Uzbekistan: Parliament and women’s participation

12/04/2023

Uzbekistan: Parliament and women’s participation

In recent years, as a result of favorable conditions created primarily by the Head of State, a large-scale work has been carried out in order to provide for comprehensive support for the rights and legitimate interests of our women.

It is no wonder that the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his speech at the 20^th plenary meeting of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan said: “It is no coincidence that nowadays every woman is obliged to be an active and proactive participant in democratic processes, and not an observer.”

In accordance with Article 58 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted this year in a new edition, equality of women and men is established. It stipulates that the state provides women and men with equal rights and opportunities in managing the affairs of society and the state, as well as in other spheres of social and public life.

41 regulatory documents (2 Laws, 2 Decrees and 12 ordinances of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and also 25 government decrees) were adopted in order to improve the legal basis of providing equal opportunities and rights of the women and men.

The Laws “On guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for women and men” and “On protecting women from harassment and violence” and “Strategy for achieving the gender equality in the Republic of Uzbekistan by 2030” adopted by upper chamber of the Oliy Majlis are being effectively implemented in order to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in the public service.

Besides that, in 2018 the Government adopted a decision on the implementation of national goals and tasks in the field of sustainable development in the period until 2030 in order to increase the role of women in public administration, their effective participation in the political, economic and social life of the country and create equal opportunities. This document envisages the full and effective participation and equal opportunities of women to work at all levels of decision-making.

Sufficient employment of women in leadership positions has a positive impact on the development of society in all countries. The global practice shows that increasing the number of women in public administration and politics makes it possible to solve pressing problems of women and significantly improve the protection of their interests.

Women’s participation in decision-making has significantly increased today. Their share in leadership positions has reached 33%, in entrepreneurship – 37%, in political parties – 47%, and in higher education – 48%.

Women account for 33% of MPs of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, 24% of the members of Senate, and 25% of MPs of the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the provincial and Tashkent city councils of people’s deputies.

Women work in the leadership of Parliament and the Government.

The Oliy Majlis Senate Committee on Women and Gender Equality has been established.

To further expand opportunities for women’s participation in the social and political life of the country, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward an initiative to increase the number of women candidates for deputies, and as a result 30% gender quotas for women were stipulated in the Electoral Code of Uzbekistan. This helps to safeguard the rights and interests of the women at the political level.

At the same time, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for women and men” stipulates the provision of equal rights and opportunities for women and men in the election to the representative bodies, as well as in terms of nomination of candidates from political the parties to the Legislative Chamber and local legislative councils.

Political parties have played a leading role in increasing women’s participation. Their activism in political parties has significantly increased and each party has active “Women’s wing”.

The Parliament traditionally holds a forum named “The role of women in parliament in the development of Uzbekistan” each year in December. The aim is to enhance the status of parliamentary women in the socio-political and economic development of the country, to further increase and expand their role in the country’s political processes, and to increase the activity of women working in the public administration bodies.

It should be noted that, in terms of the number of women MPs, our country’s parliament ranks 52nd in the ranking of 190 national parliaments in the world. This, in turn, testifies to ensuring the representation of women in a democratic society in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in our country.