OSCE Centre helps women in Kurghon-Teppa acquire new skills

KURGHON-TEPPA, Tajikistan, 20 May 2004 - A centre for women, which will offer free psychological and legal consultations, information on human rights, and a number of training courses, opened this week in Kurghon-Teppa, Tajikistan.

Created with the help of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, the women's centre aims to empower women in Tajik society and to strengthen the capacity of grassroots women organizations and networks in remote areas of the country.

"Centres like this one will help women get more information and to get new professional skills," said Gunta Robezniece, Gender Issues Officer of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe. "Women can socialize here, discuss their problems and find ways to resolve them."

Located in one of the poorest and overpopulated districts of Kurghon-Teppa, the Centre will help young girls, many of them refugees, acquire skills in sewing and embroidering, as well as hold training courses on business development, English language, seminars on human rights and gender issues. More than 600 girls and women are expected to benefit.

At the opening ceremony, Ruzi Nazipov, the Mayor of Kurghon-Teppa, said that the Centre will help fight poverty in the region and strengthen the role of women in Tajik society.

Stoyan Davidov, Head of the OSCE Field Office, stressed the fact that the Centre allows low-income girls and women to gain qualifications, learn about their rights, and help them realize their potential.

Three more centres will be opened in the Khatlon region - in Kolkhozabad, Kabodiyon, and Kumsangir.