VZCZCXRO3493
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0882/01 1640620
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130620Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0440
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2123
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2158
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2124
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1457
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1975
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2170

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000882 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KWMN TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK WOMEN LEADERS FRUSTRATED BY CULTURAL ATTITUDES AMONG 
WOMEN 
 
DUSHANBE 00000882  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Leaders of Tajikistan's political parties 
discussed how women are marginalized in politics and the 
frustrations they share trying to empower women, at a roundtable 
with PolOff June 4.  All pointed out that Tajik cultural norms 
are oppressive to women, but sometimes it's the women themselves 
who uphold the traditional female roles in a male-dominated 
society.   END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Of Tajikistan's eight registered political parties, none are 
led by women and only two have institutionalized leadership 
positions for women.  Two parties, the Social Democratic Party 
and the Socialist Party, could not identify women leaders to 
participate in the roundtable.  Soliha Ahmadova, Head of the 
Women's Department of President Rahmon's People's Democratic 
Party and Tahmina Qayyumova, head of the party's young women's 
department attended the roundtable.  The Head of the Women's 
Department for the Islamic Renaissance Party, Zurafo Rahmoni, 
and Mahbuba Fayzulloeva, daughter of the late chairman Said 
Abdullo Nuri, represented the party; Mamlakat Joyjieva attended 
from the Democratic Party of Tajikistan. 
 
WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT, OR NOT, AS THE CASE MAY BE 
 
¶3.  President Rahmon issued a decree in 1999, aimed at 
empowering women in Tajik society, which ordered all government 
offices including ministries, local governments, and state 
universities to employ at least one woman in a deputy level 
position.  The government also established the Committee on 
Women's Affairs in 1991 and in 2002 the Department on Gender 
Equality, both reporting to the president's office.  "Main 
Directions of the State Policies for Ensuring Equal Rights and 
Opportunities for Men and Women in Tajikistan 2001-2010" serves 
as an action plan to pursue gender equality.  As a result of 
these government initiatives, women now fill 17 percent of 
government positions, are elected officials in each district 
government, and comprise 90 percent of school principals.  The 
second of two deputy prime ministers is a woman as is the 
Minister of Health, and 11 women serve as elected national 
parliamentarians.  Roundtable participants agree that the 
president's initiative has made an impact, but more 
opportunities for women to play a prominent role in governing 
and shaping Tajikistan's future are needed.  They point out that 
many proposals in the action plan have not been implemented and 
although the government's quotas have meant that more women can 
obtain positions in government, most of those positions are 
appointed, not elected. 
 
¶4.  The mindset of women themselves proves one of the biggest 
hindrances to achieving gender equality and providing more 
workplace opportunities for women.  Roundtable participants 
expressed strong disappointment when they told PolOff that the 
female parliamentarians themselves argue that a woman's role and 
responsibilities are at home.  The women leaders at the 
roundtable described the most difficult part of their job as 
breaking down the cultural stereotypes that women hold of 
themselves.  Many Tajik women they encounter still believe that 
politics is "the business of men." 
 
¶5.  Roundtable participants complained that the government and 
political parties' push for more female participation during the 
November 2006 presidential election was merely lip service.  In 
order for more women to participate in politics or run in 
elections, real legislative reform needs to be implemented that 
creates a more open political playing field for all interested 
participants.  The representatives of the political parties say 
that the fees are often too high for women.  Rahmoni proposed 
one partial solution to the Islamic Renaissance Party leadership 
- i.e., that the party should assist women who choose to run for 
an elected position. 
 
TAJIKISTAN'S ECONOMIC WOES PUT WOMEN IN UNTRADITIONAL ROLES, 
WITH NO SUPPORT 
 
¶6.  All the women around the table nodded their heads when 
Zurafo Rahmoni of the Islamic Renaissance party said that "Women 
are shackled by economic problems in Tajikistan."  With anywhere 
between 600,000 to one million Tajik men serving as labor 
migrants abroad, Tajikistan faces a complicated social dynamic. 
In some villages the men's departure has led to positive 
developments such as women take a greater role in business, 
working at the bazaars, or filling vacant positions in local 
government.  However, labor migration also means that many women 
are left destitute because some migrants do not send money home 
to their families and the women have to fend for themselves, 
 
DUSHANBE 00000882  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
while still occupying an inferior position in their communities. 
 The woman bears the burden of being the breadwinner while also 
keeping house.  Unfortunately, the gender gap in education means 
that most women in rural villages are under-educated with little 
skills to obtain the high-paying jobs -- and few jobs available 
for them. 
 
EDUCATION FOR ALL 
 
¶7.  The representatives from the People's Democratic Party of 
Tajikistan (President Rahmon's party) disagreed with the other 
political parties on the Ministry of Education's edict against 
the hijab and defended the party line that girls should not be 
allowed to wear inappropriate dress to school; but all 
participants agreed that women's education should not be impeded 
by debates on dress.  Although the Tajik government insists that 
all pupils are mandated to attend school, in practice, this is 
not the case and more boys attend schools than girls.  Anecdotal 
evidence suggests drop-out rates for girls are higher than for 
boys, especially in rural areas feeling the greatest impact of 
out-migration. 
 
¶8.  Zurafo Rahmoni revealed that the Islamic Renaissance Party's 
Women's Department is working with a leading fashion designer in 
Tajikistan to produce a Sharia-appropriate school uniform that 
is uniquely Tajik so that government officials cannot criticize 
it as an external influence from Iran or Arab countries.  The 
new national dress uniform would include the Tajik national 
headscarf, which is not a hijab and is permitted by the Ministry 
of Education's new dress code.  The Islamic Renaissance Party 
accepts the Tajik national headscarf as a form of hijab.  They 
are optimistic that the government will compromise and accept 
their new proposal on school uniforms.  (Note: The Tajik 
headscarf does not fully cover a women's head like a hijab, and 
does not wrap around the neck under the chin. End Note.) 
Rahmoni's proposal is a good example of moving beyond the hijab 
debate and taking proactive steps to ensure that all women 
receive education regardless of religious practices. 
 
¶9.  COMMENT:  The roundtable discussion demonstrated that 
promoting gender equality and raising women's status entails 
more than creating a body of law addressing gender inequality 
and checking off the box as complete.  In Tajikistan problems of 
poverty and a poor healthcare and education system affect both 
men and women harshly; but in a country where women in some 
families are still viewed as second class citizens, women suffer 
disproportionately.  More also needs to be done to change the 
attitudes of society -- both men and women -- to value women and 
girls.  Unfortunately, only a few of the political parties have 
decided to take on this task.  END COMMENT. 
JACOBSON