NAME OF ORGANIZATION:

1. The Secretariat on Social Protection of Family, Motherhood and Children of the Cabinet of Ministries of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Status: governmental)

2. The Women=s committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Status: semi-governmental

3. The Gender in Development Bureau under the auspices of the Cabinet of Ministries of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Status: governmental

ADDRESS:

Tashkent, Mustakilik square, H6
Uzbekistan
Tel: (998 71)139-40-42
Fax: (998 71)139-40-12
Email: prj@wcu.silk.org
dikab@online.ru
URL: http://www.undp.uz

STATUS:

as above

HEAD OF ORGANIZATION:

The Chairperson of the Women=s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, The Deputy Prime-Minister of Cabinet of Ministries of the Republic of Uzbekistan

YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT:

1. The Secretariat on Social Protection of Family, motherhood and Children was established in the Cabinet of Ministries in 1995 and relevant secretariats also became operational in localities.

2. The Women=s Committee of Uzbekistan was established on February 23, 1991 at the 2nd Plenary Session of the Republican Council of women. It is a legal person registered by the Ministry of justice of Republic of Uzbekistan. It is one of first and largest women=s organizations in the country ,safeguarding social, professional and other rights of women.

3. The Gender and Development Bureau was created in October 1997 as a mutual project of UNDP and Women=s committee of Uzbekistan. Since October, 1999 Bureau continued it=s activity under the auspices of the Cabinet of Ministries of Republic of Uzbekistan.

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY:

In accordance with our national policy, we have Constitutional guarantees and Fixation of the Principle of Equity of men and women in Law.

Following to Article 18 of Uzbek Constitution all citizens enjoy the same legal status. To an equal extent they enjoy equal rights and freedoms in the face of law, without a distinction of sex, race, ethnic origin, language, convictions, personal or social status.

The idea of equal rights and freedoms is a conceptual basis of a constitutional regulation of legal status of the individual. Article 40 of the Uzbek constitution fixed the equality of men and women in all areas of public life.

On March 2,1995 the Degree of Uzbek President I.Karimov AOn Measures for Raising the Role of Women in the State and social construction in the Republic of Uzbekistan@ was adopted, which was an important step for raising and enhancing the authority of women and for providing necessary conditions for women=s participation in the public life and productive labour.

A new position of the Deputy Prime-Minister on Social Protection of Family, Motherhood and Children was established in a view of a wider involvement of women in addressing the matters of social, economic and cultural advance, a better social protection of family, motherhood and childhood and coordination of activities of ministries, department and territorial management bodies in this area. Relevant positions of deputy administration heads were established in all regional and territorial structures of the executive authorities. The deputy Prime-minister occupies the position of the Chairperson of the women=s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS:

1. The Secretariat on Social Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhoods acts:

* Coordinating activities of ministries, department, territorial management bodies, non-Governmental organizations and public associations by means of pursuing the Governmental Policies and encouraging a vigorous involvement of women in the state and public management; social protection of the family, motherhood and childhood; improvement of financial and spiritual living standards of women; improvement of the health of women and children; education and upbringing of a new healthy generation;
* Monitoring the enforcement of republic and laws, Presidential decrees, governmental resolutions and instructions, state programs intended for protection of the interests of women, motherhood and childhood.
* Developing proposals for the state authorities about the strengthening of the role and status of women in society, protection of motherhood and childhood, upbringing of a healthy generation, professional training of women and improvement of conditions of work of everyday life.
* Advancing women in addressing social, economic and cultural problems, extending their involvement in the state and social management , ensuring protection of motherhood and childhood and coordinating activities of the ministries, departments territotial management bodies, non-governmental organizations and public associations in this area.

2. The Women=s committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan acts according to four main lines:

* Providing a social and professional support to women during the period of transition to the market relations? A full and equitable representation in the power authorities, decision-making an all levels and extending women=s participation in the democratic transformation of the society; raising the role of women in the national economy, improving their position on labour and occupation markets uniting and mobilizing women for taking part in economic reforming of the country.
* Providing an equal access to education, development and skills promoting extends involvement of women in implementing governmental development programs, attracting women in establishing, managing and fulfilling the projects of social transformations; enhancing legal guarantees; strengthening women=s rights protection mechanisms, improving women=s functional and legal literacy.
* Protesting motherhood and childhood, family planning, improving reproductive health of women, providing a comprehensive assistance to governmental and non-governmental organizations in implementing the state program “For healthy generation@, dealing with protection of the interests of mothers and children, ecological issues and with the elimination of the factors having a negative influence on the health of mothers and children.
* Establishing contacts with the international women=s organizations, conducting an extensive exchange of information on politics, culture, science and economy, purchasing the objectives of the Platform for action of the Fourth World conference on Women.

3. The AGender in Development@ Bureau acts:

* as a body coordinating the activities of governmental, public and non-governmental organizations and promoting in all social areas the strategy with regard to a gender factor;
* as a body for implementation of the National Action Plan in Uzbekistan as a follow-up of the Beijing Declaration and Platform Action;
* as a resource center, providing information about activities of women=s organizations on national and international levels and having a library of books according to priorities of the Fourth World Conference on women (Beijing 1995);
* as an educational, training and retraining center for a fuller utilization women=s potential and for ensuring equal opportunities to women; it also arranges workshops on gender problems, both for men and women

The AGender in Development@ Bureau collaborates closely with the national and international organizations as well as with the non-governmental ones.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES:

Summary of plans and major programmes undertaken for next 5 years:

Towards the 21st century, the Republic has worked out a whole set of measures included in the state program for improving the system of protection of legal, social, economic and spiritual interest of women. Addressing of this goal should promote the extension and depending of scientific and social studies of gender problems.

Addressing women=s problems and democratisation of the society are closely interrelated processes. New forms of expressing and implementing interests of women are the first steps towards turning women form an object of Asocial protection@ to a vigorously acting individuals. That=s why the improvement of women=s status in the society, as it has been mentioned by the President of Uzbekistan, is one of the main tasks and priorities of the state.

The state program on Measures for Enhancing the Role of Women in Family and in the State and Social Construction and for improving the system of Protection of Women=s Legal, Social, Economic and Spiritual Interests was passed by the Cabinet of ministries. Its goal is a further improving of the social and financial status of women, enhancing women=s role in the family and in the society, creating condition for women=s involvement in reforming all areas of the public life, In the state and social construction as well as in strengthening high spiritual and moral values of our people and our society.

The program has seven guidelines:

* Improving legal grounds for the protection of women=s interests, enhancing their role in the state, social and cultural construction, spiritual and democratic renewal of the society;
* Developing and running a system of monitoring the enforcement of adopted international, static and other legislative and legal standards of protection of the women=s interests, motherhood and childhood;
* Advancing women in managerial bodies of all levels creating conditions for a vigorous participation of women in the citizen=s self-management bodies, non-governmental organizations and public associations;
* Creating conditions for strengthening the health of mothers and children, for developing a physical training and improving an educational level;
* Improving the status and role of women in family, creating a favourable spiritual and athnic atmosphere in the family, conditions for a proper upbringing of children as well as good finincial and everyday conditions.

The National Platform for Action and the Action Plan for improving the status of women in Uzbekistan and raising their role in the society have been devised and are being implemented. The mentioned state Program. The National Platform and Action Plan include all the priorities contain in the Beijing Declaration and in the Platform for Action (Beijing, September 1995)

The Government intends to raise the role and place of women and young people in the society as far as they comprise the best part of our society, as it was emphasized. I view of this, it is necessary to provide further implementation of the State program of measures. Moreover, on the state level, it was decided to introduce some additional measures for making additional women=s work, especially at home, and for improving women=s everyday and financial conditions. It is also necessary to diversify the type of work for women and to raise the level of their educational and culture. An approach of society to women makes it possible to judge about the level of culture and spirituality of the society itself and to see how much a society has advanced along the way of democratic transformation.

The majority of charitable foundations in Uzbekistan are seeking to improve women=s health. 2000 was announced in Uzbekistan as a year for healthy generation. The main national and local levels undertaken for the formation of healthy generation to come, to protect motherhood and childhood, to participate in spiritual upbringing, cultural and physical development of the individual, to bring up healthy and harmonically developed generation.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS:

Journals:

The mass media play a special role in forming a public awareness and attracting attention to some of the problems. Unfortunately, there are not many publications designed specially for the Uzbek women. Among them, there is a monthly magazine ASAODAT,@ (AHAPPYNESS@),the weekly newspaper AOILA@ (AFAMILY@) the publications of the Women=s committee of Uzbekistan.

The main subjects covered in them are the problems of health and motherhood, moral and characteristics of women of East, Ideals of gender equality have not still found a sufficient coverage in printed media. Women=s problems are deal most often through men=s stereotypes. For this purpose AGender and Development@ Bureau started to publish quarterly it=s bulletin where gender related problems take place.

Monographs:

Recently the independent experts and consultants of the Center of Economic Researches have prepared a special Report on the status of Women in Uzbekistan on English, Uzbek and Russian language (80 pages). This Report gives a full analysis of the position of women in Uzbekistan during the transition period in different issues.

Under the assistance of the specialists from the Department on statistics of Minmacroeconomstat of the Republic of Uzbekistan was prepared a publication under the name AGender in Development@ where gender disaggregated data on different aspects are represented (1997-1999), (86 pages).

AGender in Development@ Bureau is also involved in publication the most important legal documents on the rights of women. Taking this into consideration the AConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women@ was translated on Uzbek language and published both on English and Uzbek languages and disseminated among the different strata of population of Uzbekistan. On the initiative of the AGender in Development@ Bureau was published a publication under the name:@ the National Platform for Action on the improvement of women=s Status in Uzbekistan and the Advancement of Women in the Society. Main Measures for it=s Implementation@ (87 pages)
The institute of Monitoring the Efficient Law under the Parliament has analysed carefully the laws existing in the country. Considering them, a prior attention has been given to the articles aimed directly at a legal protection of women and ensuring their interests in various areas of their life. This work resulted in the publication of the AReview of the Efficient legislation@. This collection of articles is an outcome of joint activities of the Institute of monitoring the efficient Law under the Parliament, Women=s Committee of Uzbekistan and AGender and Development@ Bureau.

STAFF:

The Secretariat on Social Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhoods

The women's Committee of Uzbekistan

The Gender and Development Bureau

BUDGET:

Following the budget for project activities, it is necessary to take into consideration that the National Platform and Action Plan for the improvement of Women=s Status in Uzbekistan and for Advancement of women in the society which have been worked out on the governmental level, allocated the following:

Just in 1998-1999, US$ 13 mil. And Soum 279.2 mill. Were allocates for its funding. From 2000 to 2005, this amount will be subject indexation on as annual basis. The year of 1999 was announced the Year of Women in Uzbekistan. The State program of 1999 Measures for enhancing the role of women=s legal, social construction and for improving the system of protection of women=s legal, social and spiritual interests has been devised and is the process of implementation. About Soum 65 billion and US$

regarding the budget allocates for the personnel, it is on the level of the governmental budgetary organizations, but this information is confidential.