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Equal access to justice for women and men is essential to establish the law – governed state. The state’s neglect of women’s specific needs related to their access to justice automatically puts women in a position of second-class citizens. Even the most comprehensive women’s human rights legislation does not eliminate discriminative practices if the state does not introduce social and education reforms to eliminate gender-biased stereotypes, enable the empowerment of women and real gender equality.

The project aimed at increasing the capacity of women’s NGOs in partner countries in Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) to use CEDAW mechanisms to counteract discrimination against women and advance women’s rights as well as improving women’s access to justice at national and international levels. The project built on the 2008-2009 activities of KARAT in CEE and Central Asia which had focused on the promotion of Optional Protocol to CEDAW. During the realization of the previous project KARAT learnt that the barriers limiting women’s access to justice at national level prevent women from using OP CEDAW mechanism  (exhaustion of national remedies being one of the admissibility criteria of the communication submitted under this mechanism). Thus, the next project “Regional Coalition on CEDAW & Access to justice” aimed, among others, at enhancing women’s access to justice for the advancement of CEDAW implementation at national level.

What we achieved:

 Due to this initiative KARAT with its project’s partners:

  • Identified the barriers which prevent women from seeking justice at the national, and thus also international level
  • Formulated the adequate recommendations (based on the established needs of women related to access to justice)
  • Improved the capacity of women’s NGOs in partner countries to use CEDAW mechanisms in order counteract discrimination against women, advance women’s rights and improve women’s access to justice at national and international levels.
  • All of these have significantly improved the women’s access to justice in the Region.

 

We focused on:

  • Keeping the states accountable for implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
  • Enhancing the women’s access to justice at national and international levels (using the OP CEDAW communication procedure) by  identifying the barriers which hamper the access and  working out the adequate recommendations to the states and CEDAW Committee.
  • Contributing to women’s NGOs debate at international level in the context of CEDAW, Beijing +15 and UN human rights documents

 

The project activities included:

  • Developing of strategy and cooperation building between the project’s partners
  • Advocating & lobbying for CEDAW and Concluding Observations at national and regional levels
  •  Improving access to OP CEDAW procedures:

• campaigns for ratification of OP CEDAW

• building acapacity to use OP CEDAW

• supporting individual/group complaints

• assesing/evaluating access to justice at national and regional levels in the context of fulfilling the admissibility criteria

• advocating for enhanced women’s access to justice in the Region

  • Dissemination of information and experience sharing
  • Participation in events at regional and international levels

 

The implementation of the project is possible thanks to a financial support of OXFAM Novib.