International Journal of Law And Criminology
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VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue06 2025
PAGE NO.
19-24
10.37547/ijlc/Volume05Issue06-05
Features Of Uzbekistan’s Policy On Women’s
Empowerment
Durdona Madaminova
Doctor of political sciences, dotsent, Tashkent State University of Law, Uzbekistan
Received:
12 April 2025;
Accepted:
08 May 2025;
Published:
17 June 2025
Abstract:
We are witnessing that our state is making many fruitful efforts to protect the rights and interests of
every citizen living in the Republic of Uzbekistan. In this respect, the basis of today's policy is to improve the main
directions of our country's development and bring the ongoing large-scale reforms to a new stage under the
updated constitutional and legal conditions. In this regard, it should be noted that the "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy
is fulfilling its programmatic function.
After all, at its core are important ideas that serve to create all opportunities for every citizen to develop their
potential, to raise a healthy, educated and morally mature generation, to form a strong economy, to ensure the
rule of law, security and stability. According to these ideas, in the future, Uzbekistan will be among the countries
with higher than average income based on stable economic growth rates, the organization of education, medical
and social protection systems that can fully meet international standards, the improvement of the ecological
situation, which is becoming more and more important for today, the interests of the people It is natural that the
introduction of such things as establishing a serving state and ensuring our national sovereignty and security will
serve to form the foundations of a strong civil society.
On the basis of the "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy, five important directions have been put forward in order to
increase the effectiveness of achieving goals that serve the development of our country and the well-being of our
people. Among these directions, the tasks aimed at creating suitable conditions for each person to realize his
potential occupy a special place in the realization of the vital needs of the members of our society. Already, at its
core, issues aimed at reforming the education and health care system, improving the quality of social services,
increasing the scope of measures aimed at reducing poverty, accelerating the state policy on youth, and improving
the moral image of the people occupy an important place.
In recent years, a lot of significant work has been done to reform these areas. In particular, it is commendable
that many measures have been taken to strengthen the position of women in the family and society, to expand
their educational coverage, and to increase their share in state management. After all, the provision of women's
rights is not only a basic human right, but also an important guarantee of achieving peace, prosperity and
sustainable development. In recent years, the issue of women's education, prevention of early marriage, and
increasing their share in public administration has been on the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals until
2030. As the 5th goal of the BRM, a number of achievements have been made in this regard. However, certain
problems still remain. Research conducted within the framework of BRM shows that domestic violence against
women has increased internationally in recent years. As an effective solution to the existing problem, it is noted
that it is necessary to increase the role of women in economic sectors and strengthen their position in the life of
society. Within this article, the existing problems, their solutions and the results achieved in this regard will be
revealed on the example of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Keywords:
Gender equality, competition, power, privilege, violence, labor relations, management, management
psychology, social policy.
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Introduction:
As is known, the document adopted by
heads of state and government at the United Nations
General
Assembly
Summit
on
Sustainable
Development in September 2015 is a fundamentally
new global commitment for the period up to 2030. The
17 Sustainable Development Goals and their associated
targets cover a wide range of issues, from health and
well-being to climate change, from gender equality to
changing consumption and production patterns.
In recent years, the issue of achieving gender equality
has become a priority in the development of our
society. We are well aware that this issue has risen to
the level of state policy. We observe that many ideas
are being put forward in this regard, sometimes
positively, and sometimes negatively. By justifying the
fact that the issue of ensuring gender equality serves
the interests of all members of society equally, we can
overcome negative attitudes in this regard. Therefore,
when it comes to increasing the active participation of
women in public administration, it is appropriate to
dwell on the content and essence of gender equality.
As is known, gender equality means that men and
women have equal rights in social, economic and
political life. In this regard, it is important that women
and men can use existing opportunities on an equal
basis and that discrimination in this regard is not
allowed.
At the same time, it is important to create
opportunities in important areas of social life, which
are:
- legal equality, i.e. equal rights for men and women
before the law. These include inheritance rights, labor
legislation, and non-discrimination in family relations.
- creating equal opportunities for boys and girls in
education.
- ensuring equality in labor relations and the economic
sphere. This includes the creation of the opportunity
for women to freely enter the same positions as men
and receive the same pay for the same work.
- political activism, i.e. ensuring the active participation
of women in state governance and in the process of
making important political decisions.
One of the issues that has gained particular importance
among the Sustainable Development Goals is related to
Goal 5, namely, ensuring gender equality and
empowering all women. As one of the important
factors of human development, it is not without reason
that special attention is paid to this issue. After all, the
lack of attention to the place of women in society
serves to weaken the strength of society. At the same
time, we can see that a number of tasks have been set
to achieve this goal:
- to prevent discrimination against women in all aspects
of public life;
- to combat all forms of violence against women,
including human trafficking, sexual violence and other
forms of exploitation;
- to prevent forced and early marriages;
- to encourage women's unpaid work related to family
responsibilities through the provision of public
services, infrastructure and social protection policies;
- to ensure the active and effective participation of
women in governance and decision-making processes
and to create equal opportunities for them to exercise
leadership;
- to provide universal access to reproductive health and
rights;
- to provide equal access to economic resources,
property ownership and financial services;
- to use modern information technologies to ensure the
rights and interests of women;
- These include the creation of legal foundations and
the implementation of policies that ensure the equality
of women and girls in all aspects of social life [1].
Accordingly, it can be said that the issue of increasing
the role of women in public governance is one of the
important tasks that need to be addressed within the
framework of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). Increasing the role of women in public
governance is mutually reinforcing with the goals of the
SDG agenda on achieving gender equality (Goal 5) and
promoting peace, justice and effective institutions
(Goal 16) [2].
It is no coincidence that the global community is
promoting initiatives to increase the role of women in
public administration. Because the active participation
of women in the process of change and renewal taking
place in society contributes to a number of positive
changes in the existing sphere:
- to ensure inclusiveness and effectiveness of the
decision-making process regarding important issues of
community life;
- sharp reduction of corruption activities;
- establishing social justice in society and ensuring
gender equality;
- among them is the improvement of the effectiveness
of the activities of democratic institutions.
Naturally, ensuring the active participation of women
in public life is a complex and controversial process. In
this regard, ensuring the effectiveness of activities in
this area requires state support, namely the creation of
a solid legal framework and the development of a
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strategy to ensure the implementation of this task. In
this regard, the following issues are of primary
importance:
1. Creation of a regulatory and legal framework. In this
regard, it is necessary to strengthen legislation on
ensuring gender equality, allocate separate quotas for
women in public administration bodies, and eliminate
gender discrimination.
2. Implementation of educational reforms and
development of programs for improving personnel
skills. In this regard, it is advisable to organize
leadership schools for women and develop mentoring
and skills development programs for women engaged
in activities related to public administration.
3. Implementation of reforms at the institutional level,
in particular, it is necessary to pay special attention to
assisting women in carrying out their labor activities in
public bodies, facilitating their placement in new jobs
and creating favorable working conditions (flexible
work schedules, remote work opportunities), as well as
establishing gender audit and evaluation systems.
4. In order to reduce gender stereotypes in society,
these include organizing awareness-raising activities in
educational institutions and through the media on the
benefits of ensuring gender equality, as well as
disseminating information about successful women
leaders [3].
The international community is doing a lot of significant
work to increase women's political participation. This
can be seen in the implementation of various programs
by the UN and many international organizations,
including:
- UN Women works to ensure the rights and freedoms
of women around the world;
- The World Bank Group allocates various grants and
investments to ensure the economic well-being of
women;
- The ILO (International Labor Organization) develops
recommendations for governments to improve labor
legislation on gender equality.
At the same time, we can see that in many countries
around the world, reforms have been made to ensure
the participation of women in public administration,
which has led to notable results. In particular, Sweden
has made great strides in this regard. In 1994, the
Swedish parliament achieved gender equality, with
women winning 144 out of 349 seats in parliament. In
2018, the Swedish government declared itself
“feminist”. According to the results of the 2022
elections, 46 percent of the seats in parliament were
held by women. In 2021, the first woman, former
speaker of parliament and Minister of Finance
Magdalena Andersson, was appointed prime minister
[4].
Rwanda can also rightly boast of new achievements in
this regard. According to data published in the
magazine “Jeune Afrique”, accordin
g to the results of
the parliamentary elections held in Rwanda in
September 2023, women occupied 51 of the 80
parliamentary seats. Thus, they managed to increase
their share from 56.3% to 63.75% [5].
Scandinavian countries also have advanced experience
in increasing the share of women in public
administration. Norway, Sweden and Finland are
among the countries in the world with the highest
gender equality. This can be seen in the fact that
women are provided with equal rights and
opportunities with men in the workplace, the high
share of women in parliament and political positions
(about 45% of the Norwegian parliament is made up of
women), and the establishment of a unique family
leave policy (in Norway and Sweden, maternity leave is
also provided to men). As is known, in Norway, parents
can take 49 or 59 weeks of paid maternity leave. In this
case, monthly payments for 49 weeks of leave (about
11.5 months) are paid at 100% of the salary, and for 59
weeks of leave (about 13.5 months) are paid at 80% of
the salary.
It is worth noting that today, in the Republic of
Uzbekistan, effective work is being carried out to
increase the active participation of women in public
administration. As is known, Uzbekistan has ratified all
major international treaties regulating the legal,
economic and social protection of women from any
discrimination. In addition, 25 regulatory legal
documents have been adopted to ensure gender
equality, including 2 laws, more than 20 decrees and
resolutions of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, and government resolutions.
Since 2019, national legal mechanisms have been
introduced to ensure compliance with the norms on
non-discrimination related to gender discrimination.
Also, the Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On
Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for
Women and Men” [6] and “On Protection of Women
from Harassment and Violence” [7] dedicated to
ensuring gender equality have been adopted.
The implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy in
Uzbekistan until 2030 involves a comprehensive
approach to implementing the principle of equality
between women and men in all areas. A national
program has also been approved for 2022
–
2026, aimed
at increasing the participation of women in various
spheres of public life.
In recent years, the share of women studying in higher
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education institutions has doubled. We can see that
existing efforts are also contributing to an increase in
the share of women in state governance bodies.
Accordingly, the political activity and weight of women
in the Legislative Chamber and Senate of the Oliy
Majlis, as well as in other leadership positions, is
increasing.
The Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality in the
Republic of Uzbekistan by 2030 sets out priority tasks
aimed at increasing the participation of women in all
aspects of the economic, political and social life of our
country, providing them with equal and quality
education, creating opportunities for women in rural
areas to receive higher education, and preventing
violence and human trafficking.
Along with the above, a downward trend in female
unemployment and an increase in female employment
were also observed in 2020-2021.
Employment and unemployment rates among women [8]
In order to comprehensively develop the education
system aimed at women, a 4% budget quota was
introduced for women entering higher education
institutions starting from the 2020/2021 academic
year. As a result of the admission of 2 thousand women
to higher education institutions on a special grant basis
in the 2021/2022 academic year, 45.6% of students
admitted to higher education institutions were women.
Starting from 2022, a system of allocating interest-free
educational loans for a period of 7 years by the state to
pay for educational contracts of women studying in
higher education institutions, technical schools and
colleges has been established, and the number of
women studying in higher education institutions is
increasing significantly.
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Number of students in universities [9]
In order to ensure the equality of families eligible for
maternity benefits, as well as to ensure the equality of
families eligible for maternity benefits, a “Public Mercy
Service” is being established, which includes children
eligible for maternity benefits. It is possible that traces
of household poisoning may be found at the scene of
the emergency [10].
Share of positions held by women [11]
In 2024, the World Bank's Women, Business and Law
Index ranked Uzbekistan among the top 5 countries
that have implemented significant reforms in the field
of women's rights and gender equality [12]. Uzbekistan
achieved high scores in the index's components of
women's mobility, entrepreneurship, and assets.
However, it is indicated that Uzbekistan needs to
improve its gender policies on issues such as
discrimination in the workplace, wages and pensions,
and gender equality in raising children.
Despite the remarkable achievements in strengthening
the role and status of women in society in the countries
mentioned above, it can be observed that in many
countries of the world, problems in this regard have not
yet been solved. We can see that a number of factors
hinder the solution of existing problems, which are:
-
the formation of incorrect views in society that
women should only be engaged in household chores;
-
discrimination related to labor activity, that is,
the existence of restrictions on the appointment of
women to leadership positions;
-
the lack of proper organization of propaganda
aimed at supporting women and increasing their
political activity;
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-
the lack of a fully developed legislative system
aimed at determining and strengthening the status of
women in the family and society, etc.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the active
participation of women in public life is of great
importance not only for ensuring human rights, but
also for the sustainable development of society. It is
natural that increasing the participation of women in
public administration within the framework of the
Sustainable Development Goals will not only ensure
gender equality, but also serve to implement state
policy in a more effective, fair and inclusive manner. In
this regard, further strengthening the legal, economic
and social support systems for women is a necessary
condition. The advanced experience of world countries
shows that increasing the status of women in public life
not only strengthens social justice, but also increases
economic growth rates and is an important impetus
towards sustainable development. In short, in
achieving Goal 5 of the MDGs, special attention should
be paid to improving relevant legislation, involving
women in education and entrepreneurship, and
ensuring their active participation in the process of
making political and economic decisions. It is natural
that these approaches serve to ensure gender equality
and enhance the status of women in society around the
world.
REFERENCES
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Sustainable
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//
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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals // URL.:
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BhC2ARIsADSIAWqYm2zudqTpSXIktcuRkdP5CC5hi-
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С гендерным равенством в Швеции работают
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obschestvo/ravnopravie/shest-shagpov-k-
shvedskomu-ravenstvu
В Руанде по итогам парламентских выборов
женщины составили почти 64% Палаты депутатов //
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panorama/679955
“Хотин
-
қизлар ва эркаклар учун тенг ҳуқуқ ҳамда
имкониятлар кафолатлари тўғрисида”ги Ўзбекистон
Республикаси
Қонуни
//
URL.:
https://lex.uz/acts/4494849
“Хотин
-
қизларни тазйиқ ва зўравонликдан ҳимоя
қилиш тўғрисида” ги Ўзбекистон Республикаси
Қонуни// URL.: https://lex.uz/mact/4494709
Манба: Статистика агентлиги маълумотлари
Манба: Статистика агентлиги маълумотлари
“Маҳаллаларда ижтимоий хизматларни кўрсатиш
ва ижтимоий ҳимояга муҳтож оилаларга ёрдам
бериш тизимини янги босқичга кўтариш ҳамда
хотин
-
қизларни касбга ўргатиш ишларини янада
жадаллаштириш чора
-
тадбирлари тўғрисида”ги
Ўзбекистон Республикаси Президенти Қарори //
URL.: https://lex.uz/docs/6086363
Манба: Статистика агентлиги маълумотлари
Ўзбекистон аёллар, бизнес ва ҳуқуқ индексида энг
катта муваффақиятларга эришган 5 та давлат
қаторига кирди // https://ogoh.uz/74014/
