Power in Uzbekistan is becoming more feminine: the proportion of women leaders has reached 27%.
Zebiniso Rakhmanova, a member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, presented data on women's participation in the country's socio-economic and socio-political development. According to her, women currently hold approximately 27% of leadership positions in the republic and comprise almost 46% of employees in the higher education system. The share of women among political party members has reached 44%. Women's representation in parliament has also noticeably changed. According to the results […]
Uzbekistan is seeing an increase in the number of women in leadership positions, reaching 27%.
Zebiniso Rakhmanova, a member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, presented data on women's participation in the country's socio-economic and socio-political development.
According to her, women currently occupy approximately 27% of leadership positions in the country and make up almost 46% of employees in the higher education system. The share of women among political party members has reached 44%.
Women's representation in parliament has also changed significantly. According to the 2024 elections, 57 of the 150 deputies in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis are women. This has impacted international rankings: while in 2015 Uzbekistan ranked 126th in the world for the proportion of women in parliament, by the end of 2024 it had risen to 52nd place. An important step in strengthening the principles of gender equality was the adoption of the Law "On Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men," which enshrined legal guarantees of equality in public service, education, labor, and other areas of public life.
The legislation was also supplemented with new mechanisms. In particular, mandatory gender assessments of regulatory legal acts were introduced, allowing for an assessment of how decisions may impact the rights and opportunities of women and men.
Changes also affected electoral legislation. Starting in 2023, political parties were required to nominate female candidates for elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and local Kengashes (Councils).
Expanding women's access to education remains a key focus of state policy.
Starting in the 2020/21 academic year, an additional 4% state grant quota will be allocated for female students entering undergraduate programs. Interest-free educational loans for up to seven years are available for students studying on a contractual basis. In addition, the state covers the cost of master's degree programs for women from low-income families. At least 300 targeted quotas are allocated annually for applicants to doctoral programs, and over 4,000 special state grants are available for the 2026/27 academic year.