To open the Eurasian Center for Research on Gender Equality in Almaty - this initiative was put forward by the Kazakh delegation on the sidelines of the third Eurasian Women’s Forum. The event, which is attended by about 1,500 representatives from almost a hundred countries, is taking place in Saint Petersburg.
“Policies supporting gender initiatives are not systematic. It is time to institutionalize our knowledge, our skills and establish a Central Asian center for gender education. The UN regional hub established in Kazakhstan can serve as a very good platform. Best practices can be collected within this hub,” said Lazzat Ramazanova, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women’s Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy.
In our country, women are widely represented in the economy, politics and social sphere. Kazakh women account for about 40 percent of the country’s GDP. At the decision-making level, the proportion of female leaders has also increased. Since the introduction in the last elections of a 30 percent gender quota to work in local representative bodies, the number of women parliamentarians has increased twofold. 60 percent of civil servants in the country are also women.
“The great role of women was especially obvious during the pandemic, as more than 80 percent of women work in education and healthcare. In these difficult times, they took full responsibility for both our health and the education of our children. A comprehensive support program by the Head of State and legislative support made it possible to increase the salaries of social workers by two to 2.5 times,” added Olga Perepechina, Chairperson of the Finance and Budget Committee of Kazakh Senate.
Special attention was paid to the plight of Afghan women. The forum participants called for organizing the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
