The laureates
Aigerim Kamidola is an independent consultant specializing in international human rights law, social justice, women’s rights, and interdisciplinary research in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
She has expertise in a wide range of legal, political, and philanthropic advocacy activities at the local, national, and international levels, including with the UN, the EU, the OSCE, and the ODIHR
Among the notable achievements of her work are the repeal, in 2021, of the century-old legal ban preventing women from practicing more than 200 professions; the withdrawal of the so-called “anti-gender” bill from the Kazakh Parliament in 2020; the repeal of discriminatory regulations regarding so-called “gay propaganda,” as well as the launch of a sex education platform for adolescents in 2019. She has also provided legal assistance in cases related to discrimination, freedom of assembly and association, the prosecution of participants in women’s rights marches, and NGOs that were denied registration.
Depuis 2021, elle conseille des acteurs de la société civile en matière de plaidoyer et de rédaction de rapports Since 2021, she has been advising civil society actors on advocacy and report writing for UN treaty bodies, Special Procedures, and in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. She also conducts research on SRHR and facilitates adult education by designing courses, lectures, and workshops on UN advocacy for grassroots advocates. Her research, grounded in a critique of the studies on the memory of capitalism and in decolonial feminist methodologies, focuses on women’s labor, gender, memory, and trauma. Among her published works is the book *Women Who Are Free to Choose*, which tells the story of a female truck driver, informally hired in a profession forbidden to women in a small industrial village in Kazakhstan. This book also presents an analysis highlighting the gender dimensions of a popular protest movement in the country, sparked by workers in industrial oil fields in January 2022, titled “The Non-Feminine Face of Qantar in Kazakhstan[1].” DSSR et facilite l’éducation des adultes à travers la conception de cours, conférences et ateliers sur le plaidoyer auprès de l’ONU à l’intention des défenseurs sur le terrain. Son travail de recherche, ancré dans une critique des études sur la mémoire du capitalisme et dans les méthodologies féministes décoloniales, se concentre sur le travail des femmes, le genre, la mémoire et le traumatisme. Parmi ses travaux publiés figure le livre Les femmes qui sont libres de choisir, qui raconte l’histoire d’une conductrice de poids lourds, embauchée informellement dans un métier interdit aux femmes dans un petit village industriel au Kazakhstan. Ce livre présente également une analyse mettant en avant les dimensions liées au genre d’un mouvement de contestation populaire du pays, déclenché par des travailleurs des champs pétroliers industriels en janvier 2022, intitulé « Le visage non féminin du Qantar au Kazakhstan[1]».
Aigerim has also provided emergency aid and psychosocial support to human rights defenders, contributing to the overall safety and well-being of women activists in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Eastern Europe.
Aigerim is a graduate of Edinburgh Law School and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University, supported by the Harriman Institute. She also holds a master’s degree in human rights policy and practice from a joint program offered by the University of Gothenburg, the University of Deusto, and the University of Roehampton.