Raushan Nauryzbayeva

For almost 20 years, Raushan Nauryzbayeva has been serving as the executive director of the public foundation Development of Civil Society. She is a committed and highly motivated activist with impressive accomplishments. 

She has authored numerous articles and publications on Women’s Rights in Central Asia. She demonstrated a strong analytical and creative approach to her papers, and her writing style showed curiosity and openness regarding all legal issues of the day. Moreover, she played a significant role in promoting women’s concerns at the national level—arranging meetings between women, state officials and members of parliament; advocating for the implementation of national and international laws that protect women’s rights; as well as amending Kazakhstan’s laws on sexual harassment. 

Raushan has been actively involved in APWLD’s activities through the Feminist Law and Practice (FLP) Programme and as a Regional Council (ReC) member.

APWLD interviewed Raushan in January 2021 and below is her story.

Becoming a feminist and women human rights defender

I graduated from Kazakhstan National University in 1987. After a few years, I received a master’s degree from the Institute of State and Law in Kazakhstan and became a professional lawyer, gradually focusing on women’s rights.

Throughout all these years, I realised that I would like to devote my experience and my knowledge to women’s rights. When I conducted training in the academic circle for the first time, I walked alongside women from villages in the countryside. They inspired me and made me feel their passion. 

In 2003, I founded the public foundation Development of Civil Society where I am still Executive Director. Development of Civil Society has since conducted a lot of training for women and students on issues and topics such as discrimination against women, sexual harassment, and self-employment. We were one of the first organisations that raised these issues in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is a developed country compared to its neighbours. A major issue that civil society organisations fighting against is sexual harassment. We advocate for women to get top positions in business, education, and the political spheres. I think it will be a new chapter in our society if we could include sexual harassment articles in criminal law.

Growing together with APWLD  

I participated in the Feminist Legal Theory and Practice (FLTP) training in Cambodia in 2014. It was my first active involvement with APWLD. I was honoured to be a part of FLTP because it was such a rich experience for me. There were many things I learned from lawyers from different countries, such as technical strategies, legal tools, and how we could use these tools in different countries to bring issues to the attention of the government. I came to understand how to form a united network among different civil society organisations, communicate with representatives from villages and small towns, encourage people to be a part of the community, and motivate people from various constituencies.

There were few participants from Central Asia then. Over time, the number of representatives from Central Asia grew, allowing me to speak to more of them about APWLD’s Theory of Change and working frameworks. In doing so, I think I contributed to expanding APWLD’s membership in Central Asia and bringing FLTP training to this subregion.

It is very important for APWLD to organise regional, sub-regional, and national FLTP training that allows participants at different levels to participate. FLTP training gives us the opportunity to interact with representatives from different professions and education levels, allowing us to gain new experiences. When trainers share their experiences and demonstrate success stories of women who overcame obstacles and became successful, young lawyers and feminists become encouraged to participate feminist movement. FLTP training is an excellent way to transfer knowledge, skills, and spirit. 

If it were to receive more financial resources, APWLD would be able to support national FLTP training in different countries. Many organisations in Kazakhstan would like FLTP training, but we lack the funding, and few donors are willing to support this kind of activity.

Involvement with the governance of APWLD

I became a Program Organizing Committee (POC) member of the Feminist Law and Practice (FLP) programme in 2015. We discussed how to develop FLTP strategy and arrange training, among other agendas. An essential process for the programme, the discussion of all these questions regarding the entire Asia-Pacific region is beneficial to the members. It is an opportunity to listen to other POC members’ particularities, their countries’ contexts, and how they overcome problems and barriers. During these informative processes and meetings, I think that we worked very successfully and were productive. 

Regional Council meetings were always arranged well, and the secretariat made tremendous preparations for each meeting which were informative and spectacular. As a ReC member, I was able to read the financial reports, learn APWLD’s concerns and rules, and express our opinions on each question presented. 

We need more Central Asian participants. I hope representatives from Central Asia would be presented in different Programme Organising Committees and other APWLD activities so that the feminist movement could make more advancements in Central Asia.