ANNUAL REPORT 2004 fore, it is necessary that women learn about their rights Democratization Gender Equality Future priorities and be given the opportunity to participate equally in the labour market, politics, and the development of The ODIHR’s programme in the area of gender equali- their society. With regard to countries undergoing po- ty requires a long-term commitment. As such, future litical and economic transition, it is also pressing that priorities remain essentially the same as present priori- women be able to protect and promote their rights ties. In 2004-2005, the ODIHR plans to continue its ac- and interests, as many government structures fall short tivities specifically in the following five areas: of being effective in protecting these rights and eliminating gender imbalance.
In 2004, the ODIHR continued existing programmes
aimed at training experts on women’s rights in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Based on a training-of-trainers approach, the Office taught local experts the necessary skills to take a lead-
ing role in working to advance the women's movement Fostering civil society and government co-operation at national and local levels; Capacity- and expertise-strengthening for civil society and government structures; Further development of women’s leadership with a country-tailored approach; Integration of gender aspects into the work of government structures; and Continuing to address violence against women. in their respective countries.
In this context, the ODIHR established a local expert Together with mainstreaming of gender-equality issues throughout the ODIHR’s activities, these priorities will also take into account the OSCE Action Plan for Gender Issues. panel, bringing together ODIHR-trained gender experts from the South Caucasus and Central Asia to lead consultative, advisory, and support networks for national experts at the local, national, regional, and international levels. One of the panel’s first activities involved Kyrgyz members, who provided their expertise to the Armenian women’s leadership programme. In December, members presented their panel as a best practice in terms of local ownership and capacity-building at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe preparatory meeting for the upcoming Beijing+10 world conference on women’s rights. Their innovative presentations contributed significantly to the discussions on the role of institutional mechanisms for women’s rights in their respective countries. Well-trained national experts capable of acting on the local, national, regional, and international levels, with first-hand local knowledge of local situations and languages, have proved an invaluable asset for genderequality-related work in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and are proving to be an effective bridge to the long-term sustainability and full local ownership of this programme. 33