Women’s Leadership, Climate and Water: How Participants of the Summer Online School Brought Together Knowledge, Experience and Solutions

From July to August 2026, a Summer Online School was held as part of the project “Women of the Fergana Valley on the Frontline of Climate Resilience, Adaptation and Peace” for members of the “Tynchtyk Bulagy – Women for Climate and Water Security” network. Over the course of eight weeks, participants from different regions of Kyrgyzstan met with experts, activists, representatives of government institutions and the international community to discuss climate and water security, women’s leadership, peacebuilding, and women’s participation in decision-making.

The participants of the School are rural women and activists of the Network, which currently brings together around 200 women from the Batken, Jalal-Abad, and Osh regions. They include women members of local councils, women farmers, and women heads of households.

One of the key topics of the School was advocacy and advancing solutions at the local and national levels. Participants discussed how to turn the challenges faced by women and communities into concrete initiatives and how to advocate for solutions through engagement with government institutions and other stakeholders.

A separate session was dedicated to the experiences of women farmers. Participants learned about the work of the “Dyikan Muras” seed farmers’ network, which brings together more than 700 farmers, 98 percent of whom are women. This experience demonstrated that women’s participation in agriculture is not only a matter of economic independence, but also an important resource for strengthening the resilience of rural communities.

Considerable attention during the School was devoted to climate change and agricultural adaptation. Experts discussed the impacts of climate change on soils and water resources, as well as traditional and modern water-saving technologies. This topic is particularly relevant for participants from the Batken, Osh, and Jalal-Abad regions, where climate change directly affects access to water, agricultural production, and the resilience of local communities.

Another important focus was understanding water as a tool for peace and cooperation. Participants discussed the Women, Peace and Security agenda and opportunities to advance it through cooperation in the field of water resources.

A special highlight of the programme was a meeting with women members of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic, Erkeayim Seitkazieva and Makhabat Mavlyanova, members of the Committee on Agrarian Policy, Water Resources, Subsoil Use, Ecology and Environmental Protection. Participants had an opportunity to engage directly with the parliamentarians on issues affecting rural women, including their participation in decision-making, water and environmental issues, social protection, and legislative initiatives. The meeting provided an important platform for direct dialogue between women leaders from the regions and representatives at the national level.

As part of the School, participants also met with Anna Kirilenko, Climate Change Programme Coordinator at the BIOM Environmental Movement. They explored how climate change is already affecting, and is expected to affect in the future, the Batken, Jalal-Abad, and Osh regions. The participants also discussed practical adaptation measures, including efficient water use, modern irrigation technologies, rainwater harvesting, and soil moisture conservation.

A particularly significant part of the School was the regional meeting of women leaders from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Khairiniso Rasulova, a member of the Secretariat of the Women’s Basin Forums and a national gender expert from Tajikistan, shared the experience of establishing and operating Women’s Basin Forums. Participants discussed women’s participation in water resource management, the work of basin councils, transboundary cooperation, and opportunities to apply Tajikistan’s experience in Kyrgyzstan. Such exchanges are particularly important for border regions, where water issues cannot be addressed within the boundaries of a single country alone.

The Summer School programme concluded with a meeting with Roza Otunbayeva, former President of the Kyrgyz Republic and former Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The discussion on women’s leadership, peacebuilding, and contemporary challenges in Central Asia enabled participants to view local issues within a broader regional context. Particular attention was paid to the situation of women in Afghanistan, the importance of education and women’s participation in public life, and the need to preserve space for women’s leadership even in times of crisis.

What Participants Said About the Summer Online School

An important outcome of the Summer Online School was not only the knowledge gained, but also the way participants began connecting the topics discussed with their everyday lives, professional activities, and the challenges facing their communities. In their feedback, women highlighted the practical value of the sessions, the opportunity to exchange experiences, and the chance to discuss issues shared by communities across different localities.

One participant from the Nooken district, who works as a chief specialist on social issues at the Burgondu-Dostuk ayil okmotu (rural municipality), highlighted the diversity of women participating in the Network:

“The training brings together women members of local councils, chairs of women’s councils, healthcare workers, teachers, librarians, and women engaged in household work. Although they work in different fields, women face many similar challenges. During the sessions, we gain useful knowledge on how to address these issues.”

What Participants from Kyzyl-Bagysh Village Said

Participants from Kyzyl-Bagysh village noted that the School helped them see the connections between climate change, water, women’s leadership, and the development of local communities from a new perspective:

“We learned a great deal about climate change, responsible water use, the role of women in society, and peacebuilding. We were once again convinced that women’s participation in decision-making at the local level makes an important contribution to the development of society. We will strive to put the knowledge we have gained into practice and contribute to the development of our community.”

The online meetings with women leaders and members of the Jogorku Kenesh generated particular interest. In their feedback, participants highlighted the opportunity to ask questions directly, receive relevant information, and discuss the challenges women face at the local level:

“Many thanks to the organizers for the opportunity to meet online with members of the Jogorku Kenesh. The meeting went very well, and we received information that was important and useful to us.”

In their feedback following individual sessions, women also noted that they had gained a better understanding of women’s role in ensuring water security and participating in decision-making. One participant put it this way:

“After each session, I become more convinced of how important women’s role is in society and in addressing challenges at the local level.”

This feedback highlights one of the key outcomes of the School: participants began to see climate, water, peace, and women’s leadership not as separate issues, but as closely interconnected areas. Drawing on their own experiences, women saw how these issues are linked — from responsible water use and climate change adaptation to participation in decision-making and advocating for the interests of their communities.

From Knowledge to Action

The Summer Online School was more than a series of educational sessions. It created a space where women from different regions of Kyrgyzstan could exchange experiences, ask questions directly to experts and government representatives, build new connections, and explore practical solutions for their communities.

One of the key takeaways from the School was that climate and water security are closely linked to gender equality, peace, and women’s participation in decision-making. Women who directly experience water scarcity, the impacts of climate change, and socio-economic challenges in their communities should have opportunities not only to raise these issues, but also to participate in developing solutions.

This is why investing in women’s leadership today means investing not only in women’s empowerment, but also in community resilience, cooperation, and a peaceful future for the Fergana Valley.

The Summer Online School ran from 6 July to 30 August and included eight thematic sessions with experts and leaders from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.