Women working for peace: Mastura Mamadsaidova
Mastura Mamadsaidova, the head of the non-governmental organization Mehrubon – an OSCE-supported women’s resource centre in Shaartuz, Tajikistan – and a practising obstetrician-gynaecologist, is no stranger to struggle.
During Tajikistan's civil war, which lasted from 1992-1997, Mastura was left widowed with two small children under her care. Each day was a struggle to provide for their basic needs.
“Late one evening I was called out to the street,” she recalls. “I went out and saw that armed men had brought 13 small children ranging from two months to ten years of age. They were all standing in front of my yard. The men told me that the children would be staying in my house and I had to take care of them. When I said that I had to take care of my two small children all by myself and could hardly make ends meet, one of them pointed his gun at me and ordered me to do what I was told.” Forty people ended up taking refuge in her two-bedroom apartment. Mastura sold her possessions to feed them.
This experience inspired her to continue to serve her community. Mastura returned to work in a local hospital. She was the only practicing gynecologist in her small town. In 2000, Mastura gathered a group of 20 women, and together they decided to open a centre that would provide practical assistance to widows and orphans. Over the next four years, Mehrubon expanded the centre's mission and work. The centre offered educational programs to help empower local women to access their rights. Today, as one of ten women's resource centres supported by the OSCE in Tajikistan, Mehrubon under Mastura's leadership provides avenues to encourage women’s participation in public, economic and political life. The centre provides legal and psychosocial counselling, training, literacy courses and, importantly, the chance to engage in activities outside their homes.
The centre's greatest asset is the spirit of mutual co-operation, support and respect that emerges from the local network Mastura has built: local authorities, community and religious leaders, social workers, educators, and legal and medical professionals serve as resources to the women and families who seek assistance.
"Women have become more aware of their rights," Mastura says. "Now both men and women visit our centre for consultations and advice.” Looking back over an extraordinary career of service and the men and women who work together to support gender equality in Shaartuz, Mastura’s outlook is hopeful.
This article is one of a series produced for International Women's Day 2012. The full selection of stories is available on the OSCE's Facebook page.