Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Women’s Political Participation

Legislation in Uzbekistan does not restrict women’s political participation. Uzbekistan prohibits violence against women, and antidiscrimination laws forbid discrimination in the workplace.²⁹ Women throughout the country hold high office. Well-known women include 14 senators
and 15 deputies in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (parliament), 2 female ministers,


²⁷ adB. 2005. Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment. Manila. pp. 9–10.
²⁸ to improve the collection, analysis, and use of gender statistics, adB supported the State Committee on Statistics and the WCU in launching (in January 2014) and further maintaining the official website, under the promoting Gender- Inclusive Growth in Central and West asia developing Member Countries (Regional technical assistance 7563) project.
²⁹ “Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2013. Universal Periodic Review: Uzbekistan.
Geneva. paras. 96–97.”
10 Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update

514 doctors of science, 2 rectors of higher educational institutions, 6 academics, and 15 Heroes of Uzbekistan.³⁰ Women compose more than 23% of the deputies to local kengashes (councils), and 72% work in science, education, health, culture, and the arts. Over 8,500 women work

in communities as advisers on religion, enlightenment, and spiritual–moral upbringing (maslakhatchi).³¹

Since the introduction of the 30% female quota for political parties’ candidate lists, the proportion of women in parliament has increased, from 9.4% in 2004 to 16% in 2017. However, this proportion remains almost the same as in the last CGa in 2014 (17% for the Oliy Majlis, and 15% for the Legislative Chamber).

Women are underrepresented in other high-level decision-making positions. In 2017, all hokims (mayors) in 14 regions and in the city of tashkent were male. among 84 deputy hokims of viloyat (regions), 14 were women (16.67%), mostly for women’s issues.³² Women were also better represented at the district level, accounting for 193 of 1,772 deputy district hokims (25%) in 2017.³³ Women have not yet reached the minimum 30% representation that would ensure an effective voice in decision making. therefore, the government needs to support surveys on the barriers to more active political and public participation by women. table 2 provides a sex-disaggregated breakdown of the membership of key legislative and executive decision-making bodies.