Topical issues on Status of Women and Girls in Central Asia Discussed on Eve of Global Forum on Gender Equality

Nur-Sultan, 24 June 2021 - UN-Women, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, organized a meeting of civil society representatives from the region on the theme “From Beijing to Paris: Transforming Commitments into action in Central Asia” to discuss pressing issues on the status of women 25 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration.

The meeting, chaired by Kazakh diplomat, Ambassador Madina Zharbusynova, was attended by delegates from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan who took part at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, as well as civil society activists representing different generations. Participants shared their views on how the agreements reached at the Beijing meeting changed the situation for women in the world and in Central Asia in particular, what else governments and civil society need to do to ensure true gender equality and to expand the rights and opportunities of women and girls, and which areas need changes to achieve these goals.

Alia El-Yassir, Regional Director of UN-Women for Europe and Central Asia, made a welcoming speech at the event. According to her, progress on gender equality needs to be accelerated, and it is important to ensure equal division of powers, guarantee women’s activism and overcome structural obstacles and discriminatory norms that restrict women in all spheres of life.

Next week in Paris, the Generation Equality Forum will take place, where governments and civil societies can present their initiatives and priorities at the global level. El-Yassir said she appreciated the support provided by the Government of Kazakhstan, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in joint efforts to find a more suitable and effective way to fill the existing gaps in knowledge and experience on gender equality issues.

From June 30 to July 2, UN-Women and the Government of France will host the Generation Equality Forum, a global event dedicated to gender equality that aims to provide a set of concrete commitments for progress towards gender equality in the next five years.