OSCE/ODIHR Notes Increased Participation of Women in Public and Political Life of Uzbekistan

Particular attention in the Interim Report on the Observation of the Early Presidential Elections of Uzbekistan, published on June 26, is given to measures to ensure gender equality and empower women in Uzbekistan.

“The CEC has registered four presidential candidates, one of them is a woman,” the report says. – Reforms aimed at increasing women's participation in public and political life have been underway since 2016, and the number of women in parliament has increased to 48 out of 150 seats in the current parliament (32 percent). The current CEC has 21 members, including seven women. According to the CEC, 41.4% of all DEC members and 52.1% of PEC members are women.”
At present, one of the priority areas of state policy in Uzbekistan is the achievement of gender equality, ensuring the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of women, strengthening their role in public and state life;
In this regard, more than 20 decrees and resolutions of the President, government resolutions have been adopted. A number of changes and additions have been introduced, providing for strengthening work to prevent violence against women and domestic violence, combating outdated customs;
Mandatory gender legal expertise has been introduced, aimed at eliminating the inconsistency of the provisions of regulatory legal acts with the principles of gender equality, identifying possible risks of a discriminatory nature in the process of their application, and a Strategy for achieving gender equality for the period up to 2030 has been developed.
In this context, it should be noted that there are no restrictions for women to act as candidates in elections, campaign for elections and be elected to representative bodies of power.