Over 60 individuals have arrived in the Tajik capital Dushanbe to participate in a conference on women's empowerment in Central Asia, the Tajik news agency AsiaPlus reported on Monday.
The two-day conference, which is jointly hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), opened on Monday.
The conference has been organized to formally oversee and evaluate several programs launched by the ADB and the UNDP to provide economic opportunities for rural women. Projects included training in business skills, innovative technologies and agricultural skills to provide women with additional sources of income.
Representatives hailing from agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are all taking part in the gathering.
“ADB is strongly committed to gender equality and women's empowerment,” AsiaPlus reported ADB Country Director for Tajikistan, Joji Tokeshi, as saying in the opening address.
“Our long-term strategic framework, Strategy 2020, highlights gender equity as one of five drivers of change.”
The project hoped to overcome traditional barriers, notably lack of education and business know-how, the ADB noted. Women in Osh and Talas oblasts in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the Rasht Valley and Sughd, were able to participate in the project.
The $600,000 project, funded by the UNDP, provided training for over 800 women in the region, AsiaPlus reported.
