The history of Uzbekistan has been rich in stories about the courage and knowledge, nobility and valor of local women, their high sense of honor and dignity as well as the important role they have played in governance. They include Tumaris, Saraimulkkhanum, Gavharshadbegim, Nadirabegim, Uvaisi, Anbarotin, who were second to none with their abilities in public administration, military arts, education and zeal, literature and religious literacy. They lived in the Bukhara Emirate, the Kokand and Khiva Khanates, were active in charity, and invested their funds in the promotion of enlightenment, as documents in the National Archives of Uzbekistan suggest.
The national history designates a special place to Jadid women, pioneers of their era, with their new thinking. Nozimakhanum (1870-1924) was the first female publicist and journalist of the Jadid era. As the historian Begali Kasimov notes, she left a big hallmark on the desire of Uzbek women for liberalization of their role in society. In her poems, she defended the rights of women to education and participation in the public life of Turkestan, and also questioned inequality in family relations. The journalist Sobira Kholdarova (1907-1984) wrote in her articles about girls’ education, refusal of the burqa, going to work, and the struggle with conservative views. And Bashorat Mirbabayeva (1916-2010) was the first female locomotive-driver; in the first years of World War II, she delivered products from Uzbekistan to the frontline territory.
Today, women in this country are attached great significance, while the government has been zealous to deliver everything conducive for their active participation in diverse spheres of life. Under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, special attention is paid to increasing the socio-political activity of women, protecting their health, supporting their initiatives, and creating decent working and living conditions for them.
One of the priority areas of public policy in Uzbekistan has been to secure gender equality, the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of women, uplifting their role in public life.
It is worth noting that Uzbekistan has acceded to all major international treaties providing for the legal, social and economic protection of women from any form of discrimination and harassment.
In particular, in order to implement and achieve one of the key goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda adopted by the UN General Assembly, gender equality, Uzbekistan has developed national strategies and tasks to promote women and girls empowerment and capacity building. Accordingly, the goal has been set to ensure gender equality, eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere, secure their full and effective participation in political, legal, socio-economic and cultural-humanitarian life and deliver equal opportunities for them. In addition, the 2017-2021 Actions Strategy sets out priority tasks to boost the socio-political activity of women, to bolster their role in government and society, ensure their employment, their extensive participation in entrepreneurship and in the consolidation of the foundations of the institution of family.
Continuation of the policy of ensuring gender equality, increasing the socio-political activity of women, and implementing reforms to support them is defined as one of the goals in the Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026. In addition, the country also adopted the National Program to Upsurge the Activity of Women in All Spheres of the Economic, Political and Social Life of the Country for 2022-2026. The document is aimed at perfecting the system of social protection for women, achieving gender equality, raising the effectiveness of supporting women in realizing their rights and interests, strengthening their health, creating the necessary conditions for the education and upbringing of girls and young women, increasing their scientific potential, their role in society, and enhancing their participation in public administration. Apart from that, the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy sets the goal to buttress gender equality, step up the system of support for women, to ensure their rights and legitimate interests, elevate their social, economic, political activity. The end result sought is to upturn the share of women in leadership positions to 30 percent. In order to ensure equal and high-quality education for all, deliver opportunities for girls from rural areas to obtain higher education, prevent gender-related violence, the country has devised a 2030 Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Normative acts adopted in the country are also designed to reinforce the guarantees of equal participation of women and men in public administration and all spheres of public life. In particular, in recent years, more than 50 legislative acts have been passed to ensure the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of women. In September 2019, for example, the Laws on Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men, and on the Protection of Women from Oppression and Violence entered into force.
A National Commission on Enhancing the Role of Women in Society, Gender Equality and Family Issues was created to address corresponding matters. Moreover, the issue was also enshrined at the constitutional level. Thus, Article 58 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the new edition provides for equal rights for women and men, the state ensures equal rights and opportunities for women and men in governance, as well as in other walks of public life.
Today, women are represented in all spheres of the socio-economic, political and cultural life of society, take an active part in the work of government bodies and public organizations, and contribute to the education of the younger generation, healthcare, the social work, the development of industry, agriculture and other areas. According to a survey conducted by Ijtimoiy Fikr National Center for the Study of Public Opinion in March 2023, 78.3% of respondents (representatives of various ethnicities and social groups living in both urban and rural areas) noted the increasing role of women in all spheres of society. Another 89.6% of survey participants aged 18 to 24 noted that men and women have equal voting rights, that is, they can exercise the right to elect and be elected to representative bodies of state power guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 79.4% of respondents answered that girls and boys have equal rights to education.
Today, in the context of constantly growing changes in politics, economics, and ecology, the need for gender-sensitive parliaments and women’s participation in public administration is more pressing than ever.
Speaking about the role of women in public administration, one should stress that in 2017, the share of women in the sphere of management and administration was 27%, and today it has reached 35%. About 2 thousand educated, proactive and energetic women occupy leadership positions in state and public organizations, including 45 in ministries and other government agencies, 39 in the Presidential Administration and the Cabinet of Ministers, 207 in local executive authorities. In particular, in the previous parliamentary elections in 2019, for the first time in the history of Uzbekistan, women elected to the Legislative Chamber (lower house of the parliament, Oliy Majlis) accounted for 32 percent of the total number of elected people’s representatives, 25 percent of the members of the Senate, the share of women in the ranks of political parties increased from 40% in 2017 to 47% in 2023.
Today, remarkable emphasis is placed on turning the legislature into a gender-sensitive parliament. Thus, the Committee on Women and Gender Equality was established in the upper house, tasking it with developing proposals for the implementation of public policy aimed at ensuring gender equality, at the improving legislation and exercising parliamentary oversight in the sphere. Commission on Ensuring Gender Equality was set up in the Senate chaired by the upper house’s Chairwoman.
Equally noteworthy is the special role of a gender-oriented parliament in addressing issues of sustainable development, risks that impede global recovery from the pandemic, as well as those associated with technology, human rights and gender equality in the world of technology. All of the above have been indicative of the fundamentally new approaches and trends in organizing the activities of the Uzbek legislature.
In recent years, the representation of women in elected bodies, including in election commissions at all levels, has increased. Changes in the composition of the Central Election Commission that took place in 2019 led to an increase in the number of women from 19 to 33 percent. Moreover, during the 2019 election campaign, the participation of women in election commissions for the election of members of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis also grew, namely, district commissions comprising 46% of women and precinct election commissions – 49%.
The growing role of women in Uzbekistan in political processes and enhancement of their role in election campaigns were reflected in the Final Report of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission.
The efforts undertaken in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to bolster the role of women in political processes and expand their participation in electoral processes is reflected in the improvement of legislation.
In particular, on 18 December 2023, the head of state signed the Law on Amendments and Addenda to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aimed at Further Improving the Procedure for Holding Elections and Referendums, which amended the Electoral Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The document stipulates that women’s participation in elections should be at least 40 percent of the number of candidates from a political party in single-mandate constituencies, as well as on the basis of the party list. At the same time, at least two out of five candidates in sequence on the party list must be women.
Thus, the number of women among candidates nominated by political parties in the upcoming elections to the Legislative Chamber is 391, or 44.7 percent. This is the highest figure in the history of the national electoral system.
In general, Uzbekistan has always demonstrated its commitment to the goals and principles of the UN Charter and other universally recognized norms of international law. Therefore, today the national experience in supporting women is widely acknowledged on the international scale. Undoubtedly, Uzbekistan will continue to work on the full realization of women’s leadership potential, providing them with modern education, professional training and employment.
Zuxra Shadiyeva,
Member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis
of the Republic of Uzbekistan
