ANNUAL REPORT 2004 Democratization Gender Equality goal of improving the situation of women and increas- marked increase in the participation of women during ing the participation of women at all levels of decision- the December municipal elections in Azerbaijan re- making. flected the activities of ODIHR-funded support teams for women’s participation in 22 regions of the country. Therefore, the ODIHR’s activities in the area of equal The ODIHR’s women’s-empowerment networks in Kyr- participation are created for a five-year period to safe- gyzstan and Georgia developed effective co-operation guard continuity and to allow for long-term impact mechanisms and exchanged best practices in political and programme assessment. All programmes have sev- participation. The year saw the establishment of an in- eral components and phases and follow a cyclical de- terregional local expert panel on gender issues, bring- velopment pattern, i.e., consecutive activities are built ing together ODIHR-supported actors from the South on previous achievements and results, which generates Caucasus and Central Asia to form a key instrument for new initiatives. developing long-term sustainability. Programmes and priorities are selected based on an The ODIHR’s activities in 2004 were conducted mainly analysis of the situation in each country and an evalua- in the following areas: tion of the potential impact of the ODIHR. The Office aims to maximize the involvement of civil society and
Women's leadership development; government representatives from the host country. It
Preventing and combating violence against women, particularly domestic violence; and also creates and trains local project teams, giving them
Building local gender expertise ownership of the gender programme and establishing self-sustainable programmes that can be managed locally, thereby encouraging a multiplication factor. In ensures the long-term effect of the initiative. 1. Women's leadership development Programmes have been implemented in Armenia, Increasing the number of women in national parlia- Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and ments and local governments is one key way of ensur- Uzbekistan, and to a large degree conducted in the re- ing that the needs of women and the community are gions outside of the capital cities in order to reach taken into account at legislative and administrative lev- women who are often excluded from women’s-rights els. However, women’s participation in elected bodies initiatives. The ODIHR has selected these areas for its and government should be effective and not just nom- activities because there is great potential to have an inal. Women must have access to decision-making impact. across the policy spectrum and should not be marginal- this way, the ODIHR helps to build local capacity and ized into "soft policy" areas only, such as social policy or education. 2004 brought a number of successes from this longterm perspective: the ODIHR trained teams of local experts in gender issues to instigate and lead community The ODIHR supports efforts that promote the partici- initiatives for women in Central Asia and Armenia, in- pation of women in leadership positions and in politics cluding community-based projects, such as building via its leadership development programme. Such ef- roads and providing a water supply in rural areas of forts often involve supporting women already in posi- Kyrgyzstan, as well as establishing kindergartens in co- tions of authority and building their capacity in key operation with local authorities in Armenia. The areas such as leadership, lobbying, and networking. As 31