The following is from GFW Advisor, Anna Kirey, who also works with Labrys, an LBT shelter in Kyrgyzstan.

Bishkek has been looted overnight. People in Labrys shelter are safe, we still have to check on how others in our community are doing. In 2005, during a similar 'revolution' a lesbian woman was raped by the looters for her “masculine” looks. We fear that women and transgendered people may be targeted by angry drunk looters.

How are women faring since the 1995 historic Beijing world conference on women? Read an insightful analyses published in Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) by Global Fund’s Christine Ahn (Senior Policy Analyst) and Anasuya Sengupta (Regional Director for Asia/Oceania).  This article also highlights reflections from the recently concluded Beijing+15 and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.  Read the article

As the crisis in Kyrgyzstan continues to escalate, and news reports continue to pour in of the deaths and protests, we just heard word from two of our Kyrgyz sisters – Nurgul Djanaeva, Global Fund Board member and head of grantee partner, Forum for Women’s NGOs in Kyrgyzstan and advisor Anna Kirey, who works with Labrys, an LBT shelter in the country. Read their email updates to the Global Fund’s ECIS team (addressed to ECIS Program Director Angelika Arutyunova):

Email from Nurgul Djanaeva:

As the crisis in Kyrgyzstan continues to escalate, and news reports continue to pour in of the deaths and protests, we just heard word from two of our Kyrgyz sisters – Nurgul Djanaeva, Global Fund Board member and head of grantee partner, Forum for Women’s NGOs in Kyrgyzstan and advisor Anna Kirey, who works with Labrys, an LGBT shelter in the country. Read their email updates to the Global Fund for Women, addressed to our ECIS Program Director Angelika Arutyunova.

Email from Nurgul Djanaeva: