Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Government Commitments

the modernization of railway infrastructure is a priority for the country. Since its founding in 1994, temir Yollari, the Uzbekistan railways state company, has gradually modernized the railways, unifying the railways network, introducing electrification and modernization, and improving rolling stock. a total of 2,446 km (52%) of the network has been electrified.
the 4,669 km Uzbekistan rail network carries about 60 million tons of freight and 15 million passengers annually. Consistent growth in Gdp (more than 7% per year since 2004) has contributed to strong demand for rail transport.¹⁷⁵

the government has initiated critical sector-wide reforms in automobile transport and roads. In particular, the realignment of transport sector institutions has transformed Uzavtoyul, a road agency, into the State Committee for Roads, which is responsible for developing and maintaining all roads in Uzbekistan, including state and local roads. the government also reorganized the Republican Road Fund under the Cabinet of Ministers to focus mainly on financing.¹⁷⁶

3. Key Gender Equality Issues

poor road conditions are especially challenging in cold weather, as they increase the vulnerability of the rural population in meeting their social needs (e.g., accompanying younger children when traveling to and from school, accompanying children and elders to health facilities, shopping at markets, visiting relatives in neighboring areas). these chores depend largely on safe transport and roads. Unreliable public transport therefore presents a serious barrier to job access for the population, particularly women; to access jobs; affects attendance at education and training facilities; and limits access to good-quality health services and information hubs.<sup>177


173</sup> Currently, several government entities deal with street lighting but do not associate with Uzbekenergo (i.e., local hokimiyats); the State Committee of Uzbekistan on architecture and construction; the State unitary enterprise Toshshaharnur, Kapitaltaminnur, and the State Inspectorate (Uzgosenergonadzor) Service for city street lighting. Information on criteria for establishing street lighting and bus shelters was not available during CGaU preparation.
¹⁷⁴ Y. Lambrou and G. piana. 2006. Energy and Gender Issues in Rural Sustainable Development. UN Food and agriculture Organization. Rome.
¹⁷⁵ adB. 2016. project data Sheet (pdS). Uzbekistan: Railway Efficiency Improvement Project. https://www.adb.org/ projects/51052-002/main#project-pds
¹⁷⁶ decree of the president # 4954 (14 February 2017). On Measures for Further Improvement of Roads Management System, which establishes the State Committee on automobile Roads on the basis of “UzavtoYul” JSC for a complex approach to planning, construction and exploitation of automobile roads; decree of the president # 2776 (14 February 2017). On Organization of the Activities of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Automobile Roads under the CoM of Uzbekistan; decree of the president # 2724 (10 January 2017). On Measures of Further Improvement of Transport Services to Population and Passenger Bus Commute in Cities and Rural Areas.
¹⁷⁷ UN Food and agriculture Organization. 2017. Gender, Rural Livelihoods and Forestry. Socio-economic and Gender Analysis of Forestry Sector in Uzbekistan. tashkent. Uzbekistan. p. 24–26 (in press).
58 Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update

at the institutional level, there is significant gender asymmetry in this sector. despite an increasing share of women since 2014, men dominate employment in both the transport and roads subsectors. the percentage of female technical staff in the Uzbek agency for automobile and River transport has decreased continuously, from 53.3% in 2014 to 38.1% in 2015 and 25% in 2016, mostly because of structural reforms, the methodology for calculating technical staff numbers pre- and post-reform, and the generally low representation of women in nontraditional “female” sectors. Few young women pursue engineering in higher education institutions.¹⁷⁸ additionally, protective legislation limits women’s employment in several sectors, including transport and construction.¹⁷⁹ a gender-focused special study of the sector might reveal further root causes of this asymmetry.

efforts by Uzbekistan Railway JSC to motivate women to seek specialist and managerial staff positions resulted in a 35% women’s representation at these levels, which is higher than in other developed countries.¹⁸⁰ However, the challenges persist because gender parity dynamics in Uzbekistan Railways JSC are regressive. the general trend of low female representation in technical sectors of study and employment adds to the growing gender imbalance. Further causes require investigation. table 7 shows the sex-disaggregated dynamics of the staff in automobile, river, and railway transport sectors in 2014–2016.