#Yoshstan: Empowering Youth CSOs, launched in October 2023, is a two-year project funded by the European Union that aims at expanding local youth’s access to legal information and information related to youth issues in Uzbekistan, supporting the important directions of reforms aimed at establishing direct dialogue with the people in our country, and further strengthening guarantees of reliable protection of citizens’ rights, freedoms and legal interests.This project builds on the success of #YoshStan: Raising Youth Voices in Local Decision-Making, a project Search implemented between April 2021 and May 2022, which supported the promotion of youth- oriented services in Andijan oblast through collaboration between youth civil society organizations (CSOs) and local authorities (LAs). Through this project, Search and its local partner, Hamroh, created opportunities to build trusted relationships within communities in Andijan oblast. Utilizing the learnings from this project, Search and Hamroh aim to create further impacts on the ground through this new project.
Context
Increases in domestic violence globally during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the continued challenges women face in protecting their privileges, while organizations involving youth and women in community development and youth groups struggle to secure inclusion in decision-making processes. Along with this, the Andijan region is one of the regions with the highest indicators of foreign labor migration in Uzbekistan. In this context, citizens who are not fully aware of laws and their rights, especially youth, are more likely to be affected by negative situations such as human trafficking, illegal forms of work, and fraud. For legal and institutional reforms at the national level to translate into results at the local level, change is needed to improve how communities and local authorities (LAs) interact and ensure that governments can address constituents’ needs, including those belonging to vulnerable groups.
To address such a need, Search and Hamroh, in partnership with Yuksalish, will support the protection of fundamental freedoms and privileges in Uzbekistan by establishing a legal clinic at Andijan State University, providing online and offline information and legal services, targeting youth pioneers, people in need of social protection, labor migrants and returnees in three districts of Andijan region (Andijan city, Asaka, and Izboskan), as well as university students in Fergana region.
Theory of Change
IF existing legal resource providers have increased capacity for operational sustainability and provision of practical services, as well as constructive engagement with local authorities, and IF vulnerable groups have greater access to reliable legal knowledge and constructive support for addressing issues towards achieving equality, THEN fundamental freedoms and equality of vulnerable groups in target communities will be better protected.
Core Objectives and Activities
To achieve Search’s goal to strengthen the protection of fundamental freedoms in Uzbekistan, this project aims to strengthen the capacities of local youth civil society representatives to facilitate community access to legal information and services and counter disinformation by increasing community awareness of existing laws in Uzbekistan. These objectives will be accomplished through
providing various types of training on the Common Ground Approach (CGA), advocacy, the Uzbek legal framework, mis/disinformation, and media literacy to legal clinic staff and students at Andijan State University, youth civil society representatives, and young female pioneers, and support them in scaling up their gained knowledge to other State Universities. Other activities, such as developing legal resources and supporting the target youths in implementing media campaigns, will also contribute to realizing the project’s objectives.
Search’s Expected Results
1. Legal clinic staff and youth volunteers have increased capacity to provide information and support to those seeking legal assistance
2. University legal clinics have increased operational sustainability as a result of strengthened relationships with LAs and communities
3. Youth volunteers and legal clinic staff have an increased ability to identify and counter disinformation
4. Target communities have increased access to legal services supporting the protection of their fundamental freedoms
