NEWS

19 August 2006

CEDAW REVIEWS UZBEKISTAN'S REPORTS ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

The 36th Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

In the course of the session, the Committee is reviewing the reports submitted for its consideration by different countries. It has finished reviewing the second and third periodical reports of Uzbekistan on the course of implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Speaking at the session, the head of the delegation and Chairman of the National Human Rights Centre of Uzbekistan Akmal Saidov emphasized Uzbekistan's commitment to the principles of gender equality, its obligations under the Millennium Development Goals, and the abovementioned UN Convention.

It was specifically noted that the government of the country is taking legislative, administrative, economic and other measures for consistent implementation of the Convention provisions. In particular, after ratifying the document, the Parliament followed the procedure for implementation of the articles of the Convention in the national legislation: all fundamental rights of women are included in the Constitution, and over 100 laws passed by the parliament of the country during the past few years fully correspond to the provisions of the Convention. The parliament focuses attention on women's issues in rural areas, where most of the Uzbek population resides, and the parliamentary hearings at the Senate on these issues have been introduced into the practice.

In the framework of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, Uzbekistan implemented National Programme of Human Rights Actions, particularly focusing on teaching women their rights.

The head of the Uzbek delegation noted that Uzbekistan paid special attention to the development of women's non-governmental organisations. Currently some 200 women's non-governmental nonprofit organisations are functioning on the territory of Uzbekistan, their number having grown twice over the past five years.

Women's non-governmental organisations have grown in power, which once again illustrates that the joint activity of government and non-government sectors raises the efficiency of identification and solution of gender-related problems.

The session also reviewed Uzbekistan's cooperation with the UN human rights convention agencies. During the past year Uzbekistan submitted four periodical reports to the UN human rights convention bodies. National action plans on implementation of recommendations provided by these bodies are being developed and implemented.

Source: The Times of Central Asia