UN experts highly appreciated Turkmenistan's National Action Plan on Gender Equality
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (one of the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies) considered Turkmenistan's sixth periodic report on February 2. According to the UN Information Service in Geneva, the committee's experts highly appreciated the state's National Action Plan to Ensure Gender Equality.
Presenting the report, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and Head of the delegation Mahri Bashimova noted that the National Action Plan for Gender Equality for 2021-2025 includes measures to promote gender equality, gender-oriented healthcare, equal access to education, and economic empowerment. women and girls and countering gender-based violence. An interdepartmental commission has been established to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the National Action Plan for Gender Equality, including in rural areas.
Specific indicators were announced during the report. Thus, women are well represented in the Parliament of Turkmenistan. 125 members of Parliament were elected in the 2023 elections, 32 of them women. A woman was elected Speaker of Parliament for the third time in a row. Women are represented in all political parties registered in Turkmenistan and make up 28 local government bodies. 26.4% of the staff of the country's Foreign Ministry are women, of whom 21.5% are diplomats.
Overall, the proportion of women in senior positions was 22.4%. The proportion of women in the workforce has increased from 45.8% in 2019 to more than 48% currently. And in education, health and social services, women make up 70% of the workforce.
The share of girls studying in higher education institutions increased significantly to 45.4% in the 2023-2024 academic year, and in secondary vocational educational institutions to 65.7%. 33% of students studying in foreign countries were girls. During the discussion of the national report, it was noted that the proportion of women among the country's entrepreneurs has increased to about 35%. In recent years, the volume of loans provided to women entrepreneurs has increased fourfold. In 2023, the number of women farmers increased by about 13%.
In addition, the Government of Turkmenistan is taking steps to ensure the rights of refugees and stateless persons. Over the past four years, 1,860 residence permits have been issued, of which more than 80% have been issued to women, and 8,068 people have received citizenship, of which more than 55% are women.
As noted in the report of the UN Information Service in Geneva, the Committee welcomed the fact that the delegation of Turkmenistan consists almost entirely of women.
The delegation of Turkmenistan included the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Office in Geneva and representatives of the State Committee on Statistics, National Trade Unions and the Union of Women, the Mejlis, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, the Institute of State, Law and Democracy, the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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