More than 200 participants from 30 international women institutions participated in Tashkent international conference “The role of women in the democratic renewal and modernization of the country: the experience of Uzbekistan and international practice” and discussed a wide range of matters aimed at addressing issues of gender equality, increasing women's role and opportunities in public administration, expanding employment, entrepreneurship and social protection of women.

Increasing the socio-political activity of women, strengthening their role in government and society, ensuring the employment of women, graduates of vocational colleges, their widespread involvement in entrepreneurship, and further strengthening the foundations of the family is set forth as a priority task in the Actions Strategy for 2017-2021.

Expanding the role of women in public administration is also a key element of the national Sustainable Development Goal No. 5. On October 20, 2018, the Government of Uzbekistan adopted a Resolution “On Measures for the Implementation of National Goals and Objectives in the Field of Sustainable Development for the Period until 2030”. Task 5.5. stipulates that it is necessary to “ensure the full and effective participation of women and equal opportunities for them to lead at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”.

“Having a critical mass of women in leadership and decision-making positions is positive for human development in all countries.  Thus, the world practice shows that increasing the representation of women in public administration leads to the fact that legislation is developed considering gender factors, the participation of women in politics suggests that the daily issues of women also begin to rise in parliamentary debates. Thus, increasing the representation of women in public administration can improve the protection of women's interests,” noted Helena Fraser, UNDP Resident Representative in Uzbekistan.    

“Large-scale work is being carried out in the country to increase the socio-political activity of women, to show their talent and abilities in various fields, to ensure the strict observance of their rights and legitimate interests, and to strengthen the institution of the family,” stressed Tanzila Narbaeva, Deputy Prime-Minister, Chairperson of Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan.  

Following panel discussions, the conference participants agreed to develop a strategy to increase the number of girls and women in industries, where their participation is marginal or completely absent.  

Conference participants also acknowledged the need to developa set of measures to create jobs for girls and women with disabilities, study experience in the areas of entrepreneurship development, artistic, scientific, technical and national creativity among women, discuss partnerships and sign memorandums between the Women's Committee of Uzbekistan and the main government and non-governmental organizations organizations that deal with women's issues in Central Asia and other developed countries will be the focus of attention Conference Cove.

International conference was organized by Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan in partnership with the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Independent Institute for Monitoring the Formation of Civil Society, the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, National Association of Electronic Media of the Republic of Uzbekistan and National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organizations of Uzbekistan, as well as United Nations Development Programme in Uzbekistan, Representative Office of F. Ebert Foundation (Germany) in Uzbekistan, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, the UNICEF Office in Uzbekistan and the UNFPA Office in Uzbekistan as international partners of the conference.