Unlocking the Potential for Sustainable Peace in the Ferghana Valley: Strengthening Women’s Roles in Peacebuilding Across Kyrgyzstan

This country report spotlights women's essential contributions to peacebuilding and conflict recovery in Kyrgyzstan's Ferghana Valley border communities. Based on consultations with over 320 diverse stakeholders led by the Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI), the report is part of a series of three country reports from Central Asia, along with a policy brief that covers Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Together, the series highlights the unique challenges women face and identifies opportunities to enhance their role in peacebuilding efforts. 

The Kyrgyzstan report provides evidence-based recommendations highlighting the importance of fostering women's leadership. It also offers targeted recommendations to strengthen community resilience in conflict-affected regions. Despite commitments under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 to promote women’s participation in peace processes, women in the border areas of Ferghana Valley continue to face obstacles to fully engaging in these efforts. The report underscores the need for comprehensive support to empower women as peacebuilders, address these challenges and achieve equitable development in the region.

Key recommendations to overcome barriers and empower women as peacebuilders include: 

• Facilitate intergenerational dialogue and peer-to-peer exchanges to increase women’s participation in government-led peacebuilding and development efforts.
• Promote women’s economic empowerment by supporting entrepreneurship, financial literacy training, and establishing women-led businesses to amplify investments in women’s economic security, inclusion, and participation. 
• Strengthen villages’ social infrastructure by investing in essential services such as kindergartens, youth centres, and training hubs to alleviate women's care burden and build community engagement.
• Increase women’s participation in decision-making and create dedicated support for young women in self-governance to encourage a multigenerational approach to leadership.
• Provide long-term, sustained psychosocial support for women and men in the border areas of Batken province, with gender-responsive programs tailored to address specific conflict-related traumas and experiences by increasing access to both female and male psychologists.
• Ensure equitable recovery efforts by granting social allowances to all individuals impacted by conflict, whether internally displaced or still residing in Batken.
• Enhance public awareness through campaigns that engage all affected populations in post-conflict recovery processes, fostering trust in ongoing negotiations.

By advancing these recommendations, the report calls on the Kyrgyz government, Local Self-Governing Bodies (LSGs), international partners, and donors to create a more inclusive peacebuilding landscape and ensure women's contributions lead to lasting stability across the Ferghana Valley.

These reports are a product of the project Women of the Ferghana Valley Contribute to Conflict Resolution led by the Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI) in partnership with GPPAC and funded by the Rapid Response Window of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. They serve as key resources for the project by providing evidence-based insights, documenting women’s unique challenges in conflict-affected regions, and offering actionable recommendations to strengthen women’s roles in peacebuilding and conflict recovery