Representatives of state institutions and civil society organizations participated in an OSCE-organized workshop on gender-based violence (GBV) that took place on 12 and 13 September in Ashgabat.
The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the two-day event to discuss with national stakeholders the findings and recommendations made as a result of the evaluation of the Centre's long-term project "Raising awareness about Domestic Violence and Assistance to Victims of Domestic Violence", as well as to validate the findings of the evaluation and to enhance awareness and capacity in preventing and responding to gender-based and domestic violence.
The workshop was led by a gender expert from Sweden, Malin Palm, who conducted the evaluation of the project. The expert covered a wide range of factors, constituting a comprehensive response to GBV, services for victims/survivors of domestic violence, and collaboration and referrals between organizations and institutions.
"Ending gender-based violence requires collective effort," said Rune Castberg, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. "It calls for the commitment of individuals, governments, organizations, and communities."
"Furthermore, it requires re-examining of harmful stereotypes, promoting gender equality, and fostering a culture of respect and dignity for all," he added.
Topics discussed included international standards on the quality of services provided to GBV survivors and national legal framework, as well as data collection, monitoring and evaluation of GBV projects.
A representative of "Oydin-Nur" public organization from Uzbekistan joined the workshop remotely and shared practical experiences of outreach and public awareness activities to improve access to the services provided by "Oydin-Nur" to GBV victims.
The workshop was organized as part of the Centre's extra-budgetary project "Supporting Strengthened Mechanisms for the Prevention of, and Response to, Gender-Based Violence, including Domestic Violence" funded by the governments of Norway and the USA.
The second phase of the project is a broader needs assessment, taking stock of the legal and institutional framework, response mechanisms, and capacity of stakeholders in the prevention of and response to GBV in Turkmenistan, to identify and outline cross-dimensional and inter-agency programming and activities, so as to achieve a more comprehensive impact in the sector in the medium to long-term.
