Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Gender and Development Indicators for Uzbekistan

the basic statistical indicators in the social sphere demonstrate the government’s strong commitment to development goals (table 1). In 2016, Uzbekistan ranked 105th out of 185 countries in the Human development Index and was categorized as a high human development country. In the Gender Inequality Index that same year, Uzbekistan was rated 57th out of 188 countries, mainly because of women’s high education levels and labor force participation rates. In 2014, the Organisation for economic Co-operation and development (OeCd) included Uzbekistan in its Social Institutions and Gender Index, ranking it 52nd out of 86 non-OeCd countries and giving it an overall score of 0.1475 in the medium category. according to the Global Gender Gap Index and the Gender equity Index, Uzbekistan is close to gender equality in education and health.

a related indicator is the poverty rate. to assess poverty, Uzbekistan uses the World Bank concept, which is based on household surveys and sets absolute poverty at 2,100 calories per person per day. another interrelated indicator is the poverty rate. Uzbekistan uses the World Bank’s concept to assess poverty, based on household surveys, which sets the absolute poverty at 2,100 calories person/day. Only 12.8% of Uzbekistan’s population in 2015 was below the poverty line. the government classifies the vulnerable and low-income population as poor, and sets the low-income threshold at 1.5 times the minimum wage.

despite the positive value of the above social indicators, there are unresolved issues related to the status of women and gender equality, such as significant gender disparities in property ownership; vertical and horizontal segregation in labor markets, where women are underrepresented in high-level decision-making positions in all sectors; and a tendency for

women to be employed in the social sector or in part-time, seasonal, low-paying, or unskilled jobs in the formal and informal sectors. traditional stereotypes of the roles of women and men in the family and in society are also a major challenge.