Collaborative approaches to rights protection and conflict

The manual has been prepared by the Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI) under the project “Building a Constituency for Peace” financed by UN Peacebuilding fund and implemented by UN Women Country Office in the Kyrgyz Republic. This Manual on “Collaborative Approaches to Rights Protection and Conflict Transformation” is an educational course aimed at developing knowledge and practical skills to improve preven­tion and response to conflicts arising at the local level from human rights and gender perspec­tives. The manual is intended to be used by local self-governments and community organiza­tions to promote peace and stability in communities. Local public institutions of peace include SPC, WUA, aksakal courts (courts of elders), pasture committees, communities of religious leaders, informal groups of young people, human rights activists and (female) activists. These informal structures may be called local peace mechanisms. One of the key challenges in this direction is the ability of local peace mecha­nisms to build relationships with each other, to create a platform for coordination of issues and identifying problems, to conduct participatory based consultations/meetings with the popula­tion, to join efforts and to mobilize all sectors of the community for work with the conflict. The manual presents to readers available information about guarantees of human rights in the Kyrgyz Republic; the basic principles of gender equality; the role and functions of govern­mental and local bodies in the system of ensuring the safety of citizens, as well as a number of effective tools for conflict analysis and development of joint plans for conflict resolution. UN Women Country Office in the Kyrgyz Republic contributed material on human rights and gender equality and com­mented on the remainder of the course.