26.02.2021

On February 26, a videoconference on solving the issues of women and their social support was held under the chairmanship of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Women make up almost half of the country’s population - 17 million. Ensuring their interests and strengthening the role of women in society is an important direction of our state’s social policy.

Over the past four years, two laws, six presidential decrees and resolutions have been adopted in this area. A new Committee on Women and Gender Equality has been established in the Senate.

Today, about 1,4 thousand women hold senior positions at the republican and regional levels, more than 43 thousand at the district and city levels.

There are great opportunities for girls to receive a quality education, to acquire a profession and work. Women make up 48% of the students. According to the procedure introduced last year 950 girls in need of social protection were enrolled in higher education institutions on the basis of a state grant.

Their entrepreneurial initiatives are being supported. Last year, about 585 thousand women have been employed and more than 36 thousand women have been trained in professions.

The mechanism of the «women’s book» has been introduced in order to study and address women’s issues. 433 thousand women were included in the «book» based on 9 criteria and an electronic database has been formed. To this day, the problems of 80 thousand women included in the «book» have been solved.

The meeting discussed measures for employment, social support, expanding medical and psychological assistance to women and preventing divorce.

- The hardest, most difficult questions concern women. Our people are making ever higher requirements. Accordingly, we must create decent conditions. Anyone who is not deeply aware of this task cannot work as a leader, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In his Address to the Oliy Majlis, the Head of State proposed to create the Republican Public Council of Women.

 Recently, the establishment of this council was completed and the Chairperson of the Senate Tanzila Narbaeva was appointed as its president. At the meeting, it was noted that the public council should carry out systematic work to increase the social and political activity of women, support their entrepreneurship, education and professional development, help them find decent work, protect their health and solve housing issues.

Khokims (Governors) and heads of sectors were given appropriate instructions to address the issues of women included in the «women’s book», to ensure their employment through sewing, handicrafts, home-based work, poultry farming and the allocation of seedling plots.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry were instructed to train about 70 thousand participants of the «women’s book» to engage in entrepreneurship and professions in demand on the labor market.

The Head of State emphasized that non-governmental organizations provide effective assistance to women in these matters, and therefore it is necessary to provide them with premises and allocate grants to them.

The task is set in each district to provide entrepreneurs with a preferential lease for up to 30 years of unused part of the colleges transferred to the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, for the organization of training workshops and production factories. It is planned to allocate 70 billion Uzbek soums from the Employment Fund for these purposes.

In addition, 2 trillion Uzbek soums of credit resources will be directed through the People’s Bank to attract women to entrepreneurship.

- A system will be introduced to encourage women who want to get a higher education, have the necessary skills and knowledge, but for some reasons can not make this dream come true. That is, for girls in need who are brought up without one of their parents, as well as single women who have lost their breadwinner, the amount of the university tuition fee will be paid by the khokimiyat (Governor’s Office) and the university. This is a new system. We could not implement this before. Now we have an opportunity for this, - the President said.

The meeting addressed the issues of women’s health protection. It was noted that there is a lack of adequate quality of health care in several places, especially in remote areas.

For example, in Altynsay district of Surkhandarya region, 30% of women of childbearing age are diagnosed with anemia. In addition, women in the district often suffer from diseases of the respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular systems.

Taking into account this state of affairs, it was instructed to take under special control the health of 44 thousand women in need of medical care, assign them medical teams and conduct treatment with the involvement of specialized doctors.

The goal is to conduct a detailed medical examination by the end of the year, including cancer screening for almost 9 million women. In order to prevent cancer, 323 thousand girls will be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus infection.

It is determined that the Fund for the Support of Women will annually allocate 30-50 billion Uzbek soums for the medical treatment of women in need.

The need for widespread adoption of a healthy lifestyle among women and increase in the number of physical education and dance clubs was indicated. Instructions on the organization of tourist trips of women around the country, their treatment in sanatorium were provided.

Moreover, single mothers will be provided with benefits for the admission of their children to the preschool educational institutions and parental payments.

Special attention is paid to the problems related to housing provision. There are still many women in need of housing due to divorce, unemployment and poverty. The Head of State is deeply aware of this problem and always puts the creating of decent conditions at the forefront. In recent years, thousands of women in need have received new housing. In addition, a system of initial payment for housing for low-income women has been introduced.

During the videoconference, additional measures on this topical issue were identified. It was noted that each region will be allocated 10 billion Uzbek soums to provide housing for women living in non-residential premises, and 5 billion Uzbek soums to provide housing for girls growing up without fathers.

These funds will be used to cover the initial payment for housing. In addition, women will be allocated 11 billion Uzbek soums to compensate for rental housing.

The need to improve the system of qualified legal assistance to women, including those who have been subjected to harassment, is emphasized.

It was proposed to establish the specific state award to encourage the merits of women to the state and society, the successes they have achieved in their field of activity.

Responsible leaders and women expressed their views on the issues discussed at the meeting.