OSCE Office in Tajikistan trains the trainers of political parties on mentoring skills

A five-day training course on mentoring for trainers of Tajik political party representatives, with the aim of further advancing women’s participation in the political life, concluded on 9 December 2016. The event, organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, concluded with the drafting of action plans.

Some twenty participants, predominantly from the youth wings of political parties took part in the event, which is the second training of this kind. It was conducted as part of a project on women’s empowerment in politics.

The participants learnt about mentoring techniques, how to work as a mentor or mentee, and discussed the benefits of mentoring programmes.

“It is a rewarding experience when participants see mentoring as a tool for formal and informal capacity-building and awareness-raising among colleagues, peers, within families, communities and friends. This training course also tackled the issue of gender stereotypes and how to create equal opportunities for women and girls,” said Vesna Ivanovikj-Castarede, Head of the Democratization Unit at the OSCE Office and the trainer conducting the course.

A mentoring training programme for women politicians was launched by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on 1 August 2016 in Dushanbe.