From 2017 to 2018, UNFPA in Kyrgyzstan carried out the project “Women and Girls as Drivers for Peace and Prevention of Radicalization” jointly with UNDP, UNICEF and UNODC. The main goal of the project was to increase the resilience of the participating communities to radicalization by engaging women religious leaders to become drivers of tolerance and to help prevent radicalization among women. UNFPA worked in partnership with the NGO Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI), which was responsible for implementing the project in the target communities.

The purpose of this report is to present experiences and lessons learned from the project. These include the challenges encountered in the mobilization and involvement of women and girls, and, furthermore, the strategies employed to overcome them and make a significant contribution to establishing constructive collaboration and open dialogue between women religious leaders, government institutions and local self-governance bodies.

Further insights into the changes experienced by the women participants are available in the related publication “Women as Drivers of Peace and Stability: Stories of Change.”