Rukhshona Narzulloeva & Shabnam Akobirshoeva

SUSI 2015

"We all look upon strong independent women, but how do we become one ourselves?" - this quote perfectly summarizes the core purpose behind the "Yes We Can" Women's Leadership Project implemented by Roxy Narzulloeva and Shabnam Akobirshoeva in March 2016. Roxy and Shabnam selected ten participants based on leadership skills and self-motivation to attend a week-long professional development workshop series in Dushanbe. The workshop, designed to strengthen women’s business and social project planning skills, included prominent female guest speakers from television, radio, business and youth education sectors. In addition to engaging in motivating dialogue with the speakers, project participants worked in small groups to develop a specific business or social project to address pressing women’s issues in Tajikistan and gained public speaking skills to promote their projects with confidence.

On the final day, guests were invited to a final conference including motivational guest speakers and project presentations. The proposed project themes included preventing domestic violence against women, promoting national cultural values and patriotism for modern youth of Tajikistan, and preventing youth suicide. The workshop participants will continue to work on their projects this year and support each other via a dedicated social media group.

_{Rukhshona (Roxy) Narzulloeva addresses the audience at the final presentation conference.}