laws, as many Tajik women do. When her marriage came to an end — a difficult turning point — Nafisa began reshaping her future with resilience and determination.
“I am grateful to my past,” Nafisa says. “The difficulties I went through pushed me out of my comfort zone. They awakened my determination to stand up for women’s rights.”
As she navigated her own struggle, Nafisa realised how many women around her were living in silence — facing injustice without information, support, or access to legal protection. She wanted to change that, not only for herself, but for others like her.
Determined to transform her life, Nafisa left behind her teaching career and enrolled at the Tajik State University of Law, Business, and Politics, earning a law degree in 2024.
Yet graduating from university was only the beginning. To become an advocate in Tajikistan, Nafisa still had to complete additional professional training and pass the Ministry of Justice examination.
Nafisa Giyosova at her workplace in Konibodom, where she serves as a practising advocate and member of the Sugd Collegium of Advocates.
UNDP Tajikistan
Through the Union of Advocates of Tajikistan, Nafisa learned about a UNDP-supported internship programme which would help her prepare for the examination. She enrolled and completed the six-month programme. Passing the Ministry of Justice examination after the internship was a crucial milestone in serving her community as a licensed advocate.
The internship offered Nafisa what she had long been missing: practice-oriented learning.
“This internship was a lifelong investment in my professional journey,” Nafisa says. “It gave me confidence. I needed support to take the final step towards my dream. And that support came through this internship.”
After receiving her advocate status in 2024, Nafisa faced another challenge common for many young lawyers: limited practical experience in delivering high-quality legal services and insufficient exposure to courtroom practice. Recognising that effective legal assistance — particularly in cases involving violence — requires not only legal expertise but also sensitivity and empathy, she undertook additional training in psychology. This enabled her to better understand the emotional and psychological needs of clients, especially women who have experienced violence, and to provide essential psychological first response alongside legal support.
Nafisa Giyosova shares the skills and experience she gained during the Fellowship Programme with fellow participants.
UNDP Tajikistan
She then enrolled in the Fellowship programme, where people-centred legal aid work helped her transform theory into practice. Through direct legal consultations, mentorship, and courtroom exposure, Nafisa learned how to work with clients through complex legal procedures — and how to represent them with professionalism and empathy.
After a long learning journey, Nafisa became the first Fellow to provide legal support to a woman living with HIV, marking a powerful step towards expanding access to justice for some of the most vulnerable members of society.
“Many women — especially women living with HIV — are afraid to seek legal help,” Nafisa explains. “Social pressure and stigma often silence them, sometimes even within their own families. Through my work, I want women to know their rights — and to feel safe and confident asking for help.”
Nafisa is now a practising advocate and a member of the Sugd Collegium of Advocates in the city of Konibodom.
Firuza Ubaydullozoda at home, where her journey as a mother and advocate comes together.
Nigora Fazliddin/ UNDP Tajikistan
Nafisa is not alone on this journey. Her fellow Firuza Ubaydullozoda, 31, a single mother of two from Bokhtar, has shown the same determination in pursuing her dream of becoming an advocate.
Firuza lives with her mother. A graduate of the Law Department of Bokhtar State University, Firuza spent seven years lecturing law at her alma mater. She began to envision a different path — one where she would practise law not only in theory, but in defence of real people.
“At the same time, I was navigating a divorce,” Firuza says. “It was not easy, but it pushed me to become more independent and determined for the sake of my two children. My dream of becoming an advocate gave me something positive to hold on to — something real to work towards.”
She knew she needed support to qualify for the advocates’ exam, in particular because her university law degree was not recognised by the Ministry of Justice to sit the exam. She enrolled in the UNDP-supported internship programme with the Union of Advocates, which advocated with the Ministry of Justice to allow her and other graduates from the same university to sit the bar exam. When Firuza passed the bar exam, she had opened doors not just for herself but for hundreds of others from Khatlon graduating from that university.
After receiving her advocate licence, she needed experience in providing legal assistance as an advocate, and the UNDP-supported Fellowship Programme, implemented by the Public Organisation Human Rights Centre, provided the critical support.
“UNDP’s Fellowship was a turning point in my professional development,” she says. “It gave me the confidence and practical skills to handle complex family law cases independently.”
Like Nafisa, Firuza gained hands-on courtroom experience through the Fellowship. She represented clients in two family law cases and advocated in court. One child support case, pending since 2019, was successfully resolved in 2025 through a mutual agreement — a result that required not only legal expertise but sensitivity to family dynamics and cultural pressures.
Firuza Ubaydullozoda with her two sons and her mother, whose care and support make it possible for her to continue her professional journey.
Nigora Fazliddin/ UNDP Tajikistan
“Now I have the confidence to take ownership of cases, to advise clients directly, and to represent them in court,” Firuza says. “This experience helped me overcome both professional and social barriers — as a woman and as a mother.”
Firuza is currently working as an advocate at the Collegium for the Protection of Human Rights in Dushanbe, where she continues to pursue professional growth and expand her career opportunities.
The first cohort of the Fellowship Programme for young women lawyers brought together 19 women from across Tajikistan. Today, nine of them are already practising as advocates. The Fellowship Programme is supported through UNDP's Gender Justice Platform, funded by Germany and implemented in close coordination with the UN Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law. Both the Internship Programme and the Fellowship Programme receive support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
For media inquiries, contact: Nigora Fazliddin, Communication Analyst, UNDP Tajikistan, at nigorai.fazliddin@undp.org
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