LocationsAuthor: Gulnoza Akhmedova, UNDP Gender and Civil Society Promotion Associate
Challenges faced by CSOs in providing legal services to women and people with disabilities
December 7, 2024
Globally, with the shrinking public space due to the transition to the neoliberal mode of economic development, civil society organizations are continuously covering the gap in providing social services to vulnerable populations. Civil society is believed to be a solution to solve pressing social problems and a more effective alternative to the welfare state and market arrangement.
Women have played a critical role in the growing influence and presence of CSOs in society that have been focusing on social issues, including human rights, legal literacy, health and vocational training programs, and assistance to women with disabilities. For instance, according to the 2002 country report for Uzbekistan from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, approximately 70% of the over 2,000 national and local NGOs were headed by women and were focused on addressing various social, economic, cultural, and political development issues.
UNDP project “Strengthening the rule of law and human rights protection in Uzbekistan” jointly implemented alongside the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, funded by the Government of Finland has conducted a survey among the CSO leaders to understand general challenges faced by NGOs in providing legal services to vulnerable groups such as women, youth and people with disabilities in Uzbekistan.
Most of organizations (50% of respondents) reported that financial constraints remain the biggest challenge in provision of legal assistance to vulnerable groups. Secondly, legal constraints and limited human resources continue to bar them from functioning more efficiently.
In addition, lack of legal awareness of beneficiaries, their access to legal information and information on organizations that provide legal support also prevents women and persons with disabilities to access legal support from CSOs.
Lack ofawareness on their rights remains one the key problems when providing services to women and persons with disabilities. According to the head of NGO “Sharoit Plus” Mukhabbat Rahimova:
“Many persons with disabilities experience lack of legal literacy and remain unaware of their rights guaranteed by law. This may be due to barriers to general and legal education and the fact that many find it difficult to understand our laws. In addition, persons with disabilities face obstacles in obtaining legal assistance and advice. Therefore, their rights are often not ensured in practice.”
One of the respondents noted that:
“People in rural communities rely on informal practices based on customs and religion and are often unaware about formal laws and regulations that could help them. In such cases, it is necessary to work on their legal awareness and education.”
In addition, 75% of respondents agreed that lack of digital skills, limited access to Internet and lack of ownership of IT technology prevents most women from receiving online consultations.
According to the leader of NGO “Sharq Ayoli”:
“Firstly, in the regions, there is an acute shortage of free Wi-Fi zones where low-income citizens could connect to the Internet and take advantage of its benefits. Apart from that, persons in need of social assistance are unable to take advantage of their opportunities due to lack of awareness and IT skills as wells as IT devices such as a computer or a telephone”.
This issue is also evidenced by the findings of UNDP Gender Digital Divide Survey that has identified that for most of the population, internet access is still unaffordable with 51% of women respondents indicating financial barriers as the biggest impediments to accessing the internet.
Apart from that, 37% of respondents agree that social stigma and negative attitudes towards women and persons with disabilities who are victims of violence also pose challenges in the service provision. Persons with disabilities are considered a liability both in the family and in society rather than being recognized as individuals who can make valuable contributions. For example, a woman who has a child with a disability in her care would find it difficult to obtain employment. According to Dilmurod Yusupov, the founder of NGO “Sharoit Plus”:
“We are receiving a lot of requests from women and girls with disabilities through our Telegram bot which provides free legal advice. There was a recent case when a woman with a disability asked for help because her father is not letting her exit the house after her mother's recent death. Parents and other care takers become overprotective of their children with disabilities even after they grow up. They donʼt understand that they are actually committing an act of domestic violence depriving their children’s right to mobility. There is a very low awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities even in the communities where these people live. Therefore, we need to speak up and provide legal, social and psychological services to the victims.”
NGOs in general are better positioned in identifying the needs of vulnerable groups as they operate at the grassroots level, their potential could be used in public policymaking. Therefore, the following steps could be recommended to build the capacities of civil society in Uzbekistan and expand the civic space in general:
NGOs in Uzbekistan should be consulted when determining the needs of women, youth, the elderly, and people with disabilities and planning future legal services.
Apart from that, based on international best practices, it is beneficial to delegate to NGOs the functions related to counseling women, youth, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Lastly, attention should be paid to increasing the advocacy capacity of the existing NGOs in order to increase their outreach.
To summarize, civil society should be viewed as a potential partner in resolving social problems such as adaptation to climate change, ensuring environmental justice, ending gender-based violence, providing social protection and legal support to vulnerable populations, etc. Apart from that, a free press and empowered civil society can deal with issues of corruption, ensure economic inclusion, and support ongoing democratic reforms of the government.
Moving forward, UNDP along with partners will continue building the capacity of civil society to enhance legal literacy of population, expand the accessibility of legal aid, and foster a more robust and inclusive legal system that upholds the rights of all citizens, particularly the most vulnerable. UNDP will also support CSOs in strengthening their partnership with public and private sector to deliver effective and efficient legal services to the population.
