Women in Tajikistan—Post-Election Realities for Change

Co-Founder, Open Asia

Muborak Sharipova is the co-founder of Open Asia, an international NGO that supports local civil society initiatives in Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan with offices in France, Denmark, and Tajikistan. Dr. Sharipova, a former university teacher and a specialist in sociology, was forced to leave Tajikistan shortly after the civil war broke out in 1992. In 1993–1997, she lived in Moscow and advised Human Rights Watch (Helsinki Watch) and the Russian Sociology Institute on issues of human rights and democracy in Central Asia. In 1996, she founded Open Asia with the mission to support the peace process and the development of civil society in Tajikistan. After the peace agreement was signed in 1997, Dr. Sharipova returned to her country and became Senior Researcher at the sociology department of the Academy of Science of Tajikistan, concentrating on women’s issues and providing advice and support for the Governmental National Committee for Women. Dr. Sharipova currently directs the Denmark office of Open Asia.