The Beijing Platform for Action was a landmark document that emphasized gender equality as the foundation of a democratic society. It pointed to several initiatives that the Shymkent Women's Resource Center (SWRC) has been dedicated to since we began our work in 1998, including women’s leadership in politics, business, and public life; economic empowerment by supporting women entrepreneurs; advocacy to reform laws to protect women from violence; and increased access to education and health care.
While progress has been made in these areas, women’s rights organizations are still making the case to decision-making bodies that women’s equality is pivotal to the success and wellbeing of society. Though the Beijing Platform was an important step towards promoting equality, many issues remain unresolved and require more active follow-up, particularly women’s involvement in politics and in business.
One of the key influences of Beijing’s Platform for Action is the emphasis on the importance of international cooperation to promote gender equality. Global initiatives such as UN Women and others promoting the Sustainable Development Goals have emerged to support movements for women’s equality around the world. The Women’s Learning Partnership itself was born from the Beijing Platform, and SWRC was officially registered in 1998. As a Partnership, we provide global solidarity with women human rights defenders, sharing strategies, knowledge, and resources to improve our work.
It is not easy to achieve balance, but women’s organizations must continue their daily work, making a significant contribution to the improvement of women’s rights.
The restriction of space for women is a serious challenge, as it limits women's access to the right to participate in decision-making, and reduces the role of women in the public and political life of society and the state. Kazakhstan is a large state, but our civic space is small, and less than two percent of our civil society organizations are dedicated to gender issues and supporting women’s rights.
The backlash the world is seeing to women’s rights is not new, women’s organizations have always weathered backlash from conservative and anti-feminist movements. However, we respond to this shared challenge by shoring up support and solidarity locally, nationally, and globally while creating sustainable development models. By sharing our local context, challenges, and strategies with global platforms and partnerships, SWRC, WLP, and other women’s organizations are able to mitigate the damaging effects of anti-feminist backlash and continue our work fighting for women’s rights.
To be effective in our work, women’s rights organizations must embrace digital technologies to promote and protect human rights. We need to be aware of the risks of technology, recognize its role in perpetuating violence against women, and train young women and men to use the digital realm to amplify our message of equality. One of the ways in which we can do this is by promoting women’s education, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). We need to see more women in master’s and doctoral programs and more girls in STEAM programs from a young age.
SWRC has worked with activists and CSO representatives from Central Asia and the Caucuses who have gone on to integrate WLP’s leadership methodology in their classrooms–from the kindergarten to doctoral level. Helping girls and women access science and technology programs promotes human rights and horizontal decision-making, creating leaders equipped to continue the fight for women’s rights and gender equality.
I believe the future of women's organizations remains dynamic, flexible, and purposeful because the desire for gender equality is our conscious choice, and every day we are putting in the work to make it a reality for our communities.