Linked with ‘Centra Asia – Tadjikistan – Dushanbe‘ on our AEHRF pictures blog.
She is one of the 1000 women proposed fort the Nobel Peace Price 2005
Fatimakhon Ahmedova – Tajikistan
She says: « I do not want to belong to those who become disappointed in ideas of democracy, humanity and justice. I believe that sometimes the saddest event in one’s life can stimulate one to improve oneself. » She is working with the Center for Democratic Transformations (CDT).
Fatimakhon Ahmedova defended her PhD Thesis at the University of Saint Petersburg of Russia in sociology and linguistics and made an M.A. in Theory and Practice of human rights law. She completed courses in humanities and English language for professionals at the Aga Khan Foundation. Originally from Khojand, a small city in Tajikistan, Fatimakhon now often visits numerous countries for international conferences and seminars. She fights corruption and bribery often at risk to her own life and career. She is also a teacher and works for the Center for Democratic Transformations in Tajikistan.
A brief Biography: She works as lecturer on Humanities in Khujand State University and also as a leading specialist of the Centre of Democratic Transformations in Tajikistan. Besides she is involved into social work as an advisor of the Chief of the local government of the Sughd Province (Khukumat) in Tajikistan. She has several publication on Ferghana Valley conflicts, Women’s Rights, Educational System in Tajikistan etc. She is Fellow to the National Endowment for Democracy, USA.
Project Title & Summary: Ethnic Minority Rights and Interethnic Conflicts in Ferghana Valley.
Ethnic instability seems to be the most vulnerable parts of Central Asia’s post-Soviet development. The origin and dynamics of the ethno political situation are highly complex and depend on many domestic and external factors. The combination of religious and ethnic differences may greatly destabilize the region. Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley, which has been the scene of two massacres, is a vivid example of the region’s conflict potential.
When the countries of Central Asia gained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, areas that were once part of a unified economic, social and political system were divided from one another. Boundaries, which were once of little significance came to impact ordinary lives and economic processes – sometimes in a very dramatic ways. Ferghana Valley is one such region, unified by common history, cultural, and social and economic networks, but now divided into three countries – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The result of the division was that very large Uzbek population fell within the territory of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Likewise, there are significant Tajik populations in both the Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan territories of the Ferghana Valley. The winding boundaries which separates the republics frequently cross-cut economic zones, transportation corridors, towns and villages and even people living in one country from their relatives in another country.
Since the end of the Soviet period in Central Asia, Muslims have become a visible majority. The strengthening of Islam in Central Asia can be illustrated by the swift increase in mosque construction and pilgrimages to Mecca since the end of the Soviet era. Throughout the region’s history there has been competition among the various ethnic groups regarding their « Muslimness », steaming from the division between nomadic and sedentary peoples. The division between the « good » and « bad » Muslims was brutally demonstrated during the Osh riots.
Frequently it is difficult to distinguish between the development of ethnic identity and the growth of aggressive nationalism. The equal opportunities to access given to ethnic minorities seem to play the significant role in stabilizing the relationships. As the prior problems of today Valley are the social and economical issues and in the sphere of social life, this is education for girls living in rural and remote mountainous areas of the Ferghana Valley. Some researchers prove that the ethnic conflicts in Ferghana Valley can develop into intra- and interstates war. Many of the efforts under way to sustain peace here are to be undertaken by international and grassroots organizations.
Language skills: Tajik(Native),Russian( Native),English(Advanced), Farsi and Dari(Good), Uzbek(Good), French(Good), German(Good).
Publications: 1.Number of articles (12) on Philological aspects (Typology, Idioms,Phraseology and etc.) in local and universities press in Khujand and Dushanbe, Tajikistan-1997-2003;
2. Violation of Right to Freedom of Religion as a Source of Conflicts in Central Asia, MA Dissertation, University of Essex, UK – September 2004;
3.Regional Risk Profile on the Ferghana Valley, FAST Early Warning,Swiss Peace Foundation, Bern Switzerland – July 2004.
See article in ‘democracy at large‘: The Future of the Ferghana Valley States, Fatimakhon Ahmedova and Keith A. Leitich, “Ethnic and Religious Conflict in the Ferghana Valley,” Journal of Central Asian Studies, 6:1 (Fall/Winter 2001).
… Some Central Asian specialists thought that Tajikistan, whose 2005 parliamentary elections took place the same day in February as those in Kyrgyzstan, would be the next post-Soviet republic to overthrow its authoritarian leader when citizens took to the streets. Instead, the next demonstrations protesting government action—which this time were met with deadly force—took place in the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan, where hundreds died in Andijan after clashes with the government.
In the last century the Ferghana Valley—parts of which belong to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—faced political and economic challenges brought by Soviet rule. This new century has presented its own challenges to the region as Russia and the United States jockey for influence there, given its geographic proximity to the United States’ war on terrorism. In order to understand the possibility of political change in the region—and whether the area’s next elections (for Tajikistan’s president in 2006) could bring change—one must understand the history of the Ferghana Valley and its implications for the region’s present … see the rest of this article on this link.
links:
See her Photo in this PDF-link;
Social Science Research Council;
REECAS Conference;
RSEP;
Central Asian Bulletin;
and an article in russian.