The 3rd Subregional Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) training under the APWLD Central Asia (CA) FPAR Programme was recently convened in Almaty, Kazakhstan, spanning from 3rd to 7th October 2023. It was followed by a two-day training on UN Human Rights Mechanisms from 8th to 9th October 2023. This gathering brought together young female researchers and mentors representing five partner organisations involved in FPAR, including Ravnie Prava, Human Rights Advocacy Centre, Ghamkhori, Dunyoi Mukhabbat, Women of Agriculture Association, Ferghana Branch, hailing from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The event served as a platform for participants to reflect on their FPAR journeys and explore the multifaceted impacts of FPAR on personal, organisational, and community levels, particularly within the context of their engagement with local women migrant communities.
This training strengthened the abilities of CA FPAR partners in developing their FPAR narratives, emphasising feminism and human rights perspectives. It also clarified the impacts resulting from the implementation of the Theory of Change framework. Additionally, the training improved the understanding and capabilities of FPAR partners in utilising campaign and advocacy tools. It offered valuable insights into international and regional mechanisms, encouraging the formulation of advocacy plans and strategies based on the findings and analysis of the FPAR narratives across national, regional, and international platforms.
Furthermore, during the Training, the FPAR partners came together for a show of solidarity on the occasion of the International Day of Decent Work. They joined the APWLD’s online campaign on Amplifying the voices of internal women migrants to claim their rights to decent work. Their aim was to shed light on the situation of women internal migrants, demonstrate unwavering support for women internal migrants and to call for decent work opportunities for all women in Central Asia. This action underscored the critical need to address issues pertaining to the rights of migrant workers and their access to decent employment during and after migration within the Central Asian region.
In addition to this, the CA FPAR partners and APWLD’s member organisations from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan had the valuable opportunity to participate in the Capacity-Building Initiative focused on UN Human Rights Mechanisms,organised with support of APWLD’s Grounding the Global Programme. The capacity-building sessions on UN Human Rights Mechanisms deepened the understanding of International Human Rights Law, the roles of the nine major Treaty Bodies and Optional Protocols, Special Procedures, and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) processes. Crucially, this capacity-building endeavour helped bridge the knowledge gap regarding the workings of treaty body monitoring committees, the involvement of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the countries’ review processes, strategies for Central Asian NGOs to engage with UN Human Rights mechanisms, and the identification of specific treaty bodies and special procedures pertinent to the promotion of women migrants’ rights.
