Gender in Europe & CIS

SEPTEMBER 2009

Turkmenistan, UN celebrate 30th anniversary of CEDAW, Ashgabat, 30 September 2009 – The 30th anniversary of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was officially marked in Turkmenistan by holding a one-day international conference which focused on CEDAW’s international and national aspects. Read more from UNDP Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan: A series of trainings on “Migration of women” for representatives of labour and social welfare agencies has begun under the UNDP project “Promotion of the rights of women migrant workers” and the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistanin cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

SUMMER  2009

A series of trainings on “Migration of women” for representatives of labour and social welfare agencies has begun in the city of Ferghana on 25 July 2009. The training organizers are a UNDP project “Promotion of the rights of women migrant workers” and the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. The trainings has been conducted to execute the Law of Uzbekistan “On fighting human trafficking” from 17 April 2008 and the National Action Plan on improving efficiency of combating human trafficking in 2008-2010.

Minister of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports has launched new campaign against domestic violence created with the financial support from UNDP and EU. National Campaign to Combat Domestic Violence and Violence against Women entitled "Stop Violence!" will cover the main cities of Ukraine promoting new hotline for women suffering from domestic violence. 

Kazahstan: UNDP and the National Commission for women affairs and family-demographic policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan launches a series of trainings for secretaries of the commissions for women-affairs and family-demographic policy under oblasts, cities and regions akimats.

UNDP Georgia hosted a conference on Global Economic Crisis and Gender Equality. Specific impacts of the financial and economic crisis on gender were discussed as well as controversial  aspects of macro-economic policies. New ways and perspectives of achieving stability, social justice, and gender equality in Georgia were explored. The conference launched also new publication – "Gender Dimension of Financial Policy in Georgia”.

MARCH 2009

Georgia, Tbilisi: Gender Week:  
11 March 2009. Best gender-balanced companies receive awards from UNDP and the Employers’ Association of Georgia. Companies who are the best in attaining principles of gender equality received awards from the UN Development Programme and the Georgian Employers’ Association. 
6 March 2009. More than 20 non-governmental organizations who seek to promote gender equality in Georgia, presented their achievements. The Expo was part of the Gender Week 2009 organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in co-operation with the Gender Equality Council at the Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament and the JSI Research and Study Institute.

UNIFEM and UNDP BRC gender team organized International Women’s Day Brunch on Friday, March 6^th, 2009, hosting a Slovak expert's presentation “SHE & HE in Slovakia: Gender & Age in the Period of Transition” focusing on findings of three year research project dedicated to position of elderly women in society & on labour market.

Uzbekistan, Tashkent, March 3^rd: Launch of the Jointt National Media Campaign on Gender helps raising public awareness on important social issues. Media Campaign was developed to promote gender equality principles in all spheres of life and reinforces the idea of importance of equal opportunities for all. “Empowering women is an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty. Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities and to improved prospects for the next generation. The importance of gender equality is underscored by its inclusion as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals.” - commented Ms. Anita Nirody, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan.

FEBRUARY 2009

Ashbagat, Turkeminstan, 27 February 2009:A highly successful programme for rural women in Turkmenistan that centered on increasing self-employment opportunities for rural women in Dashoguz and Maryshould concluded in wrap-up conference. Participants of the National Forum agreed that project should be be replicated throughout the country. Follow the story on Turkmenistan & Gender page.

JANUARY 2009

UNDP, EU and SIDA launch a new joint project on gender equality.  The project Equal Opportunities and Women's Rights in Ukraine Programme will last for 3 years. Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports is the national implementing partner on behalf of the Ukrainian Government.  During the official project launch Yuriy Pavlenko, Minister of Family, Youth and Sports of Ukraine, noted, that, unfortunately, the issue of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for men and women persists in Ukraine while existing gender stereotypes already have negative influence, especially on demographic situation in the country. For more information, follow to UNDP & Gender in Ukraine page or visit directly Ukraine CO's project page.

UNDP and the Croatian government agreed to four more years of cooperation including social inclusion & community safety programmes. The social inclusion programmes will advocate for greater societal roles for women and the disabled. Community safety programmes will target armed violence and family violence. Read more here or visit UNDP Gender in Croatia page

Roundtable in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11. November on Women and Governance in Eastern Europe and CIS

Roundtable in Kiev, Ukraine, 7. November 2008 on Women and Governance