Asian development bank

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Chair of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan

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his country gender assessment (CGa) update was prepared under the regional technical assistance project Strengthening Gender-Inclusive Growth in Central and West asia (Reta 9088) of the asian development Bank (adB).

Research for and writing of the report was done by eleonora Fayzullaeva, gender consultant. the assessment process was managed and supervised by adB’s Central and West asia department (CWRd) gender team under Mary alice Rosero, social development specialist on gender and development. Mekhri Khudayberdiyeva, senior social development officer for the Uzbekistan Resident Mission, and Leavides G. domingo-Cabarrubias, gender consultant, provided technical support and guidance throughout the process of CGa preparation. Maria ava Golda destura and Fritz tadeo tuliao provided administrative and logistical support.

the full support of the CWRd management team made this CGa update possible. the production team wishes to convey its deep appreciation to takeo Konishi country director, Uzbekistan Resident Mission; Nianshan Zhang, advisor and head of the portfolio, Results, Safeguards and Gender Unit; Hong Wei, deputy director general; Werner Liepach, director general; and Sean O’Sullivan, former director general.

the team is also grateful for the invaluable support and participation of the Government of Uzbekistan in the preparation of this assessment. the assistance of development partners of adB, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders and their participation during interviews and focus group discussions are gratefully acknowledged, as is their continuing commitment to promoting gender equality in Uzbekistan.

Special mention is made of the role of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the State Committee on Statistics, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Business Women’s association, the National Bank of Uzbekistan, Hamkor Bank, Ipak Yuli Bank, Qishloq Qurilish Bank, and Ipoteka Bank.

this report benefited from critical review and constructive comments received from different ministries and government agencies, specifically the Ministry of economy, the Ministry of employment and Labor Relations, the Ministry of agriculture, and the joint-stock companies Uzbekenergo and Uzkommunhizmat.

x Acknowledgments

Credit is also due to the peer reviewers at adB for their valuable inputs: Sonomi tanaka, technical advisor on gender equity; Malika Shagazatova, gender consultant, SdtC-GeN and Rika Idei, transport specialist, CWtC; and, at the Uzbekistan Resident Mission, Begzod djalilov, national consultant on economic issues.

Gender specialists for adB-supported projects in Uzbekistan Zamira Uktamova, Sabina abdulzade, diana arlantseva, Sayora tillakhodjaeva, Shakhnoza Horinova, and Iroda Malikova, as well as monitoring and evaluation specialist Rustam Saparov, provided assistance in organizing field surveys for this CGa update and shared information and resources relevant to the implementation of gender action plans within their respective projects. dildora amirkulova, chairperson, Umid Center, shared her expertise and provided support at different stages of the assessment process.

We thank all the women and men who gave generously of their time, expertise, and experience, and thus contributed to the completion of this CGa update.
t
he policy on Gender and development of the asian development Bank (adB) adopts gender mainstreaming as a key women’s empowerment strategy with a dual approach:
(i) treating gender as a crosscutting concern in all social and economic processes, and
(ii) adopting targeted measures to address disparities. Since 2014, adB has taken significant steps to mainstream gender in its Uzbekistan operations, and 43% of its active portfolio has included gender action plans (Gaps) covenanted in loan agreements. Within the “gender portfolio,” the most number of projects with Gaps are in water and municipal infrastructure (35%), energy (29%), and finance (21%).