ABBREVIATIONS

ODIHROffice for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

WHOWorld Health Organization

ILOInternational Labour Organization

NGONon-governmental non-commercial organization

OSCEOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

UNDPUnited Nations Development Programme

CEDAWConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

MDGMillennium Development Goals

UNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNICEFUnited Nations Children’s Fund

UNPFAUnited Nations Population Fund

Introduction

1.The Republic of Uzbekistan, after acceding in 1995 to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, assumed the obligations to safeguard equal rights for women and men in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres of the life of the society.

2.Uzbekistan understands that the comprehensive development of the country, the well-being of the populace, the building of a democratic state governed by the rule of law and the formation of a civil society are impossible without women participating as actively as possible, on a par with men, in all spheres. Discrimination against women does not serve the interests of the individual, the society or the State, because it violates the principles of equal rights and respect for human dignity that are called for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose sixtieth anniversary is being celebrated in 2008 by all of progressive mankind. On 1 May 2008, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted the decree on the programme of measures dedicated to the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provided an additional impetus to the intensification of activities in the sphere of human rights, to include women’s rights.

3.The Republic of Uzbekistan condemns discrimination against women, because it prevents women from participating in all spheres of the life of its country on a par with men and it makes it more difficult for women to fully exercise their rights and realize their capabilities. That does not, however, lessen the value of women’s contribution to the well-being of the family and does not diminish the social value of motherhood or the role of women in childbearing and the rearing of children. The State and the society are helping to change the traditional role both of men and women in society and the family.

4.In the first days of its independence, Uzbekistan began to assemble the primary areas of State policy to prevent discrimination against women, namely:

Uzbekistan acceded to the principal international core documents governing the principles and norms of the protection of women’s rights;

on the basis of a thorough consideration of international standards, national legislation was put in place for gender equality and for special measures aimed at protecting motherhood and creating favorable conditions for comprehensive progress for women;

special programmes are being implemented in the country to develop the health care system, protect the health of future mothers and children and raise a healthy generation. During the years of independence, an integral system has been set up for providing State social services for mother and child. One need only note that total State Budget outlays for the social sphere and social services for the public accounted for 51 per cent in 2006, whereas that figure had already risen to 54.3 per cent in 2007.

an institutional base was created for coordinating the activities associated with safeguarding women’s rights at the governmental and local levels;

conditions were created that were suitable for the development of women’s non-governmental organizations, which are an important component of the national system for protecting the rights of women;

put in place was Uzbekistan’s system for reporting to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which consists in the timely submission by Uzbekistan of its periodic reports on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

introduced in order to put the Concluding Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women into practice were the drafting and implementation of national plans of action providing specific measures to resolve problems associated with women’s rights;

in keeping with the Concluding Recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (paragraphs 13 and 14), the texts of the Concluding Observations of the Committee were disseminated among local authorities, citizens’ self-governing bodies and non-governmental non-commercial organizations involved in women’s rights.

5.In 2006-2008, work continued in Uzbekistan to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the efforts of the State and the society were geared to addressing the following issues:

drafting and adoption of a law on guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

further improvement of legislation geared to prohibiting trafficking in women and children and violence in the family;

expansion and strengthening of State and public monitoring of the exercise of women’s rights, and the upgrading of statistical reports on the status of women (including rural women) in society;

introduction of gender analysis performed by State agencies and non-governmental non-commercial organizations with regard to national laws for purposes of improving the legal framework for safeguarding women’s rights and freedoms;

strengthening of the potential of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and other women’s non-governmental organizations and, inter alia, their roles in the active participation of women in the political and public life of the country.

6.In the years since the review of the Second and Third Periodic Reports on the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, dramatic changes have taken place in Uzbekistan that could not have but affected the status of women.

7.In 2007 and 2008, laws were passed in Uzbekistan that were geared to radically renewing and modernizing the country and at improving the relationship among the State, the society, and individuals, namely: the 15 January 2007 law on the mass media (revised version); the 3 January 2007 law on guarantees with regard to the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations; the 2 May 2007 law on charity; the 11 April 2007 law on strengthening the role of political parties in the renewal and further democratization of State administration and modernization of the country; the 11 July 2007 law on the incorporation of amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the abolition of the death penalty; the 11 July law on the incorporation of amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the transfer to the courts of the authority to order remand in custody; the 7 January 2008 law on guarantees for the rights of children; and the 17 April 2008 law on combating human trafficking. In April 2008, Uzbekistan’s parliament ratified two ILO conventions: No. 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment, and No. 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

8.The year 2008 was declared in Uzbekistan to be the Year of Youth, and that is understandable, given that youth 18 years old or under number 10,360,000 in the country, which accounts for some 40 per cent of the population, and those 30 years old or under number 17,080,000, or 64 per cent. The question of the continuing concern of the entire society with regard to solving the problems of youth, who constitute a large segment of the country’s population, has been and will always be a focus of the attention of both the State and the entire society. Issued on 29 February 2008 was the presidential decision on the State programme Year of Youth, which decision approved the State programme dedicated to the Year of Youth, defined the principal areas for the support of youth, including girls, in various spheres of life via the improvement of the legal framework for safeguarding the rights and interests of youth, raising the quality of education, improving the logistical framework of educational institutions and addressing an array of issues, among them finding jobs for youth.

9.The annual practice of clemency for persons sentenced to incarceration, which was introduced after independence within the framework of the humanization of the system of criminal penalties, has had a substantial effect on safeguarding the right to freedom and personal inviolability for women and men.

10.In 2006, a Senate resolution on clemency freed more than 3,500 individuals who were being held at prison facilities and who represented the least social danger to society, 43 of whom were women; in 2007, the Senate resolution on clemency released more than 3,500 individuals who were being held at prison facilities and who represented the least social danger to society, 18 of whom were women.

11.The 1 May 2008 presidential decree, which approved the Programme of Activities dedicated to the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calls for an array of events aimed at improving the system for protecting women’s rights, including the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which pertains to human trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography.

12.In 2007 and 2008, two important events took place: for the first time in Uzbekistan’s history, a woman was a candidate for the position of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and for the first time ever a woman was chosen as Speaker of the lower house of Parliament—the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

13.This, the Fourth Periodic Report, contains detailed information on legal and organizational measures and awareness-raising events geared to addressing problems associated with safeguarding women’s rights. The statistical data presented in the report relate primarily to 2006 and 2007; the statistics for 2008 will be presented later, after statistics agencies have correlated them.

14.The preparation of the Fourth Periodic Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women took into account all the observations and recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other convention agencies with regard to matters pertaining to women’s rights.

15.The preparation of the reports was based on the provisions of Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, on the new United Nations document “Compilation of Guidelines on the Form and Content of Reports to Be Submitted by States Parties to the International Human Rights Treaties, the Concluding Observations and Recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women following consideration of the Second and Third periodic reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of [All Forms of] Discrimination against Women, and the General Comments of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women with regard to issues covered by the Convention.

16.The report shows the level of development of socio-political and legal thinking in Uzbekistan with regard to given aspects of women’s rights, which helps international structures to understand what stage Uzbekistan is in with regard to fostering, observing and protecting women’s rights.

17.The report attaches considerable significance to the illumination of legal and organizational mechanisms for safeguarding women’s rights in Uzbekistan. The report provides a complete description of prevailing law and discloses the goals and objectives of institutions that have been called on to put into practice statutory regulations on women’s rights, as well as provide information on the forms and areas of coordination of activities of the state agencies responsible for safeguarding women’s rights. It is that information that gives a clear picture of the national mechanisms supporting the civil, political and economic rights of women and the effectiveness of the implementation of international standards in that sphere.

18.It should also be noted that, for purposes of preparing a good report, on 14 May 2008, at the initiative of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and the National Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the UNDP, a training seminar was conducted that was devoted to preparation of the Fourth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and in which deputies of the Legislative Chamber took part, as did representatives of ministries and departments, women’s non-governmental organizations and citizens’ self-governing bodies.

19.The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, its regional structures and a whole array of women’s non-governmental organizations took a very active part in preparing the report.

I.COMMON CORE DOCUMENT

1.GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE STATE SUBMITTING THE REPORT

А.Demographic, economic, social and cultural features of the State

20.The Republic of Uzbekistan is a State situated in Central Asia between the two largest rivers of the region, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. It borders Kazakhstan to the north and north-east, Turkmenistan to the south-west, Afghanistan to the south, Tajikistan to the south-east and Kyrgyzstan to the north-east. Approximately four fifths of Uzbekistan is made up of desert plains, and the eastern and south-eastern regions of the country include hills and foothills of the Tien Shan and the Gissar range. Within the Turan Plate lie the Ustyurt plateau, the Amu Darya delta on the southern shore of the Aral Sea and the enormous Kyzylkum desert. Uzbekistan’s climate is extreme continental.

21.Uzbekistan has a total area of 447,400 square kilometers. The Republic comprises the Republic of Karakalpakstan, 12 viloyats (oblasts) and the city of Tashkent, 121 towns and 163 rural rayons. It has a population of 26 million, and its capital is the city of Tashkent.

Historical background

22.The first bits of historical information about the population of Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, date to the middle of the first millennium before Christ [BC]. In the sixth century BC, Central Asia was under the rule of the Persian dynasty of Achaemenid; in the fourth century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid dynasty. After that, all or part of Uzbekistan belonged to a series of large ancient States: to the successors of Alexander the Great, the Seleucids (fourth and third centuries BC); the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (third and second centuries BC); and the powerful middle-India Kushan Kingdom (first century BC to fourth century AD).

23.The formation of the Uzbek ethos, which has Turkic roots and is a titular nation, was influenced by various cultures and civilizations. The historical development of the Uzbeks took place in conditions of close contact and intermingling with Iranian peoples and culture.

24.In the eighth century, Central Asia, including the area occupied by Uzbekistan, was conquered by Arabs and was added to the possessions of the Arab Caliphate. The conquest was accompanied by the introduction of Islam. The new religion spread rapidly among the populace, although the people held on to some of Zoroastroism and certain other religions (Buddhism, Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity). The spread of Islam resulted in that region becoming an area of Islamic civilization.

25.In the late ninth century, the reign of the Arabs was replaced by the rule of local dynasties. In the ninth through twelfth centuries, the states of the Samanids, the Karakhanids and the Seldzhukids existed in the territory of Uzbekistan..

26.In the early thirteenth century, Central Asia (along with Azerbaijan and Iran) belonged for a short period of time to the State of the Shahs of Khorezm, which ceased to exist after the attack of the hordes of Genghis Khan. Soon after, power shifted to the dynasty of the Temurids. That was the time of peak economic development and the flowering of the culture (the second half of the fourteenth century and the fifteenth century). Samarkand was the capital of the State of Amir Temur. The State of the Temurids in the Middle Ages consolidated an enormous territory, having created a unified legal and economic space. That epoch and the absolute monarchy that came about at the time may be regarded as the basis for the formation of the nationhood of Uzbekistan.

27.At the transition from the fifteenth century to the sixteenth century, the State of the Temurids was replaced by the State of the Shaybanids, who ruled through the sixteenth century. For nearly four centuries, from the sixteenth to the conquest of Central Asia by Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century, the territory of Uzbekistan was home to three Uzbek khanates: the Bukhara Khanate (an emirate beginning in the mid-eighteenth century), the Khivin Khanate and the Kokand Khanate.

28.In the second half of the nineteenth century, a large part of Central Asia, including modern Uzbekistan, was annexed to Russia. The Governorate-General of Turkestan was created.

29.After the revolution in Russia, in 1920, the Bukhara and Khorezm people’s soviet republics were formed..

30.In 1924, the national-state delimitation of Central Asia was effected. The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was formed on 27 October 1924. In the national delimitation, territories populated primarily by Uzbeks were included in the Uzbek SSR. The republic housed 82 per cent of the total number of Uzbeks living in the USSR; they constituted 76% of the total population of the newly formed republic. Uzbekistan was part of the USSR for nearly 70 years, and the features of its demographic and socio-economic development were influenced by the processes characteristic of the Soviet Union.

31.The date 1 September 1991 represented a crucial moment in the history of the country, when Uzbekistan declared its independent statehood. On 31 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Uzbekistan had adopted a resolution on the declaration of the independent statehood of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Constitutional law on the principles of the independent statehood of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Population

32.Most of the population (more than 21 million) consists of Uzbeks, a Turkic-speaking people with an ancient, distinctive culture. Also living in the republic are a considerable number of representatives of other peoples: Kazakhs, Tajiks, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Armenians, Koreans, Uighurs, etc.

33.In anthropological terms, Uzbeks are a people of mixed origin, including both Europeid and Mongoloid components. Anthropologists classify Uzbeks as southern Europeids of the Central Asian Mesopotamian type. The Uzbek population of cities and ancient agricultural oases has a comparatively small mixture of Mongoloid features.

34.The State language in the Republic of Uzbekistan is the Uzbek language. The literary Uzbek language belongs to the Karluk group of the western branch of Turkic languages. One of the characteristic features of the Uzbek language is its profound historical link to the Tajik language. The Karakalpak language belongs to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages.

35.In terms of religious affiliation, believers among Uzbeks and Karakalpaks are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafite branch (school of law). Typical of Islam in Uzbekistan, as in all of Central Asia, is the merging of orthodox Islam and Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, as well as the presence of pre-Islamic beliefs.

Demographic indicators in the Republic of Uzbekistan

Table 1 Permanent population of Republic of Uzbekistan , broken down by sex and age

( in persons )

	as of 1 January 2006		as of 1 January 2007
Both sexes	Men	Women	Both sexes	Men	Women
Total	26 , 312 , 688	13 , 145 068	13 , 167 , 620	26 , 663 , 823	13 , 325 , 604	13 , 338 , 219
0-4	2 , 570 , 482	1 , 322 , 666	1 , 247 , 816	2 , 616 , 164	1 , 346 , 962	1 , 269 , 202
5-9	2 , 759 , 615	1 , 414 , 934	1 , 344 , 681	2 , 643 , 618	1 , 354 , 913	1 , 288 , 705
10-14	3 , 244 , 610	1 , 654 , 319	1 , 590 , 291	3 , 176 , 436	1 , 623 , 806	1 , 552 , 630
15-19	3 , 144 , 151	1 , 596 , 309	1 , 547 , 842	3 , 185 , 310	1 , 617 , 582	1 , 567 , 728
20-24	2 , 682 , 242	1 , 348 , 775	1 , 333 467	2 , 804 461	1 , 411 , 284	1 , 393 , 177
25-29	2 , 194 , 791	1 , 103 , 322	1 , 091 , 469	2 , 244 , 445	1 , 129 , 013	1 , 115 , 432
30-34	1 950 620	979 580	971 040	1 985 467	998 649	986 818
35-39	1 671 734	818 507	853 227	1 718 778	845 095	873 683
40-44	1,621,998	790,523	831,475	1,615,401	783,707	831,694
45-49	1,380,960	677,596	703,364	1,454,743	713,514	741,229
50-54	945,077	459,719	485,358	1,007,832	490,700	517,132
55-59	606,677	292,139	314,538	668,440	321,710	346,730
60-64	355,794	176,605	179,189	343,031	169,198	173,833
65-69	468,036	219,050	248,986	457,345	214,133	243,212
70-74	302,904	134,719	168,185	317,749	143,597	174,152
75-79	224,965	96,413	128,552	223,559	94,432	129,127
80 or older	188,032	59,892	128,140	201,044	67,309	133,735

Table 2Permanent population of Republic of Uzbekistan broken down by ethnic composition(in persons)

	as of 1 January 2007		as of 1 January 2006
	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural
TOTAL	26,663,825	9 , 584 , 612	17 , 079 , 213	26 , 312 , 689	9 , 495 , 056	16 , 817 , 633
Uzbeks	21 , 542 , 348	6 , 719 , 082	14 , 823 , 266	21 , 170 , 568	6 , 601 , 163	14 , 569 , 405
Karakalpaks	583 , 790	332 , 813	250 , 977	574 , 671	326 , 736	247 , 935
Russians	931 , 590	876 , 183	55 , 407	952 , 243	895 , 835	56 , 408
Ukrainians	86 , 854	75 , 230	11 , 624	88 , 774	77 , 006	11 , 768
Belorusians	20 , 851	16 , 721	4 , 130	21 , 074	16 , 926	4 , 148
Kazakhs	879 , 551	350 , 887	528 , 664	899 , 195	360 , 760	538 , 435
Georgians	3 , 654	2 , 870	784	3 , 690	2 , 903	787
Azerbaijanis	40 , 432	32 , 051	8 , 381	40 , 459	32 , 117	8 , 342
Lithuanians	1 , 156	1 , 025	131	1 , 161	1 , 027	134
Moldovans	4 , 888	2 , 586	2 , 302	4 , 940	2 , 623	2 , 317
Latvians	215	103	112	225	111	114
Kyrgyz	238 , 322	29 , 699	208 , 623	235 , 395	29 , 370	206 , 025
Tajiks	1 , 306 , 875	440 , 767	866 , 108	1 , 288 , 801	435 , 163	853 , 638
Armenians	39 , 101	37 , 944	1 , 157	39 , 638	38 , 469	1 , 169
Turkmen	160 , 712	31 , 060	129 , 652	158 , 641	30 , 623	128 , 018
Estonians	566	469	97	572	472	100
Tatars	236 , 223	217 , 155	19 , 068	242 , 332	222 , 569	19 , 763
Jews	10 , 643	10 , 018	625	10 , 781	10 , 151	630
Germans	4 , 861	3 , 180	1 , 681	4 , 951	3 , 257	1 , 694
Koreans	150 , 094	123 , 007	27 , 087	152 , 978	125 , 257	27 , 721
Other	421 , 099	281 , 762	139 , 337	421 , 600	282 , 518	139 , 082

Table 3 Demographic indicators

	2005	2006	2007*
Permanent population as of end of year, in thous. persons	26 , 312 . 7	26 , 663.8	27 , 071.8
Rate of population growth	101.1	101.3	101.5
Urban population , %	36.1	35.9	35.8
Rural population , %	63.9	64.1	64.2
Population density (number of residents per square kilometer) , as of end of year	58.6	59.4	60.3
Number of births per 1,000 population	20.3	20.9	22.4
Number of deaths per 1,000 population	5.4	5.3	5.2
Overall fertility rate or total birth rate	2.36	2.39
Life expectancy at birth :
Both sexes	71.8	72.5
Men	69.6	70.2
Women	74.1	74.9
Dependents (percentage of population 15 or under and older than 65)	36.3%	36.1%

* - Estimate

Table 4Information on average makeup of households(in persons)

	2005	2006	2007
Average makeup of households	5.1	5.1	5.1

Table 5 Percentage distribution of households by sex of head of household, 2006

Sex of head of household	Weighted %
Male	82.2
Female	17.8

Social, economic and cultural indicators

Table 6 Infant and maternal mortality rates

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 births	16.3	15.4	14.9	14.5	13.7
Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births	32.2	30.2	29.2	24.8

Table 7 Use of contraceptives and termination of pregnancy based on medical indications

	2005	2006
Percentage of women of childbearing age who use contraceptives, %	60.4	59.1
Termination of pregnancy based on medical indications, as a percentage of the number of live births, total	0.6	0.6
for women aged :
under 15	3.1	-
15-19	0.7	0.9
20-34	0.5	0.5
35-50	7.7	5.8
51 or older	-	-

Table 8 Morbidity among the populace, broken down by various infectious and parasitic diseases

	Per 100 , 000 population
2005		2006
Total	Women	Total	Women
Intestinal infections
Typhoid	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.2
Salmonella infections	5.5	5.1	6.1	5.7
Acute intestinal infections	139.7	130.3	133.9	124.7
bacterial dysentery	14.6	14.3	12.8	12.7
Viral hepatitis
Viral hepatitis, total	115.8	110.3	112.9	108.9
consisting of:		0.0		0.0
A cute hepatitis А	105.0	100.5	104.0	101.1
A cute hepatitis В	8.9	8.2	7.3	6.4
A cute hepatitis С	1.6	1.3	1.4	1.3
Droplet infection
Diphtheria	-	-	-	-
Whooping cough	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.4
Measles	2.8	2.7	3.2	2.8
Rubella	1.7	1.5	1.1	0.9
Scarlet fever	3.5	2.9	3.4	3.2
Mumps	6.8	5.8	6.6	5.4
Chicken pox	15.5	14.6	16.2	14.9
Meningococcosis	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2
Acute upper-respiratory infections	2 , 267.6	2 , 100.9	2 , 110.1	1 , 957.4
Influenza	5.6	4.7	4.7	4.0
Natural focal and zooanthroponotic infections
Anthrax	-	-	0.0	0.0
Tularemia	-	-	-	-
Brucellosis, new-onset	2.2	0.9	1.8	0.9
Hemorrhagic fever	-	0.0	0.0	0.0
Pediculosis	83.1	138.6	86.5	137.0
Malaria, newly diagnosed	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2
Parasitic diseases
Ascariasis	24.5	20.8	20.1	18.8
Trichuriasis	1.7	1.3	1.6	1.5
Enterobiasis	842.7	992.4	800.6	753.0
HIV	7.0	3.2	9.3	6.3
AIDS	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Table 9 Morbidity among the populace, broken down by principal classes of disease

	Per 100 , 000 population
Total		Women
2005	2006	2005	2006
Illnesses recorded, total	46 , 797.9	47 , 360.4	53 , 360.5	53 , 221.2
consisting of :
Certain infectious and parasitic diseases	1 , 254.6	1 , 236.8	1 , 286.2	1 , 243.1
Neoplasms	185.3	176.4	221.4	199.4
Diseases of the endocrine system, nutritional disorders, metabolic disturbances	2 , 825.7	2 , 644.7	3 , 570.3	3 , 236.6
Diseases of the blood and the hemopoietic organs, and certain disturbances that involve the immune mechanism	8 , 253.5	8 , 555.9	11 , 627.4	12 , 008.3
Psychiatric disorders and behavioural disorders	220.5	208.1	122.5	114.6
Nervous system diseases	1 , 877.6	1 , 807.2	1 , 864.7	1 , 824.7
Diseases of the eye and its accessory apparatus	1 , 342.5	1 , 376.4	1 , 378.5	1 , 422.4
Diseases of the ear and the mastoid process	1 , 145.3	1 , 240.4	1 , 158.5	1 , 264.1
Circulatory system diseases	1 , 451.4	1 , 541.8	1 , 438.5	1 , 528.8
Respiratory diseases	12 , 000.2	11 , 990.2	12 , 820.1	12 , 371.5
Digestive tract diseases	5 , 944.9	5 , 759.8	6 , 304.4	6 , 168.5
Urogenital diseases	2 , 554.0	2 , 662.2	3 , 352.0	3 , 525.6
Diseases of the skin and the hypodermis	2 , 115.6	2 , 219.6	2 , 117.1	2 , 188.2
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue	833.9	878.0	842.1	836.6
Congenital anomalies (birth defects), deformities and chromosome disorders	57.7	56.1	58.2	54.5
Symptoms, signs and abnormalities identified in clinical and laboratory tests and not classified under the other rubrics	125.3	116.0	121.7	117.0
Injuries, poisonings and certain other sequelae due to external causes	3 , 319.8	3 , 548.7	2 , 964.3	2 , 935.8

Table 10Death rates for principal classes of causes of death(number of deaths per 100,000 population)

	2005	2006
Total deaths from all causes	535.3	525.2
I ncluding :
circulatory system diseases	301.3	304.1
Neoplasms	37.7	36.5
accidents, poisonings, injury	38.7	36.5
respiratory diseases	43.7	40.6
digestive tract diseases	33.5	33.4
I nfectious and parasitic diseases	15	15.4
urogenital diseases	10.6	10.2
N ervous system diseases	10	10.1
diseases of the endocrine system	13	13.8
psychiatric disorders	1.3	1.2
blood diseases	1.2	1.0

Table 11Instructor-to-student ratio in State education institutions(as of beginning of school year)

	2005/2006	2006/2007	2007/2008
Students per instructor, in persons:
in general-education schools	12.5	12.3	11.7
in academic high schools	8.4	9.4	10.6
in vocational secondary schools	15.3	16.6	15.3
in higher education institutions	10.5	10.8	10.7

Table 12 Level of literacy among the populace

	2005	2006
Literacy rate for adult population	0.994	0.995

Tale 13 Employment and unemployment figures

Indicator	2005	2006	2007*
Official unemployment level, as a percentage	0.3	0.2	0.2
Number of employed persons for sectors of the economy, total (thous. persons)	10 , 196.3	10 , 467.0	10 , 735.4
consisting of :
- industry	1 , 347.5	1 , 402.4	1 , 445.5
- agriculture and forestry	2 , 967.4	2 , 935.9	2 , 930.1
- transportation and communications	488.1	506.9	527.7
- construction	848.5	876.6	910.1
- commerce, public catering, sales, procurement	903.9	977.2	1 , 055.4
- housing and public services	316.4	331.2	346.4
- health care, physical fitness, sports, human services	735.5	768.1	801.4
- education, culture, the arts, science and scienc e services	1 , 385.1	1 , 434.5	1 , 481.8
- finance, credit and insurance	54.2	54.9	58.4
- other	1 , 149.7	1 , 179.3	1 , 178.6
Employed persons in the formal sector of the economy (thous. persons)	4 , 642.8	4 , 562.8	4 , 587.7
Employed persons in the informal economy (thous. P ersons)	5 , 553.5	5 , 904.2	6 , 147.7
Economically active population (thous. persons)**	10,224.0	10,492.5	10,758.6

* Estimate

** The economically active population in the calculations is defined as the total number of employed persons, plus persons officially declared to be unemployed .

Table 14 Number of trade-union members, with breakdown by industry sector, and the percentage they represent of the total work force, 2007

Trade union	Number of workers, students	Of those, number of trade-union members (percentage they represent of the total number of workers, students)
Aviation Workers’ Trade Union	23,153	23,122 (99.8%)
Trade Union for Workers of the Motor Transport, River Transport, Electric Transport and Public Road System of Uzbekistan	102,853	102,853 (100%)
Trade Union for Workers of the Agroindustrial Complex of Uzbekistan	2,230,150	2,229,993 (99.99%)
Trade Union for Workers of State Institutions and Public Services	269,580	268,561 (99.6%)
Brotherhood of Railway Workers and Transport Builders of Uzbekistan	73 , 229	73 , 229 (100%)
Trade Union for Health Care Workers of Uzbekistan	709 , 457	709 , 457 (100%)
Trade Union for Cultural Workers of Uzbekistan	98 , 745	97 , 505 (98.7%)
Trade Union for Workers of Light Industry, the Furniture Industry and Municipal and Public Services of Uzbekistan	212 , 909	212 , 909 (100%)
Trade Union for Workers of the Machine-Building and Metallurgical Branches of Industry of Uzbekistan	120 , 371	116 , 820 (97%)
Trade Union for Education and Science Workers of Uzbekistan	1 , 882 , 051	1 , 882 , 051 (100%)
Trade Union for Communications Workers of Uzbekistan	60 , 896	60 , 879 (99.9%)
Trade Union for Construction and Building-Materials Industry Workers of Uzbekistan	75 , 206	73 , 064 (97.1%)
Trade Union for Workers of the Fuel and Energy Complex, the Chemical Industry and Geology of Uzbekistan	242 , 284	241 , 659 (99.7%)
Trade Union fo r Workers of Commerce, Consumer Cooperatives and Entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan	302 , 689	302 , 567 (99.9%)

Trade-union members constitute 43.2 per cent of the total work force (14,791,900).

Table 15Per capita monetary income(based on source and use table of money flows )

	thous . sum
	2005	2006	2007
Average per capita monetary income	371.8	489.1	628.0

Table 16 Gross domestic product for Republic of Uzbekistan for 2003-2007

	Unit of measure	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Gross domestic product ( GDP )	Billion sum	9 , 837.8	12 , 2661.0	15 , 923.4	20 , 759.3	28 , 186.2
Rate of growth of GDP	%	104.4	107.7	107.0	107.3	109.5

Table 17 Consumer price index (%)

2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
3.8	3.7	7.8	6.8	6.8

В.Constitutional, political and legal structure of the State

36.The Republic of Uzbekistan was formed on 31 August 1991 on the territory of the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, which had been part of the USSR. Uzbekistan is a unitary State with a presidential form of government. Its gaining State sovereignty was the beginning of radical reforms and political adjustments.

37.The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which was adopted on 8 December 1992, reflects the will, spirit, public awareness and culture of the people. Above all, one should note its adherence to universal human values and to the universally recognized norms and rules of international law. It does not contain the insularity of a single political ideology, class confrontation, or any dictate of parties. Nor is there any oppressive domination of the citizenry by the State.

38.The Constitution established the principle of separation of powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches..

39.(a) Legislative branch. Legislative power is exercised by the Oliy Majlis, which is the Parliament of the Republic and the highest State representative body. After a referendum was conducted in the country, a two-chamber parliament was formed in 2005, consisting of the upper chamber, or Senate, and the lower chamber, or Legislative Chamber, of the Oliy Majlis. The formation of a two-chamber parliament strengthened the nationhood of Uzbekistan considerably. First, the Constitutional powers of the parliament were expanded, and the mechanism of checks and balances among the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power was vastly improved. Second, the democratic representation of all regions in the power was expanded. Third, the quality of the legislative process improved considerably. Fourth, the transition was made to a professional parliament.

40.The formation procedure and legal status of the Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan were set by the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (articles 76-88), the Constitutional laws on the Senate and on the Legislative Chamber, and the laws on elections to the Oliy Majlis and on the status of a Legislative Chamber deputy and a member of the Senate.

41.The term of the Legislative Chamber and the Senate is five years. The Legislative Chamber consists of 120 deputies elected from geographical electoral districts in multiparty elections. Its work is based on the professional, ongoing activities of all the deputies of the chamber.

42.Structurally, the Legislative Chamber consists of committees and commissions. Under the Rules of the Legislative Chamber, the following 10 committees were formed: Committee on the Budget and Economic Reforms; Committee on Legislation and Judicial Matters; Committee on Labour and Social Issues; Committee on Matters of Defense and Security; Committee on International Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations; Committee on Agrarian and Water Management Issues and Ecology; Committee on Matters of Industry, Construction and Commerce; Committee on Matters of Science, Education, Culture and Sports; Committee on Democratic Institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations and Citizens Self-Government Bodies; and Committee on Matters of Information and Communication Technologies.

43.The commissions of the Legislative Chamber are created from among chamber deputies to perform specific tasks.

Table 18 Number of deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Area	Men	Women	Total :
City of Tashkent	10	1	11
Andijan Oblast	11	-	11
Bukhara Oblast	5	2	7
Djizak Oblast	3	1	4
Kashka-Darya Oblast	9	1	10
Navoi Oblast	2	2	4
Namangan Oblast	7	2	9
Samarkand Oblast	13	-	13
Syr-Darya Oblast	3	-	3
Surkhan-Darya Oblast	7	1	8
Tashkent Oblast	8	4	12
Fergana Oblast	11	3	14
Khorezm Oblast	5	2	7
Republic of Karakalpakstan	5	2	7
Total :	99 (82 . 5%)	21 (17 . 5%)	120

44.The Senate is a chamber of geographical representation and consists of members of the Senate (senators). Members of the Senate are elected in equal numbers — six each— from the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the oblasts and the city of Tashkent by means of secret ballot at joint sessions of the deputies of the Jokargy Kenes (Parliament) of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and representative bodies of State authority of the oblasts, rayons and cities from among those deputies. Sixteen members of the Senate are named by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from among the most distinguished citizens with wide practical experience and special merit in the fields of science, art, literature, industry and other areas of the life of the State and society.

Table 19 Number of members of the Senate, broke n down by geographical location and sex

Oblast	Men	Women	Total :
City of Tashkent	4	2	6
Andijan	6	-	6
Bukhara	5	1	6
Djizak	5	1	6
Kashka-Darya	6	-	6
Navoi	5	1	6
Namangan	4	2	6
Samarkand	5	1	6
Syr-Darya	5	1	6
Surkhan-Darya	6	-	6
Tashkent	6		6
Fergana	5	1	6
Khorezm	5	1	6
Republic of Karakalpakstan	6	-	6
By presidential decree	12	4	16
Total :	85	15	100

Political parties

45.At present, five political party factions are represented in the Legislative Chamber.

46.Adolat Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (SDPU), created on 18 April 1995. Today, its membership exceeds 59,000. The Adolat Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan is supported by the middle and disadvantaged strata of the population, strives to represent their political and social will and promotes their social protection by adhering to the principles of social justice. The Adolat SPDU faction in the Legislative Chamber has 10 deputies.

47.Milliy Tiklanish Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (DPMT). Formed on 3 June 1995. This party is officially registered as a political force that combines the intelligentsia; owners and entrepreneurs; representatives of intellectual labour who are engaged in creative work, youth, and students who are committed to independence; rural representatives who represent the interests of the people; and other social strata of the population who support the party.

48.The primary goal of the party is to intensify the processes of the development of national self-awareness and, among other things, foster a spirit of patriotism among the population.

49.The party has more than 75,000 members. Its main objective is to create the foundation for a new Uzbek nationhood, build a democratic, rule-of-law State and civil society, and further strengthen the authority of Uzbekistan in the international arena.

50.Working in the Legislative Chamber is a faction of this party consisting of 11 deputies.

51.Movement of Entrepreneurs and Business People — Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDep). Registered on 3 December 2003; total of 149,000 members. UzLiDep is a nationwide political organization that expresses and defends the interests of a class of owners, representatives of small business, large and small (dekhkan) farms, highly skilled specialists in industry and management, and business people. The Legislative Chamber has 41 members of this party.

52.Fidokorlar National Democratic Party (NDPF), formed on 28 December 1998. In 2000, as a result of kindred ideologies, there was a merger of the Fidokorlar (The Dedicated) Party and Vatan Tarakkiyeti (Progress of the Fatherland). The party has more than 71,000 members. Today, the party defends, primarily, the interests of youth and entrepreneurs. In the formation of the two-chamber parliament (2004 and 2005), 18 people were seated as deputies in the Legislative Chamber.

53.People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, founded on 1 November 1991, represents the left wing of the political parties of Uzbekistan. The NDPU expressed the political will of various social strata and groups. As of 1 January 2007, the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan had 343,800 members. Based on the results of the 2004 elections, the party formed its faction in the Legislative Chamber with 28 deputies.

54.The activities of the political parties in the Republic of Uzbekistan are governed by the Constitution, the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on political parties, the law on the funding of political parties, and the Constitutional law on strengthening the role of political parties in renewing and further democratizing State administration and modernizing the country.

Table 20 Makeup of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan , broken down by political party and region

Oblast	Adolat	UzLiDep	DPMT	NDPF	NDPU	Citizen’s [sic] Initiative Group	Total
City of Tashkent	1	4	2	1	1	2	11
Andijan	-	4	1	1	3	2	11
Bukhara	1	3	-	1	2	-	7
Djizak	-	2	1	1	-	-	4
Kashka-Darya	2	3	-	1	3	1	10
Navoi	-	2	-	-	1	1	4
Namangan	1	3	-	1	3	1	9
Samarkand	2	2	-	3	4	2	13
Syr-Darya	-	2	1	-	-	-	3
Surkhan-Darya	-	-	1	2	4	1	8
Tashkent	1	3	2	3	3	-	12
Fergana	1	9	-	1	2	1	14
Khorezm	-	2	2	1	1	1	7
Republic of Karakalpakstan	1	2	1	2	1	-	7
Total :	10	41	11	18	28	12	120
	10 8 . 33%	41 34 . 17%	11 9 . 7%	18 15 %	28 23 . 33%	12 10%

(b) Executive branch

55.The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been the head of State since 1 January 2008. The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is elected for seven years by the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot (Article 90, Constitution). Any citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan who is at least 35 years old, is fluent in the State language and has resided permanently in Uzbekistan for at least 10 years immediately prior to the elections may be elected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Article 90, Constitution). As established by the Constitution, the same person may not be President of the Republic of Uzbekistan more than two terms in a row.

56.Under Article 93 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of citizens, of the Constitution and of the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Moreover, the President’s authority also includes the power to do the following:

take the measures necessary to protect the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country;

represent the republic within the country and in international relations;

conduct talks and sign agreements for the Republic of Uzbekistan and ensure that they are adhered to;

form the executive office and direct it;

ensure the interaction of the higher bodies of authority and administration of the republic;

form and abolish ministries, State committees and other bodies of State administration;

appoint and remove judges of oblast, interrayon, municipal, military and economic courts;

the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the republic;

form the national security and state control services;

resolve questions of citizenship.

57.The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan implements executive authority. The Cabinet of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, his deputies, ministers, State committee chairpersons and the head of government of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.

58.The Cabinet of Ministers is formed by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The appointment of the Prime Minister is subject to the review and approval of the chambers of the Oliy Majlis upon the recommendation of the President after consultations with each of the political party factions represented in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and with the deputies chosen from voters’ initiative groups. The Prime Minister may be removed from office at the initiative of the political party factions in the Legislative Chamber if, when the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan puts the question up for a vote, it receives in both the Legislative Chamber and in the Senate more than two thirds of the votes of the total number of deputies of both chambers.

59.The Cabinet of Ministers manages the economy and the social and spiritual spheres; ensures compliance with the Constitution, the law, other decisions of the Oliy Majlis and decrees, decisions and directives of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and, in keeping with prevailing law, publishes decisions and directives that are binding throughout the Republic of Uzbekistan on all bodies, enterprises, organizations, officials and citizens. The activities of the Cabinet are governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (chapter XX) and the Law on the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

60.The Cabinet of Ministers relinquishes its authority with a newly elected Oliy Majlis.

61.(c) Judicial branch. The judiciary in Uzbekistan operates independently of the legislative and executive branches, political parties and other public associations (articles 106–116 of the Constitution of the Republic). Judicial authority in the republic is exercised by the system of judicial bodies:

(a)the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which hears cases on the constitutionality of acts of the legislative and executive branches;

(b)the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which is the highest body of judicial authority in the sphere of civil, criminal and administrative proceedings;

(c)the Higher Economic Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which resolves disputes that arise in the economic sphere;

(d)the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan;

(e)the Economic Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan;

(f)Oblast, City of Tashkent, rayon, municipal and economic courts.

62.Since 1 January 2000, after the adoption of the presidential decree on upgrading the court system of the Republic of Uzbekistan and after the incorporation of amendments and addenda to the law on the courts, the courts have been specialized to enable separate consideration by them of civil and criminal cases. Thus, the following were formed in the courts of general jurisdiction: the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan for Civil Cases, and the City of Tashkent and oblast and interrayon courts for civil cases.

63.Specialization in the courts of general jurisdiction was also effected for criminal cases. Accordingly, the following were formed: the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan for Criminal Cases, and the City of Tashkent and oblast, rayon and municipal courts for criminal cases.

64.Under Article 112 of the Constitution and the law on the courts, judges are “independent and subject solely to the law. Any interference in the work of judges in administering the law is not permissible and is punishable under the law. The inviolability of judges is guaranteed by law. Judges may not serve as senators or deputies of representative bodies of State authority. Judges may not be members of political parties, participate in political movements, or engage in any other types of paid activities, except those related to science and pedagogy. A judge may be removed from his post before the expiry of the term of his authority on grounds indicated in the law”.

65.Local bodies of State authority. In addition to the above representative and executive bodies of State authority—the Oliy Majlis, the Office of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Cabinet of Ministers—the system of bodies of State authority also includes local bodies of authority that handle social problems at the oblast, rayon and city levels—the kengash [council] of people’s deputies and the khokim [regional chief administrator]. Their rights and authority are also codified in the Constitution and the law on local state authority. The name of a candidate for oblast khokim is submitted by the President for approval by the oblast kengash of people’s deputies after consultation with representatives of the party groups working in the kengashes. Party groups of oblast kengashes of people’s deputies have the right to initiate the submission to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of findings pertaining to the unsatisfactory work of an oblast khokim.

66.The khokims of all levels exercise their authority on the basis of the principle of one-man management. A khokim, within the limits of the authority vested in him, makes decisions that are binding on all enterprises, institutions, organizations and associations, as well as officials and citizens, in the relevant territory (Article 104 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan).

67.The local representative bodies—the kengashes of people’s deputies—exercise their functions under the management of the khokim.

Electoral system of the Republic of Uzbekistan

68.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, the foundation of the electoral system and its principles are codified in the Constitution, one of whose chapters is devoted entirely to the electoral system (XXIII), and in the laws on the referendum in the Republic of Uzbekistan (1991), on the election of the president (1991), on elections to the Oliy Majlis (1993), on elections to oblast, rayon and city councils of people’s deputies (1999), on suffrage guarantees (1994) and on the Central Electoral Commission.

69.Codifying the principle of electivity, the Constitution establishes the following for every citizen:

the right to vote and to be elected to representative bodies of State authority;

equality and freedom of expression;

the right to be a deputy in no more than two representative bodies simultaneously.

70.Constitutional rights are enjoyed by every citizen who reaches the age of 18. An exception is established by Constitutional law only for a specific category of persons. The following may not participate in elections:

citizens who are declared by a court to be legally incompetent;

persons who are in prison.

71.Based on the results of the most recent Republic of Uzbekistan presidential elections, which were held on 23 December 2007, more than 16 million people have suffrage in the country.

Table 21 Information on the number of voters in the period 2002-2007

No.	Regions		27 January 2002 Referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan		26 December 2004 Oliy Majlis Legislative Chamber elections		23 December 2007 Republic of Uzbekistan presidential elections
Number of voters	Number of voters	Number of voters
1.	Republic of Karakalpakstan	785,707	841,310	960,000
2.	Andijan Oblast	1,205,846	1,297,947	1,485,100
3.	Bukhara Oblast	770,042	828,978	972,300
4.	Djizak Oblast	471,547	510,243	609,800
5.	Kashka-Darya Oblast	1,104,091	1,226,010	1,404,200
6.	Navoi Oblast	433,766	474,086	514,700
7.	Namangan Oblast	1,041,553	1,137,009	1,283,100
8.	Samarkand Oblast	1,420,285	1,540,761	1,724,300
9.	Surkhan-Darya Oblast	893,726	967,762	1,107,500
10.	Syr-Darya Oblast	326,328	338,307	409,500
11.	Tashkent Oblast	1,246,756	1,446,440	1,597,200
12.	Fergana Oblast	1,535,684	1,629,942	1,803,600
13.	Khorezm Oblast	744,579	829,920	894,700
14.	City of Tashkent	1,246,732	1,233,947	1,531,400
	Total for Republic of Uzbekistan	13,226,642	14,302,662	16,297,400

72.Suffrage in the Republic of Uzbekistan is given to its citizens only. Foreigners and stateless persons do not have such a right.

73.The law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on elections to oblast, rayon and city councils of people’s deputies codifies the basic principles underlying elections:

the multiparty basis of elections;

universal, equal and direct suffrage;

the secret ballot;

transparency.

74.All voters have the same legal status. All citizens of Uzbekistan, regardless of their social origin, race, ethnic origin, sex, language, education, personal status, social status, or property status, have equal suffrage.

75.Under Uzbekistan law, when persons are nominated for deputy posts, women must constitute at least 30% of those nominated for the posts.

76.The electoral system of Uzbekistan is one of the features of the majority rule system. In the law on elections to the Oliy Majlis, a person is regarded as elected if more than half of the voters who took part in the elections voted for that person.

Legal status and legal regulation of the activities of non-governmental organizations

77.To date, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its local structural subdivisions have officially registered 1,587 non-governmental non-commercial organizations (NGOs) and have recorded the existence of 3,446 such organizations. The legal regulation of non-governmental non-commercial organizations is based on both public and private law.

78.The State is pursuing a policy of social partnership and is actively developing civil-society institutions. Under the law on guarantees for the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations, the State may provide support for the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations in the form of subsidies, grants and the procurement of social services. In June 2005, the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan was formed, and it represents the interests of those organizations in interactions with the State. Also created was the Fund for the Support of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan.

79.The Republic of Uzbekistan has adopted a number of legislative measures that codify and support the activities of non-governmental organizations: the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Civil Code, the law on public associations, the law on non-governmental non-commercial organizations, the law on public foundations, the law on homeowners’ associations, the law on citizens’ self-governing bodies, the law on the election of chairmen (aksakals) of citizens’ self-governing bodies, the law on guarantees for the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations and the law on charities. The Constitution contains a separate chapter (Chapter XII) devoted to public associations.

80.Under the Constitution, the State ensures the observance of the rights and lawful interests of public associations and creates for them equal legal opportunities to participate in public life. The interference of State bodies and officials in the activities of public associations is, like the interference of public associations in the activities of State bodies and officials, prohibited. Article 57 of the Constitution “prohibits the creation and functioning of public associations that have a goal of changing the Constitutional order by force; that oppose the sovereignty, integrity and security of the republic, as well as the Constitutional rights and freedoms of its citizens; that promote war and social, national, racial and religious enmity; and that encroach on the health and morals of the people, as well as national and religious paramilitary associations.

81.“The creation of secret societies and associations is prohibited.”

82.The principal agency for the registration of non-governmental non-commercial organizations is the Ministry of Justice.

83.Thus, under the law on non-governmental non-commercial organizations, the justice agency that accepts the documents for the State registration of a non-governmental non-commercial organization must, within two months, review them and decide whether to register the non-governmental non-commercial organization with the State and must, within three days after its decision, issue to the founders a certificate of State registration or a document that indicates the specific provisions of the law whose violation resulted in the denial of State registration. Under the Constitution (Article 62), the dissolution, prohibition, or restriction of the activities of public associations may take place solely on the basis of a court decision.

84.Article 2 of the law on non-governmental non-commercial organizations clearly and consistently specifies that an organization is regarded as non-commercial if:

(a)its main purpose is not to derive income (profits);

(b)it does not distribute received income among its participants.

85.Non-governmental non-commercial organizations are taxed as legal entities, minus the funding for socially constructive (charter) activities. The income (profits) tax is paid only on business activities.

System of administration of justice

86.The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan codifies the fundamental principles underlying legal proceedings and the administration of justice:

independence of the court, and inviolability of the judges (articles 106 and 108);

independence of judges, and their subordination solely to the law (Article 112);

prohibition against a judge simultaneously holding a deputy’s seat (articles 108 and 112);

prohibition against a judge holding membership in a political party or movement (articles 108 and 112);

openness and transparency of the adjudication of cases in all courts; the closed hearing of a case is allowed in only those instances established by law (Article 113);

legal proceedings held in the State language and in the national languages of the majority in a given locale (Article 15);

participation of an attorney in all stages of the preliminary investigation and the legal proceedings (Article 116);

binding nature of judgments on all State agencies, enterprises, institutions and organizations, public associations, officials and citizens (articles 109, 110 and 114).

87.The court system of the Republic of Uzbekistan is relatively complex. It consists of three levels, because the country includes the Republic of Karakalpakstan and 12 oblasts. In addition, the Tashkent Municipal Court holds the status of an oblast court and is superior to district courts located within the city limits of the republic’s capital.

88.There are several courts for the consideration of cases in the Republic of Uzbekistan. For example, a district criminal court or an inter-district criminal court performs only one function—that of a court of first instance. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the oblast courts and the Tashkent Municipal Court hear cases within their jurisdiction as courts of first instance, as appeals courts, as cassation courts and in exercise of supervisory power. They supervise judicial activities of district (municipal) and inter-district courts (Article 30 of the law on the courts). Also, the Supreme Court, being the highest judicial authority in civil, criminal and administrative law, has the authority to hear cases both as a court of first instance and in exercise of supervisory power. Moreover, cases considered by the Supreme Court at the level of first instance may be considered by it on appeal and in cassation. A case considered on appeal may not be considered in cassation (Article 13 of the Law on the Courts).

89.Any case may be considered at the appropriate judicial instance on the basis of specific procedural rules, with a precisely defined purpose. Accordingly, in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the procedural rules are codified in a series of regulations: the Criminal Procedure Code (1994), the Code of Civil Procedure (1997) and the Economic Procedure Code (1997).

90.In general, a case may be considered at two instances—the first and the second instances. A re-hearing of cases in the exercise of supervisory power is not regarded as a third instance, because it is allowed under special circumstances.

91.The consideration of a case by a court of first instance is an examination of the case on its merits for the purpose of convicting or acquitting the person brought to trial in a criminal case or allowing a claim or disallowing it in a civil case. First-instance cases may be considered by all courts within their competence.

92.Cases that are more complicated are heard by superior courts, all the way to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

93.For the examination of a case on its merits, it is typical that a court, without or without the participation of people’s assessors, analyzes the evidence and establishes all the facts important to the case. As a result of the examination of a criminal case, the court passes a sentence, whereas it hands down a decision in a civil case.

94.Judgments, before entering into force, may be appealed in a higher court within 10 days after the rendering of the judgment for criminal cases and within 20 days for civil cases.

95.Decisions and sentences that have entered into force, but have not been considered on appeal may be appealed in a higher court on cassation within one year after the decision was rendered by the court.

96.Also, judgments that have entered into force may be reviewed in the context of the exercise of supervisory power, but only upon a protest lodged by a procurator, a chairman of the court, or their deputies to whom that right is granted under Republic of Uzbekistan law.

\s97.Constitutional Court proceedings must conform to the law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Crime statistics

98.Over the last five years, the republic has noted trends indicating a decrease in the total number of premeditated murders: if 963 and 962 murders were recorded in 2003 and 2004, respectively, a total of 910 were recorded in 2005. A total of 891 were recorded in 2006, which is 5.4% fewer than in 2005; a total of 815 were recorded in 2007, which is 5.3% fewer than in 2006.

99.Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan classifies crimes according to their nature and the extent of their danger to society, namely: especially serious crimes, serious crimes, less serious crimes, and crimes that pose no great danger to society

100.Crimes that pose no great danger to society are premeditated crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for no more than three years, as well as criminal negligence, punishable under the law by imprisonment for no more than five years.

101.Crimes categorized as less serious are premeditated crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for three to five years, as well as criminal negligence, punishable under the law imprisonment for upwards of five years.

102.Serious crimes are premeditated crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for five to 10 years.

103.Especially serious crimes are premeditated crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for upwards of 10 years or life imprisonment.

Table 23 Number of recorded crimes, broken down by extent of danger to society, sex and age

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Recorded crimes, total Consisting of:	78 , 925	79 , 129	79 , 883	82 , 352	83 , 905
Not posing a great danger to society	35 , 084	36 , 080	38 , 098	40 , 209	40 , 492
Less serious	24 , 636	24 , 642	23 , 892	24 , 615	25 , 747
Serious	12 , 716	12 , 030	11 , 618	11 , 224	11 , 089
Especially serious	6 , 489	6 , 377	6 , 275	6 , 304	6 , 600
Individuals identified as having committed a crime Per 100 , 000 population Consisting of :	71 , 688 28	70 , 486 27 . 3	71 , 405 27 . 3	74 , 558 28 . 2	78 , 044 29 . 3
Men Per 100 , 000 population	62 , 383 24 . 4	64 , 413 24 . 9	61 , 720 23 . 6	64 , 097 24 . 3	66 , 517 24 . 9
Women Per 100 , 000 population	9 , 305 3 . 6	9 , 073 3 . 5	9 , 685 3 . 7	9 , 461 3 . 6	11 , 527 4 . 3
Minors	2 , 974	2 , 837	2 , 727	2 , 826	2 , 853
With prior record	11 , 579	10 , 797	10 , 485	10 , 355	9 ,, 326
Employed	27 , 553	25 , 701	24 , 705	27 , 950	31 , 496
Inebriated	6 , 140	5 , 750	5 , 558	5 , 257	4 , 775
Aged 13-15	624	614	582	580	604
Aged 16-17	2 , 350	2 , 223	2 , 145	2 , 246	2 , 249
Aged 18-24	12 , 333	11 , 824	14 , 734	14 , 919	14 , 958
Aged 25-29	9 , 718	9 , 410	12 , 908	12 , 905	13 , 283
Recorded murders Per 100 , 000 population	963 3 . 8	962 3 . 7	910 3 . 4	891 3 . 4	815 3 . 1
Number of persons tried criminally for robbery-related assault Per 100 , 000 population	986 3 . 8	1 , 069 4 . 1	5 . 49	5 . 60	6 . 23
Number tried for robbery Per 100,000 population	1 , 436 5 . 6	1 , 430 5 . 5	1 , 439 5 . 5	1 , 712 6 . 4	1 , 805 6 . 7
Taken into custody Number taken into custody per 100,000 population	12 , 899 50 . 5	11 , 195 43 . 3	10 , 518 40 . 2	10 , 353 39 . 2	10 , 087 37 . 8
Transferred to criminal court	40 , 777	39 , 888	40 , 118	39 , 787	39 , 753
Number of accused transferred to court Per 100 , 000 population	51 , 024 199 . 9	42 , 687 165 . 4	48 , 880 187 . 1	48 , 463 183 . 5	48 , 763 182 . 8
Number of recorded rapes	572	576	492	506	475
Number of persons tried criminally for rape Number of persons per 100 000 population	568 2 . 2	627 1 . 0	739 2 . 8	711 2 . 7	829 3 . 1

Maximum and average periods of pre-trial detention

104.In the course of judicial and legal reform, the period for pre-trial investigation in criminal cases were shortened to one year from two, and the period for remand of the accused in custody, to nine months from 1.5 years, and to one year in special cases; the sphere of application of that measure of restraint was also limited.

105.In addition, for purposes of effectively safeguarding the Constitutional rights and freedoms of the individual to inviolability of person, to protection against unjustified criminal prosecution and to a fair trial, in the republic, beginning on 1 January 2008, the authority to order remand in custody was transferred to the courts, in connection with which the law No. ZRU-100 of 11 July 2007 made the appropriate amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code articles governing the periods of detention and the rules for extending them. At present, pursuant to the requirements of Article 245 of the Criminal Procedure Code:

106.“The period of remand in custody during the investigation of crimes shall be no more than three months.

107.The possibility of extending the three-month remand-in-custody period established by the rules of the law shall be examined by the court if it is petitioned to do so:

to five months, on application by the public procurator for the Republic of Karakalpakstan or the regional or city of Tashkent public procurator or public procurators of equivalent rank;

to nine months, on application by the Procurator-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

to one year, on application by the Procurator-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in instances involving the investigation of particularly complex cases against individuals accused of serious or especially serious crimes. No further extension of the period shall be allowed. In reviewing those applications, the court shall take into account the soundness of the evidence submitted, as well as observance of procedural rules and requirements”.

108.Article 247 of the Criminal Procedure Code sets forth the rules for extending the period of remand in custody.

109.At least six days before the expiry of the established period of remand of the accused in custody, the proper public procurator shall issue an order to apply for an extension of the period of remand in custody, which is sent to the court. The order to apply for an extension must include the reasons for the protracted investigation, the facts and circumstances that are to be verified and the additionally requested period.

110.The application to extend the period of remand in custody shall be examined by an individual judge of a district (city) criminal court or an area or territorial military court in the place where the offence was committed or where the pretrial investigation was conducted or, in the absence of a judge from those courts or under circumstances that prevent the judge from participating in the examination of the case file submitted for the extension, the application shall be considered by a judge of an equivalent court under the direction of the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan for Criminal Matters, an area or Tashkent city criminal court, or the Military Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

111.The application for an extension of the period of remand in custody shall be examined in closed court session within 72 hours after receipt of the case file.

112.The application for an extension of the period of remand in custody shall be examined with the participation of the public procurator and the accused, as well as the defense counsel if a defense counsel is participating in the case. If necessary, the investigator may be called to court.

113.The application for an extension of the period of remand in custody may be examined by the court without the participation of the accused if the accused is in a medical institution for an in-patient forensic psychiatric expert examination. In that case, the participation of the defense counsel shall be mandatory.

114.The judge, after examining the application for an extension of the period of remand in custody, shall issue one of the following rulings:

to extend the period of remand in custody;

to deny the extension of the period of remand in custody.

115.The judge’s ruling to extend the period of remand in custody or to deny the extension shall enter into force when it is announced and shall be subject to immediate enforcement. The judge’s ruling shall be sent to the public procurator for enforcement and to the accused and the defense counsel for information purposes. The judge’s decision may be appealed or protested in an appeal that conforms to the rules of Part Two of Article 241 of the Criminal Procedure Code within 72 hours.

116.The appeals court, after examining the appeal petition or protest, shall be entitled to issue its own ruling:

uphold the judge’s ruling, and dismiss the appeal or protest;

set aside the judge’s ruling and either deny the extension of the period of remand in custody or extend the period. If the period of remand in custody is extended for an accused who was released from custody when the period expired, the court must apply the restraining measure of remand in custody for that person.

Number of deaths during the period of remand in custody

117.In 2005-2007, three arrested persons committed suicide by hanging themselves while in temporary detention facilities.

118.Ten inmates died in correctional facilities in 2005, whereas 15 died in 2006 and 10 died in 2007. In 29 of the cases, death came from tuberculosis, gastrointestinal illnesses, or cardiovascular pathology; in the other six, from suicide or accidents.

Number of internal affairs personnel per 100,000 population.

119.The number of internal affairs officers employed to fight crime and maintain public order per 100,000 population is 111.

Table 24 Total for material losses recovered in court by individuals who suffered them as a result of the commission of a criminal offence

Year	Total identified in judgments, millions of sum	Total recovered
millions of sum	%
2005	17 , 444 . 5	11 , 649 . 6	66 . 8
2006	74 , 246 . 0	72 , 040 . 2	97 . 0
2007	33 , 062 . 0	29 , 557 . 4	89 . 4

2.GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTING AND PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS

С.Adoption of international norms in the field of human rights

Table 25

Treaty	Accession information	Reservations and declarations	Derogations, restrictions and limitations
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966	31 Aug 1995	---	---
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966	31 Aug 1995	---	---
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), 1965	31 Aug 1995	---	---
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1979	6 May1995	---	---
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), 1984	31 Aug 1995	---	---
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989	9 Dec 1992	---	---
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW), 1990	---	---	---
Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict, 2000	Under review	---	---
Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution, and childpornography, 2000	Under review	---	---
Optional Protocol to CCPR, concerning individual petition, 1966	31 Aug 1995	---	---
Second Optional Protocol to CCPR, concerning abolition of the death penalty, 1989	Under review	---	---
Optional Protocol to CEDAW, concerning individual complaints and inquiry procedures, 1999	---	---	---
Optional Protocol to Committee Against Torture, concerning regular visits by nationaland international institutions to places of detention, 2002	---	---	---

(a)Ratification of other United Nations human rights treaties and related treaties.

Table 26

Treaty	Accession information	Reservations and declarations	Derogations, restrictions and limitations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948	20 Aug 1999	---	---
Slavery Convention 1926 as amended 1955	---	---	---
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitutionof Others 1949	12 Dec 2003	---	---
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951, and its 1967 protocol	---	---	---
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 1954	---	---	---
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness 1961	---	---	---
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998	---	---	---
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 2000	Signed 13 Dec 2000 Ratified 30 Aug 2003	---	---
Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime	Signed 28 June 2001	---	---
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime	Signed 28 June 2001	---	---

(b)Ratification of other relevant international treaties.

Table 27

Treaty	Accession information	Reservations and declarations	Derogations, restrictions and limitations
Conventions of the International Labour Organization
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14)	---	---	---
Forced or Compulsory Labour Convention 1930 (No. 29)	30 Aug 1997		---
Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81)	---	---	---
Migration for Employment Recommendation, 1949 (No. 86)	---	---	---
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948(No.87)	---	---	---
Migration for Employment Convention, 1949 (No. 97)	---	---	---
Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)	30 Aug 1997
Equal Remuneration Convention 1951 (No. 100)	30 Aug 1997
Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)	---	---	---
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)	30 Aug 1997
Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106)	---	---	---
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)	30 Aug 1997
Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (no. 118)	---	---	---
Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122)	6 May 1995
Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129)	---	---	---
Minimum Wage-Fixing Convention 1970 (No. 131)	---	---	---
Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised) 1970 (No. 132)	---	---	---
Minimum Age Convention 1973, (No. 138)	Adopted by lower chamber of Parliament (March 2008)	---	---
Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No.143)	---	---	---
Migrant Workers Recommendation, 1975 (No.151)	---	---	---
Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151)	---	---	---
Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155)	---	---	---
Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers withFamily Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156)	---	---	---
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries Convention, 1989 (No. 169)	---	---	---
Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 (No. 182)	Adopted by lower chamber of Parliament (March 2008)	---	---
Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)	---	---	---
Geneva conventions and other treaties on international humanitarian law
Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field 1949	3 Sept 1993	---	---
Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea 1949	3 Sept 1993	---	---
Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War 1949	3 Sept 1993	---	---
Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva 1949	3 Sept 1993	---	---
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) 1977	3 Sept 1993	---	---
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II) 1977	3 Sept 1993	---	---

D.Legal framework for protecting human rights at the national level

Legislative basis for the protection of human rights

120.As of 1 February 2007, 15 codes are in place in the republic, as are 368 laws, 631 decrees and 156 decisions of the President, 2,445 decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers and 1,206 departmental regulations. The body of law that has come about during the years of independence has laid the foundation for full-fledged regulation of socio-economic and socio-political relations. Virtually all the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been codified in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and have been further expanded in prevailing law.

121.The 31 August 1991 Constitutional law on the fundamental principles of State independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan established the following: “In conformance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship is established for the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

122.“All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, regardless of nation, nationality, social affiliation, religion or beliefs, have the same civil rights and are protected by the Constitution of the republic and its laws.”

123.Ethnic, national and state values and all universally recognized ideals in the legal culture of mankind are organically interwoven in the Constitution.

124.The special status of the universally recognized rules on human rights is affirmed in the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which says the following: “The people of Uzbekistan, solemnly proclaiming their commitment to human rights and the principles of State sovereignty, conscious of their grave responsibility to current and future generations, relying on historical experience in the development of the Uzbek statehood, affirming their loyalty to the ideals of democracy and social justice, acknowledging the primacy of universally recognized rules of international law, striving to provide a life of dignity for the citizens of the republic, aiming to create a humane, democratic State based on the rule of law, to ensure civil peace and national harmony, adopt this Constitution in the person of its authorized representatives”.

125.The Constitution of Uzbekistan is based on the fundamental postulate that “the human being, his life, freedom, honour, dignity and other inalienable rights” represent the “ultimate value” (Article 13). That fundamental precept is one of the bases of the Constitutional order of Uzbekistan. It preordains the role and importance that the Constitution attaches to human rights and freedoms.

126.Under Article 31 of the Constitution, “everyone shall be guaranteed freedom of conscience. Everyone shall have the right to profess or not to profess any religion. The imposition of religion by force shall be impermissible”.

127.Article 43 of the Constitution establishes the duty of the State to safeguard the rights and freedoms of citizens proclaimed by the Constitution and laws. Under Article 44 of the Constitution, everyone is guaranteed legal protection of his rights and freedoms, the right to appeal in court any unlawful actions of State bodies or officials or public associations.

128.In addition to those general norms on guarantees, the codification in effect of each specific right and freedom is accompanied by an indication of the conditions and means of the guarantee.

129.The Constitutional guarantees of human rights encompass all legal remedies ensuring the exercise and protection of human rights and freedoms in the different branches of law of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

130.Of course, the guarantees of the rights and freedoms of citizens are not limited merely to Constitutional codification.

131.The legislative codification of human rights in the Republic of Uzbekistan is effected with the assistance of the Constitutional laws, codes and an entire block of directly applicable law. The Parliament has passed more than 300 laws governing basic human rights and freedoms. The general landmarks for safeguarding and protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens are defined in the norms for the republic’s sector law. The most important principles for ensuring human rights and freedoms are codified in the norms of the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

132.Constituting a component part of the legal system are the socially oriented programmes that are adopted by the Government every year when the specific social problems to be resolved are targeted. Those programmes usually contain a legislative section, as well as specific measures to improve the well-being of socially vulnerable groups of the populace, the family, mothers, children, the elderly, the disabled and youth. Those programs are supported by State funding, and non-governmental organizations also take part in implementing them.

133.Since January 2008, legislative enactments have entered into force that have been geared to abolishing the death penalty, transferring the authority to remand in custody to the courts, and guaranteeing the rights of the child, as has a Constitutional law on strengthening the role of political parties in upgrading and further democratizing State administration and modernizing the country.

134.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, national programmes and plans of action for implementing the recommendations of United Nations treaty bodies based on the results of the consideration of the country reports of Uzbekistan serve as interdepartmental implementation mechanisms.

The place of international human rights treaties in national law

135.As of the beginning of 2008, the Republic of Uzbekistan had entered into more than 900 multilateral and bilateral treaties and agreements and had acceded to more than 170 critically important international conventions and treaties, including more than 60 treaties for the protection of human rights and freedoms.

136.Analysis of national laws in the sphere of codifying and implementing the primacy of the rules of international law over national law shows that the branch law of the republic is essentially based on a recognition of the precedence of the rules of international treaties over national laws. Accordingly, under Article 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the criminal law of the Republic of Uzbekistan is based on the Constitution and on the universally recognized norms of international law and consists of this Code.

137.Article 4 of the Penal Enforcement Code is given as an imperative: “Penal enforcement law shall take into account the principles and norms of international law pertaining to punishment and treatment of convicted persons.

138.“The norms of penal enforcement law may not be in conflict with international instruments regarding protection against torture and other inhumane or degrading types of treatment of convicted persons.

139.“If an international treaty to which the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party establishes provisions other than those provided under penal enforcement law, the provisions of the international treaty shall take precedence”.

140.The language most often used contains a reference to the norms of international law in general. For example, most often used is the version of Article 9 of the Family Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan: “If an international treaty to which the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party establishes rules other than those contained in the family laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the rules of the international treaty shall take precedence”. This pertains solely to priority of application, when a treaty establishes “other rules” for only a specific instance and does not affect the force of the law as a whole, i.e., creates an exception for a given situation. In the latter case, the treaty does not take precedence over the law, because the question at hand is priority of application in a specific case. That gives reason to believe that what is meant are “other rules” that cancel or alter the rules of the law and do not make an exception for a specific case.

141.The priority application of international treaties in specific situations is clearly codified, for example, in such regulations as the Labour and Land codes. The priority of such application extends to the rules of all the Republic of Uzbekistan’s international treaties that have entered into force, because the rules of such treaties have been declared to be part of Republic of Uzbekistan law and, consequently, are subject to direct application.

142.Under the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan, of 25 December 1995, “international treaties to which the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party are subject to rigourous and mandatory observance by the Republic of Uzbekistan under the norms of international law”.

System of State bodies that take decisions in matters of human rights

143.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, bodies that have the authority to decide matters in the field of human rights are as follows:

the Legislative Chamber and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, as well as local representative bodies of State authority;

the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as ministries, departments and institutions that are executive-branch bodies;

judicial system bodies;

the Procurator General.

144.The Oliy Majlis, the highest legislative body of the Republic of Uzbekistan, creates the legal basis for safeguarding and protecting human rights. Since independence, the Oliy Majlis has drafted and passed more than 1,000 laws, most of which are geared to the direct protection of specific rights and freedoms of citizens. The procedure for ratification of international human rights treaties is effected through the country’s Parliament. Committees of both the lower and the upper chamber of Uzbekistan’s Parliament perform the procedures for parliamentary control of compliance with international human rights treaties, as well as prevailing human rights laws. Accordingly, the Senate performed parliamentary control of compliance with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in oblasts of the Fergana Valley in 2006, and the Committee on Interparliamentary Relations of the Legislative Chamber performed control of compliance with the Convention against Torture [and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment] in Tashkent Oblast in 2005-2006.

145.In 1995, formed within the Oliy Majlis was the Commission on the Observance of the Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens (later re-formed as the Commission on the Observance of the Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens attached to the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis).

146.In 1995, the post of Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman), which was vested with the authority to consider complaints of human rights violations, was established in the Oliy Majlis. The activities of that office are carried out in conformance with the law. The Ombudsman carries out independent investigations of complaints received, and, on the basis of those investigations, recommendations on how to correct the situation are sent to officials and State bodies. On the basis of complaints, the Ombudsman monitors cases involving human rights violations. The annual statistics for such complaints and an analysis of their content and of decisions made are supplied in the form of a report to both chambers of the Oliy Majlis and are published on the Internet.

147.Under para. 1 of Article 93 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “guarantees the rights and freedoms of the citizens and the observance of the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

148.The President of the country was the initiator of the draft of the national Framework for the Implementation of Priority Areas of Reform in the Reform and Further Liberalization of the Judicial System. To date, the implementation of the priority areas of that Framework has involved the issuance of seven decrees, three decisions, and three directives by the President. Laws to abolish the death penalty and introduce the institution of habeas corpus have been passed with the President exercising his right to initiate legislation. National human rights institutions have also been established at the President’s initiative. The addresses of the head of State at joint sessions of the Parliament have always devoted particular attention to the safeguarding of human rights..

149.The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the highest executive body, performs direct enforcement of the laws and subordinate legislation passed by the country’s parliament and of decrees and directives issued by the President.

150.For purposes of using national laws to implement universally recognized norms of international human rights law and to implement them fully, the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has set up an entire array of socially oriented State programmes.

151.Judicial bodies are part of the system of State agencies for the protection of human rights. Playing no small role in that system is the Constitutional Court, which is called upon to consider cases involving the constitutionality of acts of the legislature and the executive branch. Since it was instituted, the Constitutional Court has handed down 14 rulings and decisions aimed at interpreting norms of law and, accordingly, protecting various human rights and freedoms.

152.The system of courts of general jurisdiction protects rights and restores those that have been violated. The Supreme Court devotes special attention to the protection of all types of human rights when it examines judicial practices in plenary session. Decisions handed down in plenary session of the Supreme Court are acts interpreting the law and are binding on all law-enforcement and judicial bodies. In 2007, for example, in connection with the incorporation of the institution of habeas corpus into national law and the abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan, the Supreme Court in plenary session handed down rulings on certain aspects of the application of punishment in the form of life imprisonment and on the use by the courts of measures of restraint that take the form of pre-trial remand in custody.

153.Procuratorial authorities are called upon to provide special protection of the rights of those participating in a criminal proceeding. The legal status of the public procurator is defined by Uzbekistan’s Constitution and the law of 29 August 2001 on the public procurator’s office, under which “the Procurator General of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the public procurators subordinate to him shall supervise the strict and uniform application of the law by all ministries, State committees, departments, State oversight agencies and khokims, as well as institutions—enterprises and organizations, regardless of their subordination, affiliation or form of ownership—military units, public associations, officials, and citizens”. In addition to the fact that the public procurator performs general oversight of the rule of law, functioning as part of the public procurator’s office are two special departments that are directly involved in human rights—the Department of Oversight of Enforcement of the Law at Detention Facilities and Remand Centres and in the Administration of Punishment and Other Compulsory Measures Required by a Court, and the Department for the Protection of the Legitimate Legal Interests of the Individual, Society and the State.

154.The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan is vested with considerable authority in ensuring and protecting human rights and freedoms. Under paragraphs 2 and 6 of the regulation on the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, one of the primary tasks of the Ministry consists in protecting the human rights and freedoms codified in the Constitution and the law and developing institutions of civil society in every way possible and strengthening their legal bases.

155.The Department for the Protection of Human Rights is a specialized subdivision of the Ministry of Justice that is directly involved in protecting human rights and freedoms. The Department was formed on the basis of the 27 August 2003 decision No. 370 of the Cabinet of Ministers on measures for the further improvement of the work of the Ministry of Justice. Under the decision, human rights protection divisions that are part of the Department were formed in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and in local judiciary offices and the city of Tashkent.

156.The primary tasks of the Department are as follows:

To analyze human rights legislation and the status of compliance with it, and to offer proposals for upgrading that legislation and improving the work associated with enforcing it.

To assist in the development of institutions of civil society and to strength their legal framework.

To protect the human rights and freedoms codified in the Constitution and the law.

The Department for the Protection of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice is drafting measures to enhance the public’s awareness of the law in the realm of human rights and freedoms and to promote the idea of respect for human rights in the society.

It is helping to increase the role of lawyers in the protection of human rights and freedoms and to develop institutions of civil society and strengthen their legal framework;

It is cooperating with the international and non-governmental organizations that are active in the Republic of Uzbekistan on matters of protecting human rights.

157.For purposes of setting up a system for monitoring the conformance of the emerging legal and legislative framework and law-enforcement practices to the goals and objectives of the reform and modernization of the country, the 15 December 2005 decision of the President formed the Centre for Monitoring the Enforcement of Legal and Regulatory Acts within the Ministry of Justice system.

158.An important role in the protection of human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Uzbekistan is played by internal affairs authorities. The investigation of crimes is the area of work of the internal affairs authorities where the rights and freedoms of citizens who are parties to criminal proceedings are most tangibly and most often affected. Under paragraphs 2 and 1 of the regulation on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which was approved by the 25 October 1991 decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, “the Ministry, within the limits of its competence, shall ensure the rights and lawful interests of citizens, public order and public safety and shall effect the fight against crime”.

159.On 21 August 2003, a joint protocol of the Chief Investigations Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the republic’s Bar Association approved the regulation on the rules for guaranteeing the right of a detainee, a suspect, or an accused to protection in the stage of preliminary inquiry or pre-trial investigation. Under the regulation, lawyers were attached to each investigative unit of internal affairs authorities. Rules for the on-duty lawyers in investigative units were introduced. Each detained person, from the moment he is brought to an internal affairs facility, no matter what time that may be, is guaranteed access to an attorney. Those rules are now in place in all units of internal affairs authorities.

160.By the Ministry of Internal Affairs order of 30 September 2005, the Office for the Protection of Human Rights and Cooperation with International Organizations was formed within the Department for Legal Support and Relations with the Mass Media. The main objectives of the division are as follows: in conjunction with the Human Rights Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis and the National Centre for Human Rights, to monitor the observance of human rights and freedoms, to cooperate with and exchange information with international organizations in the sphere of the protection of human rights and freedoms, to assist in enhancing the awareness of the law among internal affairs staff members and to familiarize staff members with the basic regulations associated with safeguarding and protecting human rights and freedoms.

Citation by judicial bodies of international human rights treaties

161.The national legal system of the Republic of Uzbekistan recognizes the precedence of international law over national law. At the same time, an international treaty, for purposes of its enforcement, must be implemented in national laws. After implementation, the norms of international law become part of domestic law and are binding. But directly citing a given international treaty is not standard practice among the judicial bodies of Uzbekistan and is extremely rare.

Legal remedies for human rights violations

162.Uzbekistan law clearly defines the legal remedies for violations of protected rights. Those remedies are given in legislative enactments such as the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure; the law on the courts, the law on the Office of the Public Procurator, the law on citizens’ recourse, the law on lodging complaints in court regarding actions and decisions violating the rights and freedoms of citizens, the law on the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the law on the legal profession and the law on non-governmental non-commercial organizations; the regulation on the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the regulation on the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

163.Several types of legal protection exist in the Republic of Uzbekistan for human rights violations, and they may be divided into administrative and judicial. None of the remedies is at variance with one another, and they supplement one another. These types of legal remedies include both mediation and reconciliation strategies and the more official form of legal services.

164.Administrative procedures for filing a complaint about a human rights violation. In the event of a violation of an individual’s rights by an officer of any institution, the individual may turn to a higher agency in the hierarchy. The complaint must be reviewed within one month, and the person must be given a written, reasoned reply. This procedure is used rather often and is effective.

165.For a human rights violation, the individual may approach the public procurator’s office, and the complaint will also be reviewed within one month. The review of a specific complaint by authorities of the public procurator’s office is performed by a superior public procurator and may conclude with the public procurator’s prescription of legal action against the official who committed the human rights violation. Filing a complaint with the public procurator’s office is also a rather powerful and effective way of restoring violated rights.

166.Since 2005, operating within the Ministry of Justice has been the Department for the Protection of Human Rights, one of whose functions is to review appeals and complaints with regard to human rights violations. The services provided by this department include free legal assistance in petitioning the court, if necessary. In recent years, a great deal of legal assistance has been provided to entrepreneurs, farmers, and rural people.

167.The Office for the Protection of Human Rights and Cooperation with International Organizations, which operates within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, participates in the review of complaints of human rights violations committed by internal affairs staff.

168.The Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis and the National Centre for Human Rights for the Republic of Uzbekistan are also engaged in extrajudicial protection of the rights of citizens in the system of State institutions. The Commissioner’s review of a complaint is accompanied by a special independent investigation conducted by that office and a decision that is of an advisory nature for the officials who are deciding the case. The number of complaints filed with the Ombudsman and the positive outcomes demonstrate the trust that citizens have in that office. The National Centre for Human Rights also reviews complaints from the public with regard to violated rights, which is part of the monitoring done by the Centre.

169.Judicial procedures for the protection of violated rights. The use of administrative procedures to complain of violated rights does not preclude the possibility of going to court to restore one’s rights. Unlike administrative procedures, judicial procedures require the payment of legal fees and involve lengthy examination of cases.

170.Among the means of legal defense is the institution of the bar, which is a network of governmental and non-governmental law firms and offices. In addition, in operation at law schools in the republic are legal clinics, where citizens are provided free legal assistance. Human rights may also be protected in public organizations that act in court as the legal representatives of a person.

Institutions and national mechanisms that oversee the exercise of human rights

171.Pursuant to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, national institutions for human rights have been created in Uzbekistan: the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis, the National Centre for Human Rights, and the Institute for Monitoring Prevailing Legislation, reporting to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

172.A substantial role in the monitoring of compliance with human rights law belongs to the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis, which, with the means made available to it, helps specifically not only to restore violated rights, but also to improve Republic of Uzbekistan law.

173.Examining the appeals of citizens and providing assistance in restoring their violated rights and freedoms is one of the priority areas of the Ombudsman in the performance of its duties to further develop cooperation between the Human Rights Commissioner and State authorities, the courts, and law enforcement for the purpose of fully and effectively respecting and protecting human rights and freedoms in Uzbekistan.

174.Accordingly, in 2006, the institution of the Ombudsman received 7,655 appeals, which included a total of 4,753 to the central office, 1,377 to regional representatives, 848 re-filed, and 647 on hotlines; legal advice and explanations were given out. Of the appeals that came to the Human Rights Commissioner regarding the violation of the rights, freedoms, and legal interests of citizens, a total of 1,434 complaints were taken under advisement. Over the span of the reporting period, 351 appeals were resolved in positive fashion, and the rest remain under review. A total of 34,444 appeals were mailed to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis, and 1,309 were filed in person, with women accounting for 2,439, men accounting for 1,856, and group complaints accounting for 456.

175.On 31 October 1996, a presidential decree created the National Centre for Human Rights for the Republic of Uzbekistan.

176.That agency was created to coordinate the activities of all governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in protecting human rights. The Centre studies various aspects of the protection and safeguarding of human rights both on the national level and on the international level; prepares national reports on the fulfillment of international human rights obligations for United Nations convention agencies; organizes training programmes, seminars, lecture courses and field trips; provides assistance in the development and implementation of human rights training programmes; compiles and disseminates information on human rights; develops technical cooperation and informational links with international human rights centres or organizations; provides field coordination of the activities of international agencies that render technical assistance in matters of democratization, administration, and protection of human rights; and receives and reviews complaints from the public on human rights violations.

177.The Institute for Monitoring Prevailing Legislation is the research arm of the system of executive agencies that monitors legislation, as well as provides legal evaluation of the laws being passed.

178.The Republican Centre for the Social Adaptation of Children handles matters involving socially vulnerable children in Uzbekistan. It is an independent organization formed in accordance with a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Centre’s main functions are to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the social protection of children and to analyze and develop regulations for safeguarding and protecting the rights and interests of socially vulnerable groups of children.

179.A network of non-governmental organizations engaged in protecting and promoting specific human rights also operates in the country in close cooperation with State authorities.

180.Created in 2005 for purposes of coordinating the activities of NGOs in Uzbekistan was the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan, whose members today number 330 Uzbekistan NGOs that encompass all spheres of the life of the society and operate in various fields (social support, the law, women, youth, the environment, etc.).

181.The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan provides consulting services to the government on matters of policy affecting women. The Committee was created in 1991 and is a budget organization funded with State monies. The uniqueness of the national mechanism consists in the fact that the chairperson of the Women’s Committee is at the same time a deputy prime minister, which gives the organization the right to coordinate the social partnership between governmental organizations and public and non-governmental organizations. The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan initiates, coordinates, and implements governmental policy, programmes, and projects geared to improving women's status; advises the government on matters pertaining to women; and disseminates pertinent information among women and on the problems women face. In order to maintain the rate of advancement of women, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan focuses special attention on five priority programme areas: employment and the economic well-being of women; the safeguarding of the reproductive rights and reproductive health of women; women and their participation in the life of the society, with an especial focus on the participation of women in leadership and decision making; women and the law, with an especial focus on the elimination of discrimination against women; and women and education, with a focus on the development of professionalism and competency. The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan also bears primary responsibility for the participation of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the conduct of international events involving the problems women face.

182.The Women’s Committee is the largest women’s organization of the Republic of Uzbekistan and has its own chapters in all regions of the republic.

183.A number of non-governmental non-commercial organizations are active in the protection of the rights of the child.

184.In 1993, at the initiative of the general public, the Soglom Avlod Uchun (For a Healthy Generation) International Charity Non-Governmental Foundation was created. The foundation’s primary mission is to create the conditions necessary for the birth and rearing of well-integrated children. To accomplish that, the foundation works to develop and implement humanitarian, medical, and educational programmes; projects for gifted children and for promoting a healthy lifestyle; and programs that encompass vulnerable segments of the population, children, and youth.

185.The Foundation operates in 14 regions of Uzbekistan; what’s more, foundation support centres are operating in each rayon. In all, it has more than 180 local representative offices and upwards of 250 people throughout the republic—medical people, teachers and economists who are working vigorously to implement existing programmes and to develop new ones.

186.A coordinating role is played by the Foundation’s headquarters, which has five departments: department for protection of mother and child, humanitarian assistance department, procedural organization department, financial management department, accounting department.

187.Its primary activities are funded with financial resources coming from sponsors both local and international, as well as from the charter activities of subsidiary entities created within the Foundation..

188.At present, the foundation is one of the most reputable non-commercial charity organizations in Uzbekistan, and it takes an active part in solving the State’s social policy problems and pressing problems of society.

189.The foundation is one of the founders of print publications such as the Soglom Avlod Uchun journal, the Soglom Avlod (Healthy Generation) Newspaper, Oila Va Zhamiyat (Family and Society), Tong Yulduzi (Morning Star), and Klass!

190.The Sen Yolg’iz Emassan (You Are Not Alone) Republican Public Children’s Fund began operations in Uzbekistan in 2002. The primary mission of the fund is to provide comprehensive assistance in creating the conditions necessary for a decent life and full development for children, to maintain the primacy of the family and to see to it that the necessary actions are taken to provide the greatest protection of the interests of children who are acutely in need of the society’s support (orphans, children deprived of parental care, neglected children, disabled children and children from poor families).

191.The work of the Sen Yolg’iz Emassan Fund is done within long-tem charitable programmes for assisting children.

192.The main goals and objectives of the fund involve the solution of a variety of childhood problems:

the protection of the rights and legal interests of children in need of social protection;

the development of well-integrated individuals;

spiritual and moral education of children;

provision of material, medical, legal and other assistance;

assistance in the prevention and protection of children’s health;

improvement of the morale of children.

193.The financial operations of the foundation are funded with charitable contributions from Republic of Uzbekistan residents (legal persons and individuals) and non-residents. The staff consists of 15 people.

194.One of the largest non-governmental organizations involved in youth rights is the Kamolot Public Youth Movement of Uzbekistan. The main priority of the work of the Movement consists in bringing the progressive youth of the republic together; forming physically healthy, spiritually mature citizens of independent Uzbekistan; raising them to be loyal to a national idea and ideology based on national and universal values and democratic principles; representing and protecting the interests of young people; and transforming the Movement into a true support mechanism for youth.

195.The Movement has a branched structure consisting of 14 oblast and 199 rayon subdivisions (1,200 staff workers). The frontline organizations for working with youth comprise 15,800 units that are set up in all educational institutions of the republic, in military units, in departments, in various workplaces, and on farms.

196.The Movement today brings together more than 4.5 million young people (14-30 years old) and, when combined with members of the Kamalak (Rainbow) children’s movement (4 million children aged 10-14), is one of the largest public organizations, is based on the development of various forms of self-government and is helping to establish the “primary” institutions of civil society.

197.In conducting some 7,800 spiritual outreach events, round tables, discussions, seminars and conferences, and cultural and recreational events, the Movement has enveloped some 6 million young people throughout the republic; has developed 20 teaching aids, booklets and posters; and has published more than 200 feature-story articles.

198.The State is actively supporting the Kamolot Movement. For example, the year 2006 saw the issuance of a Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree on support for the public movement Kamolot and for the enhancement of the effectiveness of its work; on the basis of a mutual partnership, the decree formed, for the first time ever, a foundation whose funds come from small businesses. In addition, under an agreement with the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Committee, and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the structures of the Movement are exempted from audits and enjoy reduced rates for banking services.

199.Uzbekistan is a multinational country where more than 140 national cultural centres are in operation. The decision of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 10 of 10 January 1992 established the Republican Inter-Nations Cultural Centre. The Centre coordinates activities and provides practical and instructional assistance to national cultural centres and thereby actively participates in meeting the needs of representatives of the various nationalities and peoples who live in the country. At present, the Centre has 33 staff members funded by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

200.The Uzbek Society for the Disabled was created in 1991. That organization has 114 branches in all oblasts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with a membership of 120,000 (there are 850,000 disabled persons in the Republic of Uzbekistan). Functioning within the system of the Society are nearly 100 subsidiary units in which disabled persons work. The principal work of the Society consists in the social rehabilitation of disabled persons, the provision of assistance to the disabled in terms of obtaining education, and the creation of equal opportunities for the disabled in the exercise of their rights.

201.For purposes of enhancing the effectiveness of State policy for the social protection of veterans and increasing their role in the strengthening of the independence and sovereignty of the republic, the 4 December 1996 Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree created the Nuroni Foundation for the social support of veterans of Uzbekistan.

202.Under the presidential decree and the Foundation’s Charter, it is a self-governing, self-funding, non-governmental non-commercial association that operates independently.

203.The primary objective of the Foundation is to participate actively in the implementation of a robust social policy—particularly in demonstrating respect for veterans—for disabled and elderly citizens, in the creation of favorable social and living conditions for them, and in the events that provide them material, medical, and moral support.

Recognition of the jurisdiction of regional human rights courts

204.The Republic of Uzbekistan is not a party to regional human rights agreements and, accordingly, does not recognize the jurisdiction of regional human rights courts.

Е.Framework for promoting human rights at the national level

Dissemination of human rights treaties

205.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, in close cooperation with such international partners as the UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, OSCE and ICRC, more than 100 core international human rights instruments have been translated into Uzbek and published in large runs. Over the last eight years, the following compilations of international treaties have been published in Uzbek:

1.Declaration of Principles of Tolerance. Tashkent, 2000.

2.International Instruments for the Rights of Minors. Tashkent, 2002, 232 pp.

3.Republic of Uzbekistan and International Human Rights Treaties. Tashkent, Adolat, 2002, 270 pp.

4.International Humanitarian Law: Compilation of Geneva Conventions. Tashkent, 2002.

5.Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Human Dimension. Helsinki 1975-1999. Tashkent, 2002.

6.Documents on UNESCO International Standards. Tashkent, Adolat, 2004, 298 pp.

7.International Documents on the Work of Law-Enforcement Agencies. Tashkent, Adolat, 2004, 212 pp.

8.International Human Rights Instruments: Compilation. Tashkent, Adolat, 2004, 520 pp.

9.International Human Rights Instruments. Tashkent, 2004.

10.Convention on the Rights of the Child. Tashkent, 2004.

11.Protection of the Rights of the Child. Handbook for Parliamentarians. Tashkent: UNIСEF, 2006.

12.Human Rights. Handbook for Parliamentarians. Tashkent, 2007.

13.Democracy and the Parliament in the Twenty-First Century. Handbook for Parliamentarians. Tashkent, 2007.

14.Compilation of Core Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization. Tashkent: National Centre for Human Rights, 2008, 240 pp.

15.Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour: Practical Guide for the Use of the ILO Convention No. 182. Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 3/2002. Tashkent, National Centre for Human Rights, 2008.

Study of human rights by civil servants and members of law-enforcement agencies

206.Operating in the Republic of Uzbekistan is a network of educational institutions that train and re-train lawyers and law-enforcement workers. Numbered among such institutions are the law schools of universities, the Tashkent State Law Institute, the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Institute of the National Security Service, the National Centre for the Further Training of Legal Specialists, and the Advanced Courses of the Office of the Procurator-General.

207.Attendees are taught the subject “Human Rights” at the Academy for the Development of the State and Society, which is attached to the Office of the President. That course involves field trips to the National Centre for Human Rights and the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner.

208.In the republic’s Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, aspects of the use of norms of international law in the activities of internal affairs agencies are taught with subjects such as “General Theory of Human Rights” (40 hours), “Criminal Procedure” (180 hours), “Criminal Law” (270 hours), “International Law” (50 hours) and “Preliminary Investigation in Internal Affairs Agencies” (234 hours).

209.Attendees of Higher Academic Courses with a specialty in “Organization of the Management of Internal Affairs Agencies” are taught the course “International Cooperation in the Fight Against Crime” (24 hours). Attendees of Higher Academic Courses are also taught the 30-hour course “Human Rights and the Work of Internal Affairs Agencies”.

210.In the training of internal affairs staff, the advanced courses for providing legal training for non-commissioned officers have a 16-hour instructional subsection titled “Human Rights and the Work of Internal Affairs Agencies”.

211.Within the framework of the above-indicated training courses, particular attention is focused on international law standards in the field of human rights and freedoms, specifically, on international law guarantees of protection of the rights of those who have been indicted, those who are standing trial and those who have been convicted; on the minimum standards for the rules for handling detained persons; on protection of all persons from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, etc.

212.The department for advanced training of officers of internal affairs agencies of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regularly conducts re-training and advanced-training sessions. Special curricula that are coordinated with relevant services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs involve 176 hours of classes, including classes on “International Human Rights Standards in Criminal Proceedings”, as well as “The Application of the Norms of Criminal Procedure Law on the Admissibility of Evidence under the 24 September 2004 plenary session ruling No. 12 of the Supreme Court”.

213.The training on safeguarding human rights in the context of the work of internal affairs agencies on the basis of international human rights standards is conducted primarily for staff members who are directly involved in investigating crime, namely, criminal and anti-terrorism investigators and inspectors, district inspectors for crime prevention, and prison authorities.

214.The Republican Centre for Further Training of Legal Specialists is a State educational institution that performs advanced training and re-training of justice ministry personnel, the courts, attorneys, law instructors and legal-service personnel.

215.The Centre devotes particular attention to the international legal system for protecting human rights and freedoms. The curriculum includes the following training programmes: “National Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan and International Standards in the Sphere of Justice”, “Basics of International Humanitarian Law”, “Legal Bases of the Efforts to Combat International Crime”, “Place and Role of International Standards for the Protection of Human Rights in the Work of Law-Enforcement Agencies”, “National Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan and International Human Rights Law”, and “Legal Status of the Public in International Law”.

216.Attendees are taught the theory and practice of incorporating international standards into Republic of Uzbekistan national law, specifically, the right to life, the right to freedom and personal inviolability, the right to the protection of one’s honor and dignity, the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, and the right to protection against torture and to freedom of thought, expression, and opinion and freedom of conscience and religion.

217.The 7 November 2007 decision of the President on the formation of Advanced Courses of the Office of the Procurator-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan abolished the Centre for Problems Associated with Strengthening Legality and with the Professional Development of Procuratorial and Investigative Workers and created in its place the Advanced Courses of the Office of the Procurator-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

218.The programme for re-training supervisory personnel calls for six months of training; the programme for professional development, up to one month.

219.Over the past three years (2005-2007), the Centre conducted courses such as “International Standards for Administering Justice for Minors”, “Problems in the Implementation of the Institution of Habeas Corpus in the Stage of Pretrial Investigation”, “Cooperation between Procurator-General Authorities and the Office of the Ombudsman in the Safeguarding of Civil Rights and Freedoms”, “International Legal Instruments Pertaining to the Human Dimension”, and “United Nations Standards for Officers Who Conduct Inquiries and Criminal Investigations”.

220.The curriculum of the Institute of the National Security Service includes the study of the subject “Human Rights” as a separate subject consisting of 24 academic hours.

221.Academic subjects are taught on an interdisciplinary basis and include general aspects of human rights, as well as specific practical requirements for their observance, which future staff members of offices of the National Security Service must be guided by in their law-enforcement activities.

222.In addition to being taught as a separate subject, certain aspects of human rights are also found in other academic subjects on the law, such as “The Theory of the State and Law”, “Criminal Law”, “Administrative Law”, “Civil Law”, and “Civil Procedures”.

223.The Institute of the National Security Service has a Centre on the Law of Armed Conflicts, which also has classes on human rights.

224.In addition to being taught to investigators and judges, aspects of the study of international human rights standards are included in the training programme at military education institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ministry of Defense. Elective courses have been taught since the 2005 school year, and, since the 2006 school year, the “Foundations of Military Law” block has included the sections “Humanitarian Law” and “Law of Armed Conflict”, which address human rights in a 10- to 12-hour format.

225.In training and re-training doctors, the Republic of Uzbekistan Ministry of Health system focuses a certain amount of attention on the study of human rights. Specifically, in all medical education institutions, at the baccalaureate level, teaching of the subject “Forensic Medicine” involves explanation of the rights of the specialist, the medical examiner, and the junior medical examiner. The subject “Legal Bases of the Work of the Physician” is being taught, and in it, particular attention is devoted to the rights and freedoms of the individual, including the right to life, freedom and personal inviolability; the right to protection against attack; and the unacceptability of the use of torture or violence. Also explained is the unacceptability of conducting medical or scientific experiments on an individual without that individual’s consent. These matters are examined both from the standpoint of the patient and the standpoint of medical personnel.

Study of human rights in educational institutions of varying categories (schools, high schools, colleges, universities)

226.Pursuant to the decisions of the Oliy Majlis on the national programmes for enhancing the public’s awareness of the law and for training personnel and to the law on education, the Republic of Uzbekistan has created a system of continuous legal instruction and education that consists of the following stages:

Stage I:legal instruction in the family;

Stage II:beginning instruction and training in children’s pre-school education facilities;

Stage III:legal instruction in middle educational institutions;

Stage IV:legal instruction and education in academic high schools and vocational colleges;

Stage V:legal instruction and education in higher education institutions.

227.The first stage of legal education and instruction begins in the family. Since the family is the nucleus of the society, it is regarded as the foundation on which the person of a child is formed and on which that child becomes a well-integrated spiritual person. Based on the goals and objectives, the family has its own special place in the formation and development of the legal instruction and education in each stage of the continuous legal education and instruction.

228.In children’s pre-school education facilities , the beginning legal education and instruction is given during the daily games and lessons. These lessons are provided for children of the middle, senior, and advancing groups. Instruction called “Lessons of the Constitution” is given 16 times a year to children of the middle and senior groups in the form of games, including seven morning activities and two recesses, and 16 times a year to advancing groups, with eight morning activities and two recesses.

229.In grades 1-4 of the middle general-education schools, depending on the age of the students, concepts such as the law, debt, and obligation are introduced. Forty hours a year are devoted to study of the subject “The ABCs of the Constitution”.

230.In grades 5-7 of the middle general-education schools, that content is fleshed out with real-life examples of the relationship between the State and the individual, and topics involving personal independence, equal rights, freedom of speech, freedom of information and the criminal liability of citizens who are minors are introduced. Fifty-one hours a year in each grade are devoted to study of the course “Journey into the World of the Constitution”.

231.In grades 8 and 9 of the middle general-education schools, the primary objective of the legal instruction and education of citizens consists of the following:

to inculcate in students knowledge of the socio-economic, political and legal, and cultural development of the State;

to nurture creative thinkers capable of expressing their view of life’s problems.

232.Thirty-four hours a year are devoted to study of the “Fundamentals of Constitutional Law” in these grades.

233.In grades 10 and 11 of the middle general-education schools, 68 hours over a two-year period are devoted to providing knowledge of branches of the law in “Jurisprudence” lessons.

234.In November of every year, in all schools, non-formal education institutions, and Mekhribonlik orphanages, the Ministry of Public Education, along with regional branches of the Uzbekistan Children’s Foundation, conducts a week of study of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, during which contests such as “Do you know your rights?” and “What is a right?” are held.

235.In 2005, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Public Education, with assistance from UNICEF, introduced a programme called “The Child-Friendly School”, the aim of which is to give teachers and students training on how to handle problems amicably and with tolerance, avoiding conflict situations and, inter alia, to raise the teachers’ awareness of the unacceptability of abusive treatment of students.

236.Under the State education standard, the curricula in higher and secondary specialized education institutions also provide for the study of human rights within the framework of the following disciplines:

for four-year baccalaureate students: “Human Rights”, 81 hours; “Jurisprudence” and “Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, 108 hours; “Constitutional Law”, 120 hours.

for two-year master’s students: “Human Rights”, 40 hours; “Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, 27 hours.

for students of academic high schools and vocational colleges, two courses are taught: “Jurisprudence” and “Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, 80 hours.

Raising human rights awareness through the mass media

237.In the republic, the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan provides what is necessary for TV and radio coverage of the most important issues of the socio-political and socio-economic development of the country and the protection of human rights and freedoms. The company works to inform the public broadly and systematically on human rights issues through the production of various TV and radio programmes and their broadcast via TV and radio. Recent years have seen a steady rise not only in the number, but also in the quality of TV and radio programmes devoted to safeguarding economic, social, cultural, personal and political rights. Constant attention is focused on increasing the immediacy, depth, and understandability of the various programmes geared to a broad discussion of problems associated with raising the educational level of the public, as well as its political and legal awareness.

238.Most of the TV and radio programmes devoted to human rights issues are produced and broadcast by the O’zbekiston TV and radio station. For example, in 2005-2007, a total of 1,837 TV and radio programmes on human rights issues went on the air. The total number of TV and radio series-based programmes devoted to safeguarding economic, social, cultural, personal and political rights was 752; the number of TV and radio programmes that covered issues involving international human rights treaties, 414; and the number TV and radio commercials devoted to human rights, 2,820. It should be noted that stories and reports on that topic were regularly aired on such informational programmes as “Akhborot”, “Takhlilnoma”, “Assalom, Uzbekiston!” and “Okshom Tulkinlarida”.

239.TV and radio programmes devoted to human rights issues are also aired consistently via the Yoshlar, Sport and Toshkentstations. In 2007, the total number of TV and radio programs aired via television stations (stories and reports on that topic were regularly aired on informational programmes such as “Davr”, “Davr Khafta Ichida”, “Poytakht,” “Mash”al”) was 410 for Yoshlar, 84 for the Sport TV and radio station, and 34 for the Toshkent TV and radio station.

240.A great deal of attention is being focused on producing TV commercials and advertisements on human rights. All the commercials (29) were devoted to nine basic areas: protection of consumer rights; ecology and health, support of gifted students; education grants; support of entrepreneurship; support of orphans and disabled children; culture and the arts; support of teachers; support of women.

241.More than 30 legal newspapers and journals with a focus on rights protection are published in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

242.An Internet information base on the prevailing law of Uzbekistan has been created.

Role of civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights

243.More than 5,000 public citizens’ groups have been created in Uzbekistan, and many of them have their own regional and local representative offices and have an array of rights and obligations that enable them to take an active part in the reform of society.

244.In the administrative reform in Uzbekistan, practical steps are being taken to democratize the practice of management consulting. As effective forms of the consultation between executive agencies and civil society organizations, working groups that include public organizations are being created, representatives of public organizations are being included in advisory bodies reporting to executive agencies; public commissions are being created to monitor the implementation of special programmes; and, inter alia, questions of providing public, non-commercial organizations with access to specific procedures associated with the use of budget funds are being studied in depth.

245.In the system of organizational and legal forms of citizen participation in State administration, public expert analysis of decisions made by executive bodies is acquiring ever-increasing significance. For example, public environmental associations are entitled to nominate their representatives for participation in State environmental expert analysis, conduct public environmental expert analysis (which becomes legally binding after approval of the results by State expert analysis bodies), and, among other things, request State environmental expert analysis.

246.In the Oliy Majlis, the practice of conducting independent expert analysis of draft laws has been expanding recently and includes self-regulating organizations.

247.National human rights institutions such as the Parliament’s Ombudsman and the National Centre for Human Rights are developing and expanding cooperation both with non-governmental non-commercial organizations and with other civil-society institutions.

248.Assistance is being provided by those institutions to enhance the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations, as is comprehensive support for raising the level of their competence in dealing with human rights, through the following;

special seminars and training sessions are being held for non-governmental non-commercial organizations;

the organizations are being enlisted to participate in informational events on human rights being conducted for staff members of law-enforcement structures;

non-governmental non-commercial organizations are being involved in the monitoring of human rights legislation;

the organizations are being included as performers in the national plans of actions for implementing the recommendations of the United Nations committees for reviewing the national reports on the compliance of Uzbekistan with its international human rights obligations;

relevant information is being obtained on the observance of human rights for its inclusion in the national reports of Uzbekistan on human rights;

joint awareness-raising events are being held to improve the public’s knowledge of such issues as human rights.

249.In Uzbekistan, human rights activities are carried out primarily by activists of various non-governmental non-commercial organizations, which not only protect the rights of their members, but have also come to understand the importance of setting up in the country a system for the public monitoring and control of the activities of State agencies. They consist mainly of children’s, women’s and environmental non-governmental non-commercial organizations; organizations for the disabled and the elderly; and gender-equality centres, as well as professional societies, foundations, associations, unions and committees that bring citizens together on the basis of their interests.

250.Among non-governmental non-commercial organizations making a large contribution to the protection of the rights of citizens are the International Red Crescent Society, the Society for the Blind, the Society for the Deaf, the Society for the Disabled, the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, the Makhalla [sic] Charitable Fund, the Ekosan International Non-Governmental Fund, the Soglom Avlod Uchun International Foundation, the Nuroni Foundation, the Center for the Study of Human Rights and Humanitarian Rights, the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion Ijtimoii fikr, the Association of Judges of Uzbekistan, the Tadbirkor Ayol Association of Business Women, the Bar Association of Uzbekistan, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, the Public Association of Women Lawyers of Uzbekistan, the Mekhr Association of Women’s Non-Governmental Organizations, the Olima Women’s Union, and, among others, the Kamolot Public Movement.

251.Studies conducted by individual non-governmental structures to identify the causes and conditions that contribute to the violation or restriction of the rights of certain categories of citizens are an important form of participation of non-governmental non-commercial organizations in helping to implement international human rights standards in Uzbekistan

252.Accordingly, in 2005, the national non-governmental Oila Practical Science Centre, together with the Children’s Fund, conducted a study of aspects of disability in children that analyzed the results of the monitoring of the activities of Muruvvat homes and the boarding schools of the city of Tashkent in terms of the level at which the rights of disabled children to education and medical services and to the satisfaction of their cultural requests are exercised.

253.In that same year, the non-governmental Centre for the Study of Legal Problems, with the support of the ILO, analyzed prevailing Uzbekistan law and the mechanisms for enforcement of the law in terms of conformance to ILO conventions.

254.The studies conducted by the non-governmental non-commercial organizations are helping to identify the factors that hinder the safeguarding of human rights and to ferret out the causes and conditions contributing to the violation of the rights of certain categories of citizens, as well as to generate suggestions geared to improving the law and law-enforcement practices in terms of human rights.

255.Non-governmental non-commercial organizations are playing an active role in the development and improvement of draft laws aimed at defining the legal status of non-governmental non-commercial organizations and their relations with the State. Non-governmental non-commercial organizations were directly involved in the discussion of the following laws:

on public associations;

on non-governmental non-commercial organizations;

on citizens’ self-governing bodies;

on public foundations;

on guarantees for the activities of non-governmental non-commercial organizations;

on charities.

FReporting process at the national level

256.Pursuant to governmental decision, the agency that collects information and prepares national reports on compliance with the provisions of international human rights treaties is the National Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Centre is the coordinating body, whose duties include the preparation of national reports on the Republic of Uzbekistan’s fulfillment of its international human rights obligations.

257.Over the span of the 10 years it has been in operation, the National Centre for Human Rights has created an adequate system for the collection and analysis of information to be included in national human rights reports, which has made it possible to prepare them and send them to the appropriate United Nations treaty bodies in a timely manner.

258.The preparation of national reports is done in conformance with the following documents:

1.Guidelines for reporting to international human rights treaty monitoring bodies;

2.General recommendations of committees;

3.Concluding observations of the United Nations convention committees on the results of the review of periodic reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

4.International human rights treaties;

5.New Republic of Uzbekistan human rights legislative acts;

6.Latest law-enforcement and rights-protection practices.

259.In the time it has been in operation, the National Centre for Human Rights has formulated special procedures for preparing national reports on Uzbekistan’s fulfillment of its international human rights obligations. The implementation of those procedures can be divided into several stages:

1.A communication is received from the appropriate United Nations committee on the need to submit a National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan for review at a committee session;

2.A working group of the National Centre for Human Rights is created to prepare a draft National Report;

3.The National Centre for Human Rights requests from the appropriate State agencies and non-governmental structures, and receives, the analytical, statistical and expert data necessary for writing the given sections of the National Report;

4.On the basis of the data received, a draft National Report is prepared in accordance with the reporting requirements set by the United Nations;

5.The draft National Report is sent for expert analysis to the appropriate State and non-governmental structures;

6.The draft National Report is revised on the basis of the comments and suggestions from the agencies;

7.A final version of the National Report is prepared and sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be sent in the prescribed manner to the appropriate United Nations committee;

8.A communication is received from the United Nations committee on the date for the consideration of the National Report in the committee meeting and of additional questions of the Rapporteur in connection with the consideration of the Report in the session of the United Nations committee;

9.The questions of the United Nations committee Rapporteur are sent to the appropriate State and non-governmental structures, and the responses to them are made;

10.Responses to the questions of the United Nations committee Rapporteur in connection with the consideration of the National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan are prepared and are sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be sent to the appropriate United Nations committee;

11.The National Report of Uzbekistan is considered in a session of the United Nations committee, and responses are given to the questions of the members of the United Nations committee;

12.The concluding observations and recommendations of the United Nations committee on the basis of the consideration of the National Report are received;

13.Comments on those observations are prepared and sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

14.A National Plan of Action for the implementation of the United Nations committee’s recommendations is prepared;

15.The implementation of the provisions of the National Plan of Action in compliance with the recommendations of the United Nations committee is monitored on an ongoing basis.

260.As can be seen from the list, the preparation of national reports on the Republic of Uzbekistan’s fulfillment of its international obligations is a fundamental, core activity of the National Centre for Human Rights and a reflection of the coordinating and analytical component of the system of functions assigned to it. The preparation of such an important document as a national report takes a rather long time and requires the efforts of a large number of State agencies, non-governmental structures, research institutions, specialists, and experts of varying profile.

261.The integrated approach to the preparation of the National Report must be accompanied by the accuracy and objectivity of the information made available and a harmonious combination of the use of sources of the information obtained both from State structures and from non-governmental structures. The National Centre takes just such an approach to information when it is preparing reports. A great deal of significance is attached to data obtained as a result of in-depth scientific and sociological studies.

262.After studying various opinions and views on a given question associated with ensuring human rights and varying interpretations of human rights definitions and categories, the National Centre for Human Rights, in the report, reflects the development of socio-political and legal thinking about given aspects of human rights and facilitates an understanding by international structures of what stage the promotion, observance, and protection of human rights is in, in Uzbekistan.

263.In the preparation of the reports, considerable significance is attached to illuminating the legal and organizational mechanisms for ensuring human rights in Uzbekistan. The report provides a full description of prevailing law and reveals the goals and objectives of institutions that are called upon to put legislative human rights provisions into practice, as well as provides information on the forms and areas of coordination of the activities of the State agencies responsible for ensuring human rights. That very information provides a clear idea of the national human rights mechanisms and the effectiveness of the implementation of international standards in that sphere.

264.National plans of action to implement the concluding observations of United Nations convention bodies are subject to approval by the Interdepartmental Working Group for the Study of Human Rights Observance by Law Enforcement Agencies, which was created by the 24 February 2004 Uzbekistan government directive No. 12-R.

265.Meeting records and decisions of the Interdepartmental Working Group have formed the basis of the national reports. The drafts of the national reports have been discussed in meetings of the working group in the different stages of report preparation. The decisions taken by the interdepartmental agencies created by a Cabinet of Ministers directive are binding on the State agencies that make them up.

266.This working group discussed and approved the following in July 2007:

National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee Following Consideration of the Second Periodic Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Following Consideration of the First and Second Periodic Reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Following Consideration of the Third and Fifth Periodic Reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

267.In December 2007, the meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group discussed the status of implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Human Rights Committee.

268.For purposes of improving the work of the National Centre for Human Rights in terms of the preparation of national reports on Uzbekistan’s fulfillment of its international human rights obligations, round tables and seminars are conducted regularly, with State and non-governmental structures participating in the discussion of pressing problems associated with the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations convention bodies, as well as the points of the national plans of action.

3.INFORMATION ON NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUALITY AND ON EFFECTIVE LEGAL REMEDIES

269.The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan codifies the idea of equality before the law, equal protection of laws and the prohibition of discrimination. Article 18 of the Constitution says this: “All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have equal rights and freedoms and shall be equal before the law, without discrimination by sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, convictions, or individual or social status”. In a separate article (46), the Constitution codifies the equality of the rights of men and women.

270.The Constitution implements all the fundamental principles of equality before the law and the ban on discrimination that derive from the international instruments to which Uzbekistan has acceded. To date, the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party to, and is complying with the provisions of, the following international instruments geared to prohibiting discrimination: the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Discrimination in Education, the Convention concerning Discrimination in respect of Employment and Occupation, and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. In addition, being a member of OSCE, the Republic of Uzbekistan has assumed obligations with regard to national minorities (Article VII of the Principles of the Helsinki Final Act, 1975) and other OSCE instruments regarding the human dimension.

271.The concept of a ban on discrimination, which is codified in the Uzbekistan legal system, protects the rights not only of individuals, but also of citizen groups as such. Article 18 of the Constitution and Chapter 10 of the Constitution, which is devoted to guarantees of citizens’ human rights and freedoms, aim to create a legal framework for protecting not only individual rights, but also collective rights, taking the latter to be the rights of such categories of the public as minors, the elderly, and the disabled.

272.The principle of the equality of citizens before the law and of the ban on discrimination is also codified in the branch law that regulates personal, political, economic, social and cultural rights: the Labour Code, the Civil Code, the Family Code, the Criminal Code, the law on education, the law on foundations of State youth policy in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the law on citizens’ recourse, and others. The principle is also codified in procedure law, including in the Criminal Procedure Code (Article 16), the Code of Civil Procedure (Article 6), and the Economic Procedure Code (Article 7).

273.The principle of non-discrimination and equal rights is not only implemented through specific articles that codify the principle, but is also guaranteed by the safeguards of all rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution, such as the right to life, the right to freedom, the right to security, and the right to freedom of thought. Article 18 of the Constitution does not create a separate right to equality, but underscores the protection of all human rights and freedoms.

274.Uzbekistan’s legal system contains serious measures of liability for violation of the equal rights of citizens. The Code of Administrative Liability prescribes a fine for the violation of the citizens’ rights to free choice of language in upbringing and education, for the creation of obstacles to and restrictions of the use of a language, and for the disparagement of the State language and other languages of ethnic groups and peoples living in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

275.Article 141 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan prescribes criminal penalties for violation of the equal rights of citizens. The constituent elements of such a crime are in Chapter VII of the Criminal Code, which lists the crimes against the Constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizenry.

276.It should be noted that the concept of discrimination given in Article 141 of the Criminal Code is virtually identical to that of Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The difference between the definitions consists in the fact that the convention definition provides the purpose of discrimination: “nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social or cultural field of public life”. The absence of the purpose of discrimination in the description in Article 141 of the Criminal Code does not affect the classification of the act itself.

277.Under Article 156 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Criminal Code, criminal liability is specified for the incitement of ethnic, racial or religious hatred, that is, intentional acts that denigrate national honor or dignity and are committed for the purpose inciting hostility toward, intolerance of or discord among any group of the population on national, racial or ethnic grounds, as well as for direct or indirect restriction of privileges, or the according of direct or indirect privileges, on the basis of national, racial or ethnic affiliation.

278.Article 153 of the Criminal Code prescribes punishment in the form of imprisonment for 10-20 years for genocide, that is, the intentional creation of living conditions geared to complete or partial physical extermination, forced reduction in childbirths or the transfer of children from one group of people to another, as well as the issuance of an order to carry out such acts.

279.Discrimination in all its forms and on all its grounds is prevented at the level of State policy with the following measures:

first, the prohibition of political parties organized on racial or ethnic grounds (Article 57 of the Constitution), as well as the prohibition of public associations whose activities are aimed at promoting racial or religious discord (Article 3 of the law on public associations);

second, a ban on the use of religion to incite hostility, hatred, or interethnic discord (Article 5 of the law on freedom of conscience and on religious organizations);

third, the proscription of using the mass media to promote ethnic, racial, or religious hostility (the law on the mass media);

fourth, the law on the principles and guarantees of freedom of information, which regulates relations arising in the mass media in the course of the implementation of the Constitutional right of every person to freely, and without encumbrance, seek, obtain, study, transfer and disseminate information;

fifth, the prohibition of the obstruction of a citizen’s right to freely choose the language of communication, education, and upbringing (Article 24 of the law on the State language);

sixth, the promotion of equality between men and women in political and public life. Accordingly, the law on elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan gives specific quotas (at least 30%) for the list of candidates for deputy from each party.

280.In the last 10 years, each year has been dedicated to solving some serious social problem of society and to protecting certain vulnerable groups of the populace. For example, the year 1999 was declared the Year of Women; 2000, the Healthy Generation year; 2002, the Year for the Protection of the Interests of the Senior Generation; 2006, the Year of Charitable Works and Medical Workers; and 2007, the Year of Social Protection. The year 2008 has been declared the Year of Youth. In keeping with the idea and symbolic nature of the year, the Government adopts a special nationwide programme that includes a complex of measures and events aimed at supporting various vulnerable groups of the populace and that provides specific funding for those measures and the drafting of legal-and-regulatory acts.

281.Under the State programme Year of Social Protection, some 35,000 veterans convalesced in sanatoriums, 50,000 poor families were given cattle, 3,000 jobs were created for employable disabled persons, and charitable assistance was given to 3 million elderly living alone, disabled or retired persons and poor families.

282.Forty per cent of all the State budget expenditures within that programme was allocated to education. The programme included repairs and the provision of furniture, special equipment, and vehicles for all orphanages and homes for disabled children in Uzbekistan.

283.Similar measures were taken in previous years for certain vulnerable groups of the populace.

284.The Nuroni Foundation for Social Support of Veterans of Uzbekistan supported an initiative of the Kamolot Youth Movement to create local Zabota [Concern] groups in order to provide material and moral support for elderly citizens living alone, disabled persons, and war and labour veterans. More than 23,000 citizens were taken under the auspices of these groups in 2007. On 7 December 1999, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted decision No. 520 on the Programme of Measures for 2000-2005 to Enhance Targeted Social Protection of Elderly Living Alone, Retired Persons and Disabled Persons; on 7 September 2006, the president issued decision No. 459 on the Programme of Measures to Further Enhance Targeted Social Protection and Social Services for the Elderly Living Alone, Retired Persons, and Disabled Persons in 2007-2010.

285.For purposes of implementing measures to ensure equality in Uzbekistan’s Parliament, the following draft laws are in the stage of development and enactment: on equal opportunities for men and women, on social partnership, and on social protection of the public.

II.INFORMATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

286.Since the day it gained its independence, the Republic of Uzbekistan has demonstrated its adherence to the principles of gender equality. The step-by-step legal and institutional development of the national machinery for improving the status of women began in 1995, when Uzbekistan became the first country in Central Asia to accede to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

287.Uzbekistan’s accession to the following served as the necessary international law basis for the development at the national level of specific measures to incorporate international standards for the protection of women’s rights into legislation and into the practices of State agencies: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949), the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952), the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women (1957), and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), as well as the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), the United Nations Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990), the ILO Convention No. 100 (1951) concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value the ILO Convention No. 103 (1956) concerning Maternity Protection, the ILO Convention No. 111 (1958) concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, the ILO Convention No. 122 (1964) concerning Employment Policy, the ILO Convention No. 138 (1973) concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and the ILO Convention No. 182 (1999) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

288.Uzbekistan, as a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Declaration, also assumed the obligation to incorporate the goals of the Declaration into national development programmes and to meet the Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015, including Goal 3 “to promote gender equality and empower women”.

289.The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, occupies a central place among international instruments governing the rights of women because it defines the concept itself of “discrimination against women”.

290.Uzbekistan supports the concept of “discrimination against women” codified in the Convention as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on the basis of the equal rights of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”.

291.The most important recommendations of that Convention were taken into account by the Republic of Uzbekistan when it formulated and implemented State policy with regard to women, namely:

1.The first part of Article 18 of the Constitution declares that all citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan have equal rights and freedoms and are equal before the law, without discrimination by sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, convictions, or individual or social status. In turn, Article 46 of the Constitution enshrines the fact that women and men have equal rights.

2.Under the Constitution, women as well as men are afforded two forms of protection against violation of their rights: extrajudicial (Article 35) and judicial (Article 44). For purposes of carrying out those Constitutional provisions, the following are in place: the law on lodging complaints in court regarding actions and decisions violating the rights and freedoms of citizens of 30 August 1995, the law on citizens’ recourse (revised) of 13 December 2002, and the Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The prohibition of discrimination based on sex or other factors against citizens’ use of the right to recourse is codified in Article 11 of the law on citizens’ recourse. In addition, the unjustified refusal to consider a petition, the failure to consider a petition within the proper time period, the issuance of an unfounded decision that is contrary to the law, and other actions that violate the laws on recourse are deemed a crime under Article 144 of the Criminal Code.

3.Article 141 of the Criminal Code regards violation of the equal rights of citizens a criminal offence. The direct or indirect violation or restriction of rights or the according of direct or indirect privileges on the basis of sex or other circumstances is regarded as a violation of the equal rights of citizens.

4.It should be noted that national criminal law contains no discriminatory provisions; what’s more, the Criminal Code includes norms that take into account the physiological features of women and mothers. Certain types of punishment may not be imposed on women. In particular, women may not be sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment or life imprisonment, correctional work may not be imposed on pregnant women or women who are on leave for child care, etc. Moreover, the commission of a crime against a woman whom the accused knows to be pregnant is regarded as an aggravating circumstance. Certain provisions of the Criminal Code aim to protect the health, honor and dignity of women and their family and labour rights by regarding as a crime acts such as forcing a woman to artificially terminate a pregnancy, forcing a woman to enter into marriage, unlawfully refusing to hire or firing a woman because she is pregnant or must care for a child, forcing a woman to have sexual relations, and committing polygamy.

292.One of the recommendations of the United Nations Committee set forth in paragraph 12 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the basis of the consideration of the combined second and third periodic reports of Uzbekistan (7-25 August 2006) is the need to include a definition of “discrimination” in Uzbekistan law.

293.In carrying out that recommendation, the Centre for Monitoring the Implementation of Legal and Regulatory Acts under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan conducted a comparative analysis of national laws and the norms of international law in terms of gender equality within the framework of the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the basis of the consideration of the combined second and third periodic reports of Uzbekistan, which was approved by the interdepartmental working group on 28 December 2007.

294.The analysis of the law evaluated the extent to which the legal and regulatory framework of the Republic of Uzbekistan in gender equality was consistent with the provisions of international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The analysis studied the international treaties for the protection of the rights of women to which Uzbekistan is a party.

295.The monitoring revealed that certain provisions of Republic of Uzbekistan law do not fully conform to the requirements of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

296.For purposes of implementing Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as paragraph 10 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the basis of the consideration of the combined second and third periodic reports of Uzbekistan (7-25 August 2006), it was deemed necessary to accelerate the incorporation into Uzbekistan law of the definition of “discrimination against women”.

297.To implement the provisions of Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in terms of the ban on the entry into marriage of children, as well as on the basis of the provisions of the law on guarantees of the rights of the child, it was deemed best to incorporate amendments in the Family Code that set the marriageable age for women at 18.

298.Those suggestions of the Centre for Monitoring the Implementation of Legal and Regulatory Acts were sent to State agencies that have the power to introduce legislation.

299.It should be noted that, for purposes of eradicating discrimination against women in all spheres of life, State and public organizations of Uzbekistan prepared a draft law on guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women, which has undergone national and international expert analysis and has been sent for consideration to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (parliament). The law is very relevant today for solving many gender-related problems because it is called on to regulate the legal basеs for prohibiting in the society direct, indirect, and latent discrimination on the basis of sex and the violation of equal rights for women and men in culture and education, in the reproductive sphere, and in family relations (see draft law on equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men in Annex No. 1).

300.The draft law has a special Article 3 devoted to proscribing discrimination against women. The Article codifies the following:

“Women and men shall have equal rights.

“Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field shall represent discrimination against women.

“Any manifestation of direct or indirect discrimination against women shall be prohibited and shall be eliminated in the manner prescribed by law.

“Special measures aimed at accelerating the establishment of true equality between women and men shall not be regarded as sexual discrimination”.

301.The law defines the principal areas of State policy for ensuring equality of women and men, namely:

the formation, development, and improvement of the legal framework for ensuring the equal rights of the sexes;

the creation of organizational and legal mechanisms for implementing the universal principles and norms of international law, as well as the international obligations of the Republic of Uzbekistan with regard to equality of the sexes;

the adoption and implementation of special State target programmes aimed at achieving equality between women and men and eliminating the causes and conditions responsible for sexual discrimination;

the incorporation of measures to ensure the equal rights of the sexes into Statewide programmes aimed at implementing the Constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as into social development programmes;

the funding of measures to ensure the equal rights of women and men from the State budget and other sources not prohibited by law;

the conduct of gender analysis of legal and regulatory acts being adopted by State authorities;

the adoption of measures to form a culture of equal rights of men and women;

the adoption of measures to protect society against information, propaganda and campaigns that are geared to discriminate against citizens on the basis of sex, as well as measures that preclude the release of print, audio, and video products that promote violence, cruelty, pornography, drug abuse, alcoholism, etc.;

the improvement of the activities of legislative, executive, and judicial branch authorities in ensuring equality between women and men.

the adoption of measures to eradicate prejudice and to abolish customs and practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of one of the sexes.

302.The Republic of Uzbekistan’s adoption of the law on equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men will make it possible to do the following:

first, expand the opportunities for all citizens in Uzbekistan, both men and women, to exercise all the rights and freedoms provided them by the Constitution and the norms of international law;

second, identify the basic approaches to forming an effective State policy with regard to equal rights for women and men;

third, establish the obligations of the State and employers to observe the socio-economic rights of women and men;

fourth, stipulate the obligations of all subjects of the law with regard to the day-to-day observance of the provisions of the Constitution when exercising their voting rights and when entering government service or serving as government employees, as well as when assembling the staff of management structures of bodies of State authority and administration;

fifth, formalize the responsibility of bodies of State authority and officials to implement the Constitutional principle of equal rights and equal opportunities of women and men;

sixth, define the special role of non-governmental organizations, including those created for purposes of implementing equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women, in the development and implementation of State policy in the sphere of equality of women and men;

seventh, establish the rules for lodging complaints of sexual discrimination and the liability of officials for violating the law with regard to the provision of guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women.

303.A seminar devoted to compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which took place on 14 May 2008 was attended by representatives of leading ministries and departments and non-governmental non-commercial organizations, who discussed and supported the provisions of the draft law on guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for women and men.

ARTICLE 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE POLICY IN THE PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

304.With the acquisition of independence, the Republic of Uzbekistan was afforded a historic opportunity to seriously engage in solving gender problems and creating conditions for the broad participation of women in the affairs of State and society, which is an important pre-requisite for achieving social, economic, political and cultural goals.

305.Under the Constitution, women have equal rights with men. The government is taking every measure to implement women’s rights in the political life of the society and to create the conditions necessary for enhancing the role of women in political and economic decision making at the very highest level.

306.The post of Deputy Prime Minister for Social Protection of the Family, Maternity and Childhood was created for purposes of enlisting women on a broad scale in the solution of problems of socio-economic and cultural development and strengthening the social protection of the family, maternity and childhood, as well as coordinating the activities of ministries, departments, and territorial administrative bodies in that area. Corresponding posts of deputy heads of administration have been introduced in all regional and territorial executive structures of the republic.

307.An information-analysis department has been created in the Cabinet of Ministers for education, health care, and social protection, and similar structures are functioning locally to assist in the development of the women’s movement and the total actualization of the potential of women.

308.The Constitution and the law proceed from the notion that all the people living in the country are equal before law and have equal rights and opportunities for the protection of their Constitutional rights, freedoms and lawful interests. Every provision of the Constitution is replete with a sense of respect for every citizen and his rights and freedoms.

309.Under Article 13 of the Constitution, the human, his life, freedom, honor, dignity and other inalienable rights represent the ultimate value. The State bases its activities on the principles of social justice and legality in the interests of the well-being of the individual (Article 14 of the Constitution) without discrimination based on sex, race, nationality or other criteria. Article 18 of the Constitution proclaims the fundamental principle underlying the relations between the State and the individual, which is expressed as follows: All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have equal rights and freedoms and shall be equal before the law without discrimination by (1) sex, (2) race, (3) nationality, (4) language, (5) religion, (6) social origin, (7) convictions, (8) personal or social status.

310.The principle of nondiscrimination and equality before the law is codified not only in the Constitution, but also in other laws. For example, the principle of nondiscrimination is enshrined in Article 3 of the Family Code, Article 6 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Labour Code, Article 5 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Criminal Code, Article 16 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Criminal Procedure Code, Article 3 of the laws on elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and on elections to oblast, rayon, and city kengashes [councils] of people’s deputies, and Article 11 of the law on citizens’ recourse. Specifically, Article 11 of the law on citizens’ recourse formalizes clearly that “discrimination with regard to citizens’ right to appeal on the basis of sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, convictions and personal and social status shall be prohibited”.

311.Article 141 of the Criminal Code prescribes criminal liability for violation of the equal rights of citizens. It says that direct or indirect violation or restriction of rights, or according direct or indirect privileges depending on sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social background, beliefs, or personal or social status shall be punishable with a fine equivalent to up to fifty times the minimum monthly wage or deprivation of certain rights for up to three years or correctional labour for up to two years.

312.Those same acts, coupled with violence, are punishable with correctional labour for 2-3 years or confinement for up to six months or imprisonment for up to three years.

313.A judicial mechanism has been created in Uzbekistan to ensure the equality of men and women. Article 46 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan codifies equal rights of men and women and establishes a system of guarantees that safeguard that equality. Those guarantees include the following: affording women opportunities that are equal to those of men in socio-political and cultural activities, in education and vocational training and in labour and the remuneration for it; special labour- and health-protection measures for women and establishment of pension benefits; creation of conditions that enable women to work and be mothers at the same time; legal protection and material and moral support of maternity and childhood, including paid leave and other benefits for pregnant women and mothers.

314.It should be noted that international standards do not regard as discrimination special measures geared to accelerating the establishment of true equality between men and women or creating conditions that are favorable and friendly to having children. The Republic of Uzbekistan Labour Code provisions that pertain to women performing the functions of motherhood, as well as to benefits for youth in school, are regarded as positive discrimination.

315.In Uzbekistan, broad-ranging outreach work is under way to prevent discrimination against women in all its forms.

316.The public is being informed of the rights of women in the following ways:

various categories of the population are being acquainted with international standards for the protection of women’s rights;

awareness is being raised with regard to national laws that govern human rights and freedoms, including women’s rights and freedoms;

conferences, seminars, and training sessions are being held that are devoted both to the problem of gender equality and to pressing aspects of the protection of women’s rights (women’s rights in politics, economics and the family; the prevention of violence against women, etc.);

special training sessions are being held on the preparation of national reports on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women for State and non-governmental structures;

foreign and international experts are being invited to enable a study of the experience of other countries with regard to women’s rights;

the awareness of deputies, senators, representatives of State administrative bodies and law-enforcement bodies, and the courts on issues of women’s rights, etc., is being raised;

competitions for the best coverage of women’s rights issues are being held among journalists;

popular literature and booklets devoted to the exercise of women’s rights and freedoms are being published in Russian, Uzbek, and other languages;

video commercials and films are being shown and radio broadcasts aired on vital aspects of the protection of women’s rights.

317.Accordingly, a training seminar titled “Training of National Experts on the Implementation, Reporting, and Monitoring of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW” was held 19-23 September 2005, in Tashkent, with CEDAW trainers from Russia taking part. The organizers of the seminar were as follows: the National Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis, the Centre for the Support of Civil Initiatives; the OSCE Centre in Tashkent, the Representative Office of the Asian Development Bank in Uzbekistan, and the Swiss Embassy in Uzbekistan. The seminar’s programme included training sessions that studied the provisions of CEDAW and the conformance between them and national legislation, as well as aspects of the preparation of national reports. .

318.On 11 September 2006, a round table was held at the Institute for the Study of Civil Society; its purpose was to discuss the Second and Third national reports on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in the period of 2001-2006, which were considered at the 36th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in August 2006, as well as to generate suggestions for women’s organizations, “women’s wings” of political parties, and women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations of Uzbekistan regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Committee.

319.On 16 February 2007, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan held a round table to discuss the National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; representatives of State agencies and non-governmental non-commercial organizations that were engaged in addressing women’s rights took part. On 10 and 11 March 2007, with the support of the UNDP, the Women’s Committee organized a training session titled “Fundamentals of Gender Integration and Gender Analysis”. On 2-4 May 2007, the Women’s Committee, with the support of the UNDP and the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan, held a seminar on the topic “CEDAW Standards: The Experience of France and Uzbekistan”; a staff member of the public procurator’s office of France who worked with issues involving the protection of women’s rights took part. On 28 June 2007, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society conducted a round table on the topic “Trafficking Problems: Legal and Moral Aspects”, with representatives of non-governmental non-commercial organizations and law-enforcement agencies taking part in the work. On 5 December 2007, at the National Centre for Human Rights of Uzbekistan, a training seminar was held that was devoted to the implementation of national plans of action for the implementation of the recommendations of United Nations convention bodies on human rights; it addressed the problems of preparing and implementing national plans of actions on women’s rights.

320.An international conference held in 2007 by the Committee on International Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis was devoted to pressing problems associated with the incorporation of the international standards of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women into national legislation..

321.In 2008, the following events were held: an international seminar titled “Improvement of Family Protection Mechanisms. International and National Experience” (in collaboration with the French Embassy); seminars for procurator’s office staff, as well as for attorneys on the topic “Application of the Provisions of the CEDAW Convention in the Handling of Family Conflicts in Law Enforcement Practices. Mechanisms for Resolving Family Conflicts. Experience of Russia and Uzbekistan (in conjunction with the Swiss Embassy); a training session for graduate students, doctoral students, and sociologists on the topic “Methods for Doing Research and Writing Reports on Women’s Rights”; a training session for physicians (obstetrician-gynaecologists, family doctors) on the identification and prevention of and assistance for victims of domestic violence; a training session to promote knowledge of the law in matters of women’s rights and to implement the National Plan of Action for staff members of khokimiyats and citizens’ self-governing bodies.

322.Local women’s committees and local non-governmental non-commercial organizations are doing intensive educational work on issues involving the prevention of discrimination against women. In 2006, in six oblasts of Uzbekistan, training sessions were held for deputies of khokims on women’s issues, and 150 people were trained; seminars at the teacher’s college and the Children’s Home in Margilana of 22 November 2007, 15 September 2007, and 21 September 2007 acquainted attendees with the problem of trafficking in women, with the potential consequences of illegal job placement abroad, and with the conditions necessary for legal job placement abroad.

323.Seminars held in September-October 2007 on the topic “Prevention of Domestic Violence” were attended by 175 chairmen and consultants of citizens’ self-governing bodies of all cities and rayons of Fergana Oblast.

324.In 2008, an educational campaign was organized in Fergana Oblast in more than 900 citizens' self-governing bodies on issues associated with direct and indirect discrimination and the concept of gender equality, as well as among officials of State institutions, judicial system staffers, and the general public.

325.The oblast women’s committee in 1,003 citizen assemblies of citizens’ self-governing bodies is doing educational work with law-enforcement authorities to eliminate stereotypes regarding the roles and duties of women and men that are perpetuating direct and indirect discrimination against women and girls in all spheres of their lives.

326.In 2008, an educational campaign was organized in 541 citizens’ self-governing bodies of Bukhara Oblast on issues associated with direct and indirect discrimination against women and the concept of gender equality, as well as among officials of State institutions, judicial system staffers, and the general public..

327.In 2007, the following were published for purposes of informing the public on issues of gender equality and raising citizens’ awareness of the status of women in Uzbekistan: a collection of scholarly articles titled Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Gender Relations, which was distributed to State libraries of higher education institutions and non-governmental non-commercial organizations, and the statistical digest Women and Men of Uzbekistan. 2000-2005, which was published by the State Statistics Committee, the Women’s Committee, and the Centre for Support of Civil Initiatives with the support of the Asian Development Bank and the UNDP representative office in Uzbekistan.

328.It should be noted that in Uzbekistan, a system has been put in place for training State employees and the general public on issues of human rights, including women’s rights, that are codified in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the system encompasses students of middle schools, high schools and colleges; students of secondary specialized and higher education institutions; and attendees of courses for re-training and advanced training that are being taught in various ministries and departments of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

329.In pre-school educational facilities, issues of women’s rights are being covered in classes called “Lessons of the Constitution” in middle, senior, and advancing groups (six classes a year) in the form of games and morning activities. The beginning grades of elementary school are taught “The ABCs of the Constitution”, to which 40 hours a year are devoted; grades 5-7 are taught “Journey into the World of the Constitution”, to which 51 hours a year are devoted; grades 8 and 9 are taught “The Constitutional Bases of Human Rights”, to which 34 hours a year are devoted; and grades 10 and 11 are taught “Jurisprudence”, to which 68 hours are devoted over a two-year period.

330.It should be noted that the study of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is included in the programmes of legal education and professional training for judges, procurators and lawyers, as well as officials of State institutions at all levels, as recommended in para. 14 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Convention is being studied not only by students of Tashkent State Law Institute, the University of World Economics and Diplomacy, and other juridical higher education institutions, but also by judges and justice workers studying at the National Centre for the Further Training of Legal Specialists, procurators studying in the Higher Courses for Professional Development of Procuratorial Personnel and staff members of Internal Affairs agencies at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

ARTICLE 3. MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN TO ENHANCE THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

331.With the acquisition of independence, Uzbekistan first abandoned the conceptual framework of the policy of the former USSR with regard to ensuring the equal rights of the sexes, which proceeded from the premise that the gender issue was declared resolved, despite the presence of serious problems concerning the emancipation of women such as the existence of the traditional division of family roles, the double burden of the woman working in the family and on the job, the assignment to women of a secondary role in production, the low level of demand for the educational potential of women, etc. The resolution of the “gender issue” in the former USSR consisted merely in proclaiming the legal equality of women and men, setting up a system of social protection for women in the form of benefits, allowances, maternity leave, limitations on the use of women’s labour, etc.

332.In drafting the State policy with regard to women after acquiring independence, Uzbekistan developed its own conceptual framework for solving the “gender issue”, which is predicated on the notion that the State and society must afford not only equal rights for men and women, but also equal opportunities for the exercise of those rights.

333.Today, the Constitution and more than 80 laws and other legal and regulatory acts constitute the legal basis for ensuring and protecting the rights, freedoms, and legal interests of women.

334.In Uzbekistan, at the legislative and executive levels, a policy is being pursued that is geared to achieve total equality between men and women, improving the legal and economic status of women, affording equal opportunities in their lives and work and protecting reproductive health, as well as changing the traditional role of both men and women in society and in the family.

335.The laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan provide women the following rights on equal terms with men: the right to work, as an inalienable right of all people; the right to equal opportunities in terms of employment; the right to freely choose one’s profession; the right to an education; the right to social security in the context of retirement, unemployment, illness or disability; the right to protection of health and safe working conditions.

336.Moreover, the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan give women access equal to that of men to civil service and to participation in the management of State and public affairs on all levels of administration.

337.In securing the legal equality of men and women in all fields of the political, economic and social spheres, the State, through a system of benefits, privileges and guarantees, is creating additional conditions for the protection of their work and health.

338.A great deal of attention is being focused on the status of women in the family and in society in Uzbekistan. The State is adopting programmes aimed at strengthening the role and social potential of the family and strengthening the status of women in the development of the State and society.

339.Uzbek society is very rich in traditions and customs that play a positive role in the moral, ethical and cultural development of its members and in the cohesion of the nation as a whole. However, some customs and observances that still exist in some families and determine the norms of the behavior of their members put women in a position that is not equal to that of men.

340.That has resulted in the need to conduct gender analysis of the family law of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The expert gender analysis conducted in 2007 by non-governmental organizations was aimed at clarifying the extent to which prevailing family-law norms enable each of the spouses to actually exercise the equal rights afforded them, the extent to which gender-neutral legislation is a guarantee that there will be no discrimination in real life and, finally, whether norms violating gender symmetry exist and to what extent such violations are justified.

341.The objectives of expert gender analysis of Republic of Uzbekistan law were as follows:

first, to identify and analyze norms that openly avow that men or women are better in handling given problems or that openly restrict the rights of one or the other;

second, to identify norms that, although gender-neutral on the surface, indirectly result or can result in the derogation or, conversely, the unjustified expansion of the rights of one of the spouses.

342.Gender analysis of Republic of Uzbekistan family law showed that, on the whole, the norms of national law in the area of governing family relations are consistent with international standards for human rights, including women’s rights.

343.Along with that, the gender analysis identified a number of provisions on which special attention needs to be focused:

Uzbekistan law has yet to define the terms “discrimination against women”, “violence against women”, “economic, sexual, physical and psychological violence against women”, “subjects of violence against women”, and “family violence” and has yet to establish special norms of liability for persons who perpetrate violence against women.

344.In light of the Concluding Observations and Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the basis of the consideration of the combined second and third periodic reports of Uzbekistan, as well as the gender analysis of the family law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of the National Plan of Action for the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee, the following measures were taken:

the process was accelerated for discussing the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men and sending it to parliament;

a definition of the concept of “discrimination against women” was incorporated in that draft law;

the draft law bans direct and indirect discrimination against women and specifies liability for actions aimed at discriminating against women;

proposals are being generated for the adoption of a framework law for the prevention and eradication of all forms of violence against women, including violence in the family, definitions in it of “violence against women”, etc.

ARTICLE 4. SPECIAL MEASURES AIMED AT ACCELERATING DE FACTO EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

345.Special measures are being undertaken in Uzbekistan that are aimed at accelerating the establishment of de facto equality between men and women and that are not regarded as discriminatory, as defined in Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

346.The prevailing legal and regulatory acts in the Republic of Uzbekistan, on the one hand, acknowledge the equality of social and economic rights of citizens, regardless of their sex, and, on the other hand, provide additional guarantees for women and individuals engaged in carrying out family responsibilities. Among such guarantees, specifically, are the following:

refusing to hire a woman or lowering her wages for reasons associated with her being pregnant or having children is prohibited. Refusing, in a consciously illegal fashion, to hire or firing a woman because she is pregnant or must care for a child entails criminal liability on the part of the officials who hold the hiring power (Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan);

a screening test may not be set up for pregnant women or women who have children three years old or under;

the use of women in jobs that have adverse working conditions or are underground is prohibited, and women are not allowed to lift or carry objects whose weight exceeds the maximum allowable limits for them;

for maternity leave, women are given 70 calendars days before the birth and 56 calendar days (or 70 if the birth has complications or if the woman gives birth to two or more children) after it and receive a State social insurance allowance amounting to 100 per cent of the women’s wage the entire time they are on leave;

if the woman requests it, she is given leave as follows for child care after her maternity leave ends:

(a)until the child reaches the age of 2, with an allowance paid over the entire time in an amount that is 200 per cent of the minimum wage in place in the Republic of Uzbekistan;

(b)after the child reaches the age of 2, leave with no pay until the child reaches the age of 3;

child-feeding workday breaks during working hours and for which their average wage is paid are given to women who wish to work and who have a child under the age of 2;

an abbreviated workweek (35 hours) with no reduction in pay is given to women who have children under the age of 3 and who work in institutions or organizations funded from the budget;

employers are obliged, in keeping with medical findings, to reduce production quotas and service quotas for pregnant women or to transfer pregnant women, as well as women with children under the age of 2, to a job that has a lighter workload or that precludes exposure to adverse production factors and to keep their wages the same as those of the previous job;

pregnant women and women with children under the age of 14 may not, without their consent, be enlisted to do night work, overtime work or work on weekends or holidays or be sent on travel assignments. Pregnant women and women with children under the age of 3 may be enlisted to do night work solely if there is medical certification verifying that such work does not threaten the health of the mother or the child;

if requested by a pregnant women with a child under the age of 14 (or 16 for a disabled child), including if the child is merely under her ward, an employer is obliged to arrange for her an abbreviated workday or workweek;

pregnant women and women who have given birth are given, if they request it, leave from work before maternity leave or after it or after leave for child care.

347.It is noteworthy that, under the Labour Code (Article 238), maternity-related guarantees and benefits afforded to women (restrictions on night work, overtime, work on days off and travel assignments; additional leave; preferential working conditions, etc.) extend to fathers who are raising children without a mother (if the mother has died, has been deprived of parental rights, or is in a treatment facility for a lengthy period of time or under other circumstances in which there is no mother to care for the children), as well as to guardians (wards) of minors. The guarantees and benefits under consideration may also be given to a grandmother, a grandfather or other relatives who are actually raising children who have been deprived of parental custody.

348.The above guarantees are secured for women in the Labour Code and, inter alia, the laws on employment and on labour protection.

349.It should be noted that, under the Labour Code, observance of the labour rights and guarantees established by law for the worker is the obligation of the employer. Neither the local acts of an enterprise nor a labour contract concluded with a worker may contain terms that worsen the status of the worker by comparison with that under the law. If a labour agreement or contract does contain such terms, they are deemed invalid, i.e., they have no legal force, under Article 5 of the Labour Code.

350.A number of very substantive additional rights and guarantees for women are provided for by the law on State pension support of citizens (the possibility of old-age retirement at an earlier age and with a shorter length of service than required for men; the inclusion in the time of service required for a pension of the time taken off by a mother [or stepmother] to care for young children [stepchildren], but no more than until each child reaches the age of 3, for a total of no more than six years; the possibility of old-age retirement five years before reaching the generally established retirement age, for women who have given birth to five or more children and raised them to the age of 8 and who have a total length of service of at least 15 years, etc.)

351.Thus, Republic of Uzbekistan law does the following:

creates equality of social and economic rights of men and women;

enshrines affording women a whole complex of additional rights and guarantees based on their physiological features and motherhood;

extends a considerable number of guarantees and benefits afforded to women to fathers and other relatives who raise children who have been deprived of a mother’s care;

in cases stipulated by law, allows family members to decide for themselves who (mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, or other member of the family) will exercise a given right (such as the right to child-care leave);

in the interests of the woman and the child, affords additional rights and guarantees to the father of the child (provides leave from work, if the father requests it, while the wife is taking maternity leave).

352.Uzbekistan is the only country in the post-Soviet space that has maintained all existing social benefits, as well as is systematically improving and increasing every year the social benefits for women and children.

ARTICLE 5. MEASURES AIMED AT ERADICATING PREJUDICE AGAINST WOMEN

353.The Constitution and family law of the Republic of Uzbekistan represent the legal basis for eradicating old stereotypes and prejudices that still exist against women.

354.Chapter 14 of the Constitution is devoted to the family and to the regulation of family relations. Article 63 of the Constitution ensures that “the family is the nucleus of society and shall have the right to State and societal protection”.

355.Observing the rights and sovereignty of the family, the State has no right to interfere in the private life of the family or in the relationship among the spouses, the parents, and the children; if that becomes necessary, the intervention must be performed in a way that does not violate the rights or interests of the family members and must not contravene the provisions of the Constitution or other legal norms.

356.Without interfering in the personal lives of citizens, the State is implementing measures aimed at eradicating prejudices against women that still exist in family relations. The State and societal institutions are interested in eliminating old stereotypes of women and girls because they prevent the exercise of the rights and freedoms of women that are codified in the Constitution and in the CEDAW Convention.

357.Sociological surveys conducted among women by the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion in 2005-2008 showed that violations of women’s rights more often than not were committed not by the State or its agencies, but by individuals in the family: by a husband, the mother of the husband, or other relatives. And the causes of the family conflicts were that the family members were abiding by not the rules of law, but by local customs and traditions.

358.The surveys of the women show that, thanks to educational and outreach work, the number of women who are conforming to national customs and traditions is gradually becoming smaller: they represented 34.0 per cent in 2006, and 25.4 per cent in 2008.

359.As a result of the gradual influence of the norms established in the Constitution, the Family Code, the Labour Code, and other legal and regulatory acts that protect the rights and freedoms of women, the attitude toward women and girls in the family in Uzbekistan has changed substantially.

360.According to research conducted by the non-governmental practical science centre Oila in recent years with parents and particularly with youth, there are no biases toward the sex of children born. If fathers and their parents wanted male children before, that opinion has changed in recent years, and in most cases they prefer girls. The change in the parents’ thinking on the matter is due to the fact that, first, with each passing year, the authority and influence of mothers are growing not only in the eyes of the children, but also among the husband’s parents, who are beginning to also defer to the woman’s opinion more often. Second, in the opinion of young parents, raising girls is much easier, and, emotionally, they are closer to their parents.

361.Given that girls, by inclination and desire, can freely engage in art, music, such modern types of sport as tennis, swimming, including synchronous swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and other such activities, their being taught the fundamentals of entrepreneurship indicates that all the avenues that previously blocked freedom of action because of negative prejudices are now open to girls.

362.The Republican centre Oila, under the rubric of “Family Library”, annually publishes brochures and booklets that are specially designed for parents and are devoted to raising teenage girls, as well as to preparing them for family life. In addition, the centre puts out, every year, special literature that is devoted to improving the understanding of the law among the public, particularly among parents and women. Over the past three years, the centre has published one monograph, one textbook, eight brochures, more than 25 scientific and popular science articles, and dozens of booklets (all in the State language) that are devoted to explaining the legal bases of marital and family relations, raising the status of women in the family and articulating the essence of national traditions, customs, and mores that pertain to raising girls in the family.

363.In Uzbekistan, measures are being taken to prevent the creation in the mass media of degrading images of women; in fact, every broadcast and every communication relayed across mass media channels demonstrates the extent to which the status of the women of the country has changed in a positive way during the years of independence. Women journalists whose stories are mainly devoted to the topic of women are working in the mass media.

364.In Uzbekistan, violence against girls and women and domestic violence are being condemned. Such violence is regarded as a crime that is committed inside the family or among people who are close to one another. Its forms may vary: it might be physical violence in the form of beatings, cruel treatment, or serious injury to another’s health or defamation, invective, or other forms of psychological violence.

365.Work is being done in the following areas to eliminate all forms of violence against girls and women:

1.The Constitution enshrines a provision that says that “No one may be subject to torture, violence or any other cruel or humiliating treatment” (Article 26);

2.In Uzbekistan, criminal liability is specified for violence against, trafficking in, or sexual assault against women: articles 118, 119 and 121 of the Criminal Code “Crime against Sexual Freedom”; articles 128, 129 and 131 of the Criminal Code “Crimes against the Family, Youth and Morality”; articles 135 and 136 of the Criminal Code “Crimes against Freedom, Honor and Dignity”; the Family Code governs the rights and responsibilities of spouses and parents with regard to their children;

3.Special structures are being created to provide assistance to women victims of violence: “Crisis Centres”, “Hotlines”, “Centres for Women”, health centres and many other socio-psychological centres that function in various regions of the country;

4.The introduction of the post of school psychologist in all general-education institutions is helping to identify early, and prevent, violence against women and girls in the family;

5.Under the Family Code, deprivation of parental rights is used when, for example, girls become victims of violence on the part of alcoholic parents.

366.Educational and awareness-raising measures are being implemented in Uzbekistan to fight against, inter alia, polygamy, the paying of a bride price, and the abduction of brides. The customs of abducting brides and paying a dowry persist to some extent in only the Republic of Karakalpakstan, where indigenous Karakalpaks live, in the Tamdin and Kanimekh rayons of Navoi Oblast, and in the Khorezm Oblast. Those customs, however, are now dying out, particularly among today’s young men and women. Even if they exist, they are symbolic and are carried out with the mutual consent of the bride and groom on the eve of the wedding. In all cases, the bride and groom officially register their marriage at a civil registry office, which was not done in the past.

367.The State and society are devoting attention on the role of men and women in raising children in the city and in rural areas.

368.Under the Family Code, in matters of child-rearing, the rights and responsibilities of the parents are identical, although in traditional families, the mother’s role in raising the child is much greater than that of the father, since the father spends a great deal of time outside the family and performs the function of breadwinner.

369.Of late, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Public Education and the Republican practical science centre Oila, along with governmental and non-governmental organizations, have been holding an array of events, practical seminars and meetings to enhance the role of the fathers in family child-rearing practices. In 2008, for example, the Ministry of Public Education established “Assemblies of Fathers” days, at the request and suggestion of the parents themselves. On their days off, fathers gather at the school and, together with teachers, address many issues related to the rearing of children and their future, and the fathers consciously assume responsibility for the behaviour of their children. The first such nationwide day of “Assemblies of Fathers” was held on 20 April 2008 throughout the republic, and plans call for that event to be a tradition.

370.The society is seeing a change in the attitude not only toward the sharing of child-rearing responsibilities, but also toward the woman’s work in the home, since the general economic status and activities of women are also reflected in family relations. Тhe traditional notion that the woman is obliged to do everything in the home and that the man must be the economic provider for the family is changing. In most Uzbek families, the wife’s share and the husband’s share in the material well-being of the family are equal. In the republic, the number of women who engage in entrepreneurial activities is growing from year to year, and women are becoming active participants in and initiators of family businesses. The modern woman of Uzbekistan makes use of household appliances, which make housework easier.

371.The attitude toward marriageable age for men and women is also changing gradually. Under the Article 15 of the Family Code, “the marriageable age shall be set at 18 for men and 17 for women.

372.“In exceptional cases, if there are legitimate reasons, the khokim of the rayon or city for the place of State registration of the marriage may, at the request of the persons who wish to marry, lower the marriageable age, but not by more than one year. A marriage entered into with a person who has not reached marriageable age may be annulled, if the interests of the person who entered into the marriage before reaching marriageable age require that.”

373.The general public of the country is posing the question of establishing the same marriageable age, 18, for men and women. According to the data of research done by the Oila (Family) Centre, if 44.7 per cent of respondents in 2002 regarded 19-20 to be the best age for young women to enter into marriage, 52.1 per cent in recent years regard that age to be suitable for marriage. For men, the age range of 21-24 was given as the most acceptable marriageable age. If 13.7 per cent of respondents in 2002 felt that a young woman could be given away in marriage at the age of 16-18, there have been no adherents to that idea in recent years. At present, one-third of women marry at the age of 19, and 56 per cent marry between 20 and 24, ages that are favorable from the standpoint of women’s fertility and readiness for family life. An awareness-raising campaign conducted by the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and other public organizations, in close cooperation with State educational institutions, has contributed to that.

374.It should be emphasized that the protection of the rights of women who are not in a registered marriage, but are in a religious marriage, does not go unheeded by the State or the public with the birth of a child outside of marriage. The woman is given the status of a single mother and is duly accorded an allowance for the child and other relevant benefits.

375.Recent years have seen the creation of so-called Universities of Parents in citizens’ self-governing bodies, their purpose being to raise the legal, social, spiritual, medical and psychological awareness of parents. Such measures, in practical terms, serve to change the stereotypes that exist in the relations between men and women..

376.Women have received a great deal of assistance from legal, advisory, informational and crisis centres that have been created by non-governmental organizations and are functioning in virtually all regions of the country. At present, in Bukhara Oblast alone there are 40 such centres.

377.For example, the Oydin Nur Centre for the Social Protection of the Family (Bukhara Oblast), which was created in 1999, provides the following types of services: telephone hotlines, psychological support, legal advice, public defenders for women and temporary shelters for victims of violence.

378.Between January 2001 and April 2008, the telephone hotlines had some 9,500 calls and client walk-ins. At seminars, the Centre trained 1,668 people in matters of women’s rights and domestic violence. Of those people, 112 in 2001 were representatives of mediation boards of citizens’ self-governing bodies; 489 in 2005 were judges, crime prevention inspectors or court officers; 374 in 2006 were prevention inspectors from police departments; and 25 in 2007 were advisors to citizens’ self-government bodies, along with 250 who were prevention inspectors..

379.For 35 clients, the Centre acted as public defender of the woman’s interests in legal proceedings. The Centre has published six brochures (each a quire in length) on the following topics: “Laws That Protect Women”, “No Woman Deserves Violence” and “Conflicts in the Family, and Ways to Resolve Them”; it has created two documentary films: “Quarrels, Break-ups, Divorces” (22 min.) (violence a woman is subjected to during a divorce) and “In this home, my mother decides everything” (18 min.) (violence a bride is subjected to by her husband’s mother). The Centre is actively promoting nonviolent forms of interaction in the family. For example, Centre staff members have published 41 articles in the Bukhara Oblast newspaper on problems women face, and they have appeared in eight television broadcasts.

380.On 14 November 2007, a temporary shelter known as The Shelter began operating at the Centre. Between January 2007 [sic] and April 2008, a total of 13 women and 12 of their children were given refuge in The Shelter.

ARTICLE 6. MEASURES AIMED AT SUPPRESSING ALL TYPES OF TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION

381.The Republic of Uzbekistan is taking organizational and legal measures aimed at suppressing all types of trafficking in women and exploitation of women in prostitution.

382.Article 37 of the Constitution has a provision that states that everyone shall have the right to work, to choose their occupation, to fair working conditions, and to protection against unemployment in the manner prescribed by law.

383.Compulsory labour other than in the form of punishment under the sentence of a court or in other cases provided for by law is prohibited.

384.In attaching due importance to the danger of such negative phenomena as human trafficking, the country’s law-enforcement authorities are taking every measure to respond promptly to the criminal aspects of the migration of citizens and to improve their work in dealing with the illegal transport abroad of women and the violations of the law that accompany that practice.

385.Internal affairs authorities are performing investigations to detect and identify persons engaged in prostitution and sex tourism and are taking preventive measures to avert such violations of the law and to set up one-on-one preventive work with individuals who are engaged in prostitution and sex tourism and with individuals who have been deported from other countries for engaging in prostitution.

386.Special integrated preventive measures are being conducted under the rubric of “Oriyat” on a regular basis. A broad-scale preventive outreach campaign is being set up, and work is being done to expand the public’s knowledge of the law in terms of liability for the indicated types of offences. Internal affairs authorities are interfacing with health care authorities to identify prostitutes who have venereal diseases. Administrative proceedings are under way to prepare materials for court to hold individuals administratively liable for engaging in prostitution. Department of Internal Affairs investigative divisions are conducting inquiries and investigations of cases involving maintaining brothels and procuring women and girls, recruiting people for exploitation, etc.

387.Under Article 131 of the Criminal Code, setting up or maintaining houses of ill repute, like pandering from mercenary or base motives, is punishable by a fine equivalent to 25-50 times the minimum wage or correctional labour for up to three years, or imprisonment for up to three years.

388.The same acts committed with the involvement of a minor or repeatedly by a recidivist or a person who had previously committed crimes covered by articles 135 “Engagement of People for Exploitation” and 137 “Kidnapping” of this Code are punishable by arrest for up to six months or imprisonment for 3-5 years.

389.Victims of human trafficking may report the commission of the crime to the internal affairs authorities for the place of the commission of the crime or the place of residence. The rights of the such individuals are regulated by the law on citizens’ recourse, which also establishes a procedure for filing complaints. The right to access the courts for protection is provided by the Constitution and by the law on the courts. Questions involving damages to human trafficking victims are resolved with court proceedings via the filing of civil suits for damages.

390.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, administrative liability is specified for disseminating pornographic materials (Article 189 of the Code of Administrative Liability), and criminal liability for the manufacture or dissemination of pornographic objects (Article 130 of the Criminal Code).

391.Criminal liability is not prescribed for prostitution.

392.Under Article 190 of the Code of Administrative Liability, engaging in prostitution is an administrative offence and entails the imposition of a fine amounting to 1-3 times the minimum wage. A repeat violation committed within a year after the imposition of the administrative penalty is punishable by the imposition of a fine amounting to 3-5 times the minimum wage.

393.Cases involving that violation of the law are considered by administrative law judges.

394.The Ministry of Internal Affairs is developing an Integrated Programme to Combat the Recruitment and Illegal Transport Abroad of Persons for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation, which specifies a broad range of measures to enlist the assistance of local bodies of authority and administration, law-enforcement authorities, relevant ministries and departments, non-governmental organizations, public citizens’ associations, and the mass media. The programme involves not only preventive measures, but also rehabilitative measures for trafficking victims.

395.On 17 April 2008, the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted the new law on combating human trafficking, which makes a substantial contribution to the fight against trafficking in women. The law codifies such basic concepts as combating human trafficking, which signifies activities to prevent, detect, and suppress human trafficking, to minimize its consequences and to provide assistance to victims of human trafficking; human trafficking, which signifies the recruitment, transportation, transfer, concealment, or receipt of persons for purposes of exploiting them by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position of vulnerability or by means of bribery in the form of payments or benefits to gain the consent of a person who controls another person. Exploitation of people means exploitation that takes the form of the prostitution of other persons or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of human organs or tissue.

396.The law also defines the concept of a human trafficker—an individual or legal entity that by itself or as a group commits any acts related to human trafficking, as well as an official who, by his actions, promotes trafficking in humans, or does not block it or stand in its way, although he is obliged to do so by virtue of his official authority.

397.The law makes a list of State agencies whose activities include counteracting human trafficking; among them are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Service; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Ministry of Health.

398.The law provides for the creation of a structure that coordinates the work of the above-listed agencies—the Interdepartmental Commission on Combating Human Trafficking. The primary objectives of the Interdepartmental Commission are as follows:

coordinate the activities of State agencies, citizens’ self-governing bodies and non-governmental non-commercial organizations in combating human trafficking;

organize events aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of work to identify and eliminate the causes and conditions of human trafficking;

collect and analyze information on the scale, status and trends of human trafficking;

coordinate the activities of territorial interdepartmental commissions;

generate proposals for improving the work to provide assistance and protection to victims of human trafficking;

generate proposals for improving the law on combating human trafficking;

organize events to inform the public on issues associated with combating human trafficking.

399.In order to provide assistance and protection to victims of human trafficking, the law calls for the creation of specialized facilities for assisting and protecting human trafficking victims. The primary functions of such facilities are, inter alia, to provide human trafficking victims with good, hygienic living conditions, meals, medicines and medical items; to provide the victims with emergency medical, psychological, social, legal and other assistance; and to ensure the safety of human trafficking victims.

400.At present, a process is under way in Uzbekistan to bring the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan into conformance with the provisions of the law on combating human trafficking. Specifically, Article 135 of the Criminal Code “Engagement of People for Exploitation” will be re-named “Human Trafficking”. That article defines the constituent elements of the crime, defines the types of punishment, and establishes the aggravating elements of the act, i.e., the commission of the crime (a) for two or more persons, (b) by previous concert of a group of persons, (c) repeatedly or by a dangerous recidivist, (d) involving the transport of the victim across the State border or with the victim illegally detained abroad, etc. Stiffer penalties are provided for persons who commit acts involving the trafficking of minors (including girls).

401.In 2008, plans call for Uzbekistan to accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

402.In order to prevent trafficking in women and girls, wide-ranging preventive and educational activities are being conducted in all oblasts of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Women’s Committee, together with various State and non-governmental organizations, is holding events aimed at warning the public, women and girls of the risks of illegal work abroad.

403.A number of public organizations have opened “hotlines”, which provide free, anonymous counseling to the public. Over the last two years, more than 60,000 calls have been handled. The hotlines also receive requests from citizens for assistance to individuals who have become victims of human trafficking. More than 200 such victims have been helped to return home. Together with consulates and embassies in such countries as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Thailand and India, the organizations have provided assistance in recovering documents and obtaining certificates for return. .

404.The total number of requests for specific cases of human trafficking is around 5,000, from such countries of destination as United Arab Emirates, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey and Thailand. Assistance in returning was provided in 2,000 cases.

405.The following is being done to warn of trafficking in women and girls: booklets in Uzbek, Russian, Karakalpak, and Tajik are being disseminated among the public; social advertisements prepared in conjunction with the Ministry of Internal Affairs are being aired on republican TV channel 1; social advertisements to warn of human trafficking are being aired on Yoshlar radio; two “Otalar Suzi” films, which are devoted to human trafficking for purposes of labour and sexual exploitation, are being shown; nearly 1,000 seminars and youth actions have been held for students of elementary schools, high schools, colleges and higher-learning institutions; more than 600 events have been held in citizens’ self-governing bodies.

406.In Uzbekistan, broad-scale awareness-raising work is being done to acquaint the public, staff members of law-enforcement structures, local State administrative authorities and citizens’ self-governing bodies with the provisions of the new Republic of Uzbekistan law on combating human trafficking.

407.Accordingly, on 30 May 2008, in the city of Tashkent, an international seminar was held on the topic of “Combating Human Trafficking in the Republic of Uzbekistan”, which was organized by the Regional Mission of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Central Asia and the UNDP mission in Uzbekistan. That event was aimed at discussing the mechanisms for implementing the new law and at developing procedures for the interaction of State and non-governmental structures in the fight against human trafficking. The seminar was addressed by representatives of law-enforcement agencies and the scientific community of Uzbekistan, as well as by staff members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, the International Organization for Migration (Mission in Kazakhstan), the Department for Combating Human Trafficking of the UNODC headquarters (Vienna), and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Uzbekistan. A representative of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan addressed the seminar on the topic “Critical Areas in the Prevention of Human Trafficking among Women in the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

ARTICLE 7. MEASURES BEING TAKEN TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL AND PUBLIC LIFE OF THE COUNTRY

408.The government of Uzbekistan is taking measures to prevent discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country.

409.In the political and public life of Uzbekistan, women, like men, have the following rights:

to vote in all elections and public referenda and to be elected to any elective body;

to participate in the formulation and implementation of government policy and to hold State posts, as well as to perform any State function on any level of State administration;

to take part in the activities of non-governmental organizations and associations that address the problems of the public and political life of the country.

410.The equality of electoral standards for both sexes is established, and women and men are de jure equal in the voting process in the laws on elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on elections to oblast, rayon and city kengashes [councils] of people’s deputies, on suffrage guarantees, on the nationwide discussion of draft laws, on the referendum in the Republic of Uzbekistan and on the election of the president. Article 5 of the law on suffrage guarantees says that “no direct or indirect limitation of the suffrage rights of citizens shall be allowed, except as required by legislative acts on elections”.

411.True equality of men and women is provided by a system of guarantees that consists of political, organizational, material, social and moral, and legal remedies that ensure that equality. Political guarantees are the fundamental principles and standards of democratic elections codified in the Constitution. Organizational guarantees are the rules used to assist candidates for the position of deputy in the conduct of an election campaign, regardless of sex. Social and moral guarantees consist of the proper understanding of rights and freedoms and their proper use by men and women.

412.For example, a total of 12,179,580 voters took part in the 2004 elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, and 6,199,406 voters were women, i.e., 50.9 per cent. The 2007 presidential elections drew 14,765,444 voters to the polls, and 7,500,845 were women, i.e., 50.8 per cent.

413.After independence, Uzbekistan women were given more opportunities to actively participate in the decision-making process. Thanks to changes incorporated in the country’s laws and initiated by women’s governmental and non-governmental organizations and to special presidential decrees (in 1995 and 2004) to support women’s non-governmental organizations by encouraging women’s participation in the political process, the number of women parliamentarians has increased substantially.

414.Part 4 of Article 22 of the law on elections to the Oliy Majlis of 29 August 2003 stipulates that women must constitute at least 30 per cent of the total number of deputy candidates put forth by a political party. At present, 21 women (18 per cent) are Legislative Chamber deputies, and 15 women (15 per cent) are members of the Senate, whereas there were only 12 women deputies in the Oliy Majlis in 1999. In all, women account for 16 per cent of those serving in higher bodies of State authority in Uzbekistan and 15.2% of those serving in local bodies of legislative and representative authority.

415.It should be stressed that, from 1995 to the present time, the post of Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) has been held by a woman; in 2007, for the first time in the history of the State, a woman, the Chairman of the Adolat Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, ran for President of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and in 2008, for the first time ever, a woman was selected to be Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis. That is evidence of the change in the stereotypical thinking about women and of the enhancement of the position and status of women in society.

416.The women of Uzbekistan, who constitute more than half of the country’s population, are actively participating not only in election campaigns as voters and candidates for various posts, but also in the organization of the activities of the electoral commissions. In the presidential elections in December 2007, women constituted 40.9 per cent of the members of the district electoral commissions and 20 per cent of the okrug electoral commissions.

417.A good many women who are future leaders are members of political parties functioning in Uzbekistan. At present, women constitute 38 per cent of the Fidokorlar National Democratic Party and 32.9 per cent of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan.

418.Women are active in trade union activities. As of 1 April 2008, trade union members in the republic numbered 6,394,669, and 3,251,438 of them were women. The number of women holding management posts in trade unions is 10,862 (which represents 42.2 per cent of the total number of managers in trade organizations).

419.It should be noted, however, that setting an electoral quota for women cannot fully solve the problem of the representation of the women of Uzbekistan in the higher legislative body or in local representative bodies. The goal is to prepare enough women who can truly represent Uzbekistan women in a sufficiently professional manner in legislatures. Practice shows that even when women have a high level of education, they do not always have a full measures of electoral skills and do not have special training in areas such as political science, State law and administration, or psychology.

420.A programme was developed in 2005 to train the chairs of rayon, city, and oblast women’s committees in the Republic of Uzbekistan presidential Academy for the Development of the State and Society. Enlisted to do the training are critical staff members of the Cabinet of Ministers and the heads and specialists of ministries and departments and of relevant State and public organizations.

421.The period of 2005-2008 saw the training and re-training of all the chairs of the women’s committees of cities and rayons of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, of viloyats [oblasts], and of the city of Tashkent (some 200 chairs of women’s committees of cities and rayons are trained annually).

422.Measures are being taken to enhance the intellectual potential of women through the creation of a mechanism to support women who have been nominated as candidates by political parties both from the political parties themselves and from women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations and the women’s electorate. A culture of respect for women leaders in political parties is forming, and in those parties women are being promoted to leadership positions in the framework of structures created by the political parties themselves.

423.In the context of cooperation between the Women’s Committee and the political parties of the republic, a “women’s wing” has been created in each political party, and actions to increase the political activity of women have been developed and are being implemented.

424.Uzbekistan recently has been setting a course on increasing the number of women in executive bodies. As a result, 15.3 per cent of leadership posts in executive bodies were recently occupied by women; specifically, 16.7 per cent in the Cabinet of Ministers; 12.5 per cent in the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan; and 11.9% are khokims and khokimiyats deputies.

425.In Uzbekistan, the chair of the Women’s Committee is also a deputy prime minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the chairs of oblast women’s committees are regional deputy khokims (14 oblast deputy khokims, 219 rayon [or city] deputy khokims).

426.In Uzbekistan, a woman is minister of the furniture industry, and three are first deputy ministers (foreign affairs, finance, and the economy); one women is head of a large public organization, the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions, and three are heads of large public foundations.

427.Women in Uzbekistan are rather well represented in the judicial branch. For example, 20 per cent of those working in the Constitutional Court are women. That figure is 14.6 percent in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan; 20.4 per cent in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, its oblasts, and the Tashkent Municipal Court; 20.4 per cent in rayon and municipal courts; 15.8% in the Supreme Economic court; and 22.6 per cent in the economic courts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and its oblasts.

428.The participation of women and men in the economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan at the outset of the new century was 44 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Traditional spheres of employment for women are education, health care, culture, art, science, and science services.

429.In 2007, nearly 46 per cent of women were employed in various spheres of the economy. Some 4 million women are employed in the economy.

430.Uzbekistan women are taking an active part in non-governmental organizations. To date, according to information received from the Ministry of Justice, the total number of Uzbekistan women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations registered with judicial authorities in on the order of 210; they are of a varying nature, both national and local, and include structural subdivisions of central women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations.

431.The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan was one of the first of the currently operating women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations created. It was founded in 1991 and, today, is the largest, most far-reaching women’s non-governmental non-commercial organization in Uzbekistan. The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan has structural subdivisions in virtually all tumans [districts] and viloyats of the country. The Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan plays an enormous role in the business of ensuring, protecting and advancing women’s rights as a whole. According to the Charter of that Committee, the basic objectives and areas of activity of the Committee are as follows:

carry out State policy in the social and legal support of women, the protection of motherhood and childhood, the promotion of women’s participation in the development of the State and society, and elevation of women’s literacy and awareness in terms of the law;

monitor and coordinate the activities of other women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations in terms of the improvement of the status of women in society and in terms of elevating their legal literacy and social protection;

participate in the implementation of State programmes for protecting women’s health;

collaborate with other non-governmental non-commercial organizations in forming a healthy family;

promote the idea of a healthy lifestyle;

handle issues associated with local job placement for women;

promote social protection of poor families, large families, disabled women and children, and single elderly people.

432.The work of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan has intensified markedly in coordinating the activities of local bodies of State authority and citizens’ self-governing bodies in the sphere of protecting women’s rights. Local representatives of the Women’s Committee hold the posts of deputy khokims of oblasts and the city of Tashkent (13) and rayons (200).

433.Pursuing their work in the republic today are 10,000 citizens’ self-governing bodies, consisting of 8,401 makhallyas, 1,339 kishlaks, 153 auls and 107 citizen assembly communities. To provide support for young families, operating in the makhallyas are commissions that address various areas, such as work with youth, work with women, and social protection; there are also advisors on religious instruction and spiritual and moral training.

434.The Women’s Committee and its regional structures, interfacing with such commissions, are raising public awareness with regard to the laws and other legal and regulatory acts that are being adopted in the country on issues of women’s rights. In the period just past, more than 3,000 outreach events, meetings, and seminars were conducted, involving some 10,000 people in the public, including youth.

435.The Tadbirkor Ayol Association of Business Women of Uzbekistan is one of the largest women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations in Uzbekistan. That association was created in 1991, and today it has structural subdivisions in all viloyats of the country, as well as in the city of Tashkent and the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The basic goals of the association are as follows: to create favorable conditions for the active adaptation of women to the emerging labour market, to support women’s business initiatives, to protect the rights of women entrepreneurs, to be a voice for the interests of its members, to provide assistance to various forms of business and to strengthen the climate of mutual trust and reliability for business partnership..

436.Among the “specialized” non-governmental non-commercial organizations involved in women’s rights is the Public Association of Women Lawyers, which was created in 1999 to consolidate the efforts of women lawyers, raise their skills, and protect their rights and lawful interests. The principal areas of activity of the association are in promoting knowledge of the law among the public, especially among girls and women; providing legal advice; and developing, publishing, and disseminating educational materials, textbooks, and other books on the law. The association has structural subdivisions in five cities of Uzbekistan (Fergana, Samarkand, Nukus, Bukhara and Djizak).

437.It should be noted that, in addition to republican, regional, and local women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations, a number of international women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations also work in Uzbekistan. Among them are the International Women’s Foundation Sharq Ayoli, whose primary goal is to implement and protect the economic, social and cultural rights and freedoms of women; to intensify their activities in all spheres of the life of society and the State; to expand their scientific and artistic creativity; to protect the health of women and children; to enhance the educational role of women in the family and society; and to strengthen peace and friendship among peoples. This foundation has representative offices in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

438.In recent years, a significant role in the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality has been played by the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations, which was formed on 18 May 2005 at the initiative of 150 non-governmental non-commercial organizations of Uzbekistan. The association was a founder of the Fund for the Support of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan, which was created to attract and accumulate financing, as well as provide technical support to Association members.

439.The National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan in 2006 and 2007 performed a sociological study on the topic “The Condition, Problems and Needs of Uzbekistan’s Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations That Are Members of the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations”, from which it became apparent that the non-commercial sector of Uzbekistan is represented primarily by women. Of the total number of respondents, 61.4 per cent were women, and 38.6 per cent were men. Of 344 member organizations of the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations, about 60 per cent were engaged in safeguarding the rights of women and children.

440.The Fund for the Support of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of Uzbekistan takes an active part in the financial support of women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations. Five competitions held by the Fund financed the projects of 91 non-governmental non-commercial organizations throughout the republic with a total of some 500 million sum. Some 30 per cent of those projects were geared to supporting women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations that provided legal assistance to women, trained disabled women, provided medical education to girls and expanded social opportunities of women. The total amount directed to the support of those projects was more than 130 million sum. For example, from 13 through 24 August 2007, at the Khumsan-Bulok resort area (Bostanlyk Rayon, Tashkent Oblast), a 12-day Summer School was held for girls living in rural areas.

441.It should be emphasized that in Uzbekistan, women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations are broadly involved in drafting and reviewing national reports on compliance with relevant international United Nations conventions on human rights, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The active participation of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and other women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations in the drafting of Uzbekistan’s national reports and in their consideration in the United Nations Committee is becoming standard practice.

442.Based on the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion, the number of favorably resolved appeals to women’s organizations was fivefold greater in 2008 than in 2005, which corroborates the data pointing to the effectiveness of their work. If women’s responses in 2005 indicated that women’s organizations provided effective assistance in solving the problems of only 11.5 per cent of the survey participants, that figure was 58 per cent in 2006 and 62.2 per cent in 2008.

443.Women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations are taking a very active part in informing the public on gender issues, in conducting research and monitoring women’s rights issues and in performing gender analysis of national laws.

444.For example, the Centre for the Support of Civil Initiatives, which has been in operation since 2004, supports civil initiatives aimed at resolving issues associated with promoting a healthy lifestyle, strengthening the family and enhancing the professional, creative and spiritual potential of women, as well as assisting in the expansion of their opportunities at the decision-making level.

445.In 2005-2007, the Centre for the Support of Civil Initiatives trained 20 national experts on issues involving CEDAW reporting and monitoring and 20 experts on gender issues; it conducted round tables in all regions of the republic on the topic “Uzbekistan—On the Path to Gender Equality in Light of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”;

446.The Centre published the CEDAW Convention and the Optional Protocol to it in the State language and in Russian and disseminated them among State and non-governmental organizations and the mass media. The Centre initiated the drafting of a report on the monitoring of the Republic of Uzbekistan’s implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and also prepared a booklet in English and Russian called “Uzbekistan on the Path to Gender Equality”, which included the National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Implementation of the Convention and the results of the monitoring of the Republic of Uzbekistan’s implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; with technical assistance from the UNDP, it also made a film called “Uzbekistan on the Path to Gender Equality” and prepared a statistical digest Women and Men of Uzbekistan in three languages, which, in the context of gender, presented, inter alia, indicators for demographics, health care, education, employment and unemployment, social protection and violations of the law.

ARTICLE 8. MEASURES BEING TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN TO ENSURE THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

447.Under Article 8 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Uzbekistan is taking every appropriate measure to ensure that women take part, on an equal footing with men and without any discrimination, in the representation of their government at the international level and in the work of international organizations.

448.Women of Uzbekistan represent their government at the international level as follows:

as individuals holding senior State posts;

as deputies or senators and heads of structural subdivisions of the parliament, of the government, of ministries, of departments, etc.;

as mid-management representatives in legislative, executive and judicial bodies who are delegated by higher bodies or senior officials to participate in the activities of international organizations and in various international events;

as employees of national human rights institutions functioning in Uzbekistan;

as staff members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of External Economic Relations, Trade and Investment and other departments dealing with external political or economic relations;

as leaders of women’s non-governmental organizations, etc.

449.Today, women who work in a department dealing with the external political relations of the republic and who hold various diplomatic posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs number 26, and one is a deputy minister of foreign affairs. Sixty-six women work hold administrative positions.

450.Women work in Republic of Uzbekistan diplomatic missions abroad in various diplomatic or administrative posts. Specifically, the post of Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO is held by a woman.

451.Virtually all women working in State service are sent annually to participate in international seminars, conferences and other events. Moreover, women working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are regularly sent to states abroad for professional development, exchange of experience, and improvement of language skills.

452.It has become routine for women to hold posts such as Speaker of the Legislative Chamber, Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman), chairperson of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, chairperson of the Federation of Trade Unions, or heads of departments, large enterprises, institutions or organizations working in international forums arranged by the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union, the European Parliament, and other international organizations.

453.Accordingly, from 28 February through 1 March 2006, S. Gerasimova, a member of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, served as a member of the Uzbekistan delegation that took part in the work of the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in considering the third, fourth, and fifth national reports of Uzbekistan on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; during the period of 15-22 May 2006, T. Narbayeva, lead specialist of the Information Analysis Department for Education, Health Care and Social Protection of the Cabinet of Minister took part in the work of the forty-second session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Uzbekistan women who worked for the National Centre for Human Rights or were representatives of women’s non-governmental non-commercial organizations participated in the annual OSCE Human Dimension Meeting 2-13 October 2006 (Warsaw), the 29-31 March 2007 Supplementary OSCE Human Dimension Meeting (Vienna) on the topic “Freedom of Assembly, Association, and Expression: Fostering Full and Equal Participation in Pluralist Societies”, the 16-18 May 2007 Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights seminar (Warsaw) on the topic “Effective Participation and Representation in Democratic Societies”, and the 7-13 November 2007 meeting of the United Nations Committee against Torture (Geneva) to consider the Third Periodic Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

ARTICLE 9. GRANTING WOMEN RIGHTS EQUAL TO THOSE OF MEN IN TERMS OF ACQUIRING, CHANGING OR RETAINING THEIR CITIZENSHIP

454.The State has developed measures granting women rights equal to those of men in terms of acquiring, changing or keeping their citizenship. Women’s rights to citizenship are safeguarded by the 2 July 1992 law on citizenship, Article 1 of which says this: “In the Republic of Uzbekistan, every person shall have a right to citizenship. No one may be deprived of citizenship or the right to change one’s citizenship. The Republic of Uzbekistan shall protect the rights, freedoms and interests of its citizens within the Republic of Uzbekistan and outside it”.

455.Article 2 of the law says this: “Citizenship in the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be equal for all, regardless of the bases on which it was acquired”. All persons, regardless of sex, who permanently reside in the Republic of Uzbekistan and who express a wish to become citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be entitled to be citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

456.Article 6 of that law establishes the following: “Neither the marriage of a national of the Republic of Uzbekistan to a person of foreign nationality or to a stateless person nor the dissolution of such a marriage shall entail any change in the nationality of the spouse. A change of nationality of one of the spouses shall not entail any change in the nationality of the other spouse”.

457.Article 7 of the law states the following: “Residence of a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad shall not involve cancellation of citizenship for the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

458.Under Article 12 of the law, Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship is acquired by both women and men identically:

1.by birth;

2.by naturalization;

3.on grounds stipulated by international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

4.on other grounds specified by the law on citizenship.

459.Article 19 of the law provides the grounds for termination of Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship, which the same for women and men:

1.renunciation of Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship;

2.loss of Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship, etc.

460.Under articles 22 and 24 of the law on citizenship in the Republic of Uzbekistan, if the citizenship of one’s parents changes, as a result of which both become Republic of Uzbekistan citizens or both renounce Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship, the citizenship of those of their children who have not reached the age of 14 changes accordingly.

461.If only one of the parents of a child is known and the citizenship of that parent changes, the citizenship of the child, if that child has not reached the age of 14, also changes accordingly.

462.If one of the parents of a child becomes a Republic of Uzbekistan citizen, but the other parent remains a foreign citizen, the child may acquire Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship if the parent who acquired Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship petitions for the acquisition.

463.If one of the parents of a child becomes a Republic of Uzbekistan citizen, but the other parent remains a stateless person, the child, if he or she lives in the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

464.If one of the parents of a child becomes a Republic of Uzbekistan citizen, but the other parent remains a stateless person, the child, if he or she lives outside the Republic of Uzbekistan, may acquire Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship if the parent who acquired Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship petitions for the acquisition.

465.If one of the parents of a child renounces Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship, but the other remains a Republic of Uzbekistan citizen, the child retains Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship.

466.At the request of a parent who is renouncing Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship, the child of the parent may also be allowed to renounced Republic of Uzbekistan citizenship.

ARTICLE 10. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

467.Article 41 of the Constitution states the following: “Everyone shall have the right to education. The State shall guarantee free secondary education. Schooling shall be under State supervision”. Accordingly, the State is taking every appropriate measure to eliminate discrimination against women by giving them rights equal to those of men, including in the field of education.

468.Article 3 of the law on education defines the basic principles of State policy in education, namely:

education is be a priority in the social development sphere of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

training and education are to be humanistic and democratic;

education is to be continuous and is to have continuity;

general mid-level education and specialized, vocational secondary education are to be mandatory.

469.Article 4 of the law codified the following provision: “Everyone shall be guaranteed equal rights to receive an education, regardless of sex, language, age, race, social origin, occupation, social status, place of residence, or duration of residence in the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

470.Uzbekistan is implementing the provisions of the law on education rigorously.

471.For purposes of ensuring the effectiveness of the educational system, the Republic of Uzbekistan attaches great significance to the development of educational structures and to providing the public with all forms of education and training as it protects the Constitutional rights of citizens to education.

472.The State system of continuous education in Uzbekistan includes the following:

pre-school education of children as young as 3 and as old as 6 or 7;

mandatory school education: four years of elementary school; nine years of incomplete mid-level education; and two years of complete secondary education, which will be completely eliminated by 2010;

three years of vocational or academic education;

higher education, consisting of two degrees—baccalaureate and master’s;

post-college education—post-graduate studies and doctoral studies.

various forms of re-training and professional development after completion of one's education in the overall system.

473.The country’s literacy rate remains among the highest in the world, at 99.34 per cent, which includes women’s literacy.

474.A total of 1,021,602 girls are enrolled in elementary school in middle general-education schools of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which constitutes 49.2 per cent of the total number of students in elementary school.

475.In the middle component of the schools, i.e., grades 5-9, a total of 1,486,086 girls are enrolled, which constitutes 49.1 per cent of the total enrolment for grades 5-9.

476.Of the 609,035 ninth-graders completing their general education in the 2007/2008 school year, 301,200, or 49.5 per cent, are girls.

477.The Ministry of Education is systematically monitoring school attendance. Monitoring performed in January 2008 identified only 580 students who regularly missed classes without a legitimate excuse; 191 of them were girls. The teaching staffs of schools, together with Makhallya committees, are working with them and their parents to get the students back into school.

478.At present, as with boys, every girl who reaches school age must attend school and receive nine years of education. After completion of school, young women are offered a wide selection of specialties and professions that they can receive in higher education, specialized secondary, and vocational-technical schools

479.Non-discriminatory approaches have been developed for educating girls in the system of education and vocational education.

480.A network consisting of institutions of a new type for specialized secondary education and vocational training began operation in the 1997/1998 school year. At present, Uzbekistan has 846 specialized secondary and vocational education institutions with a capacity for 527,800 students and an enrolment of 570,300, some 50 per cent of whom are girls.

481.Also in place is a broad network of organizations and institutions for professional development, training and re-training of specialists, which provides educational assistance to women throughout their lives.

482.Uzbekistan’s entire educational system encompasses more than 6.5 million students, 48.4 per cent of whom are women, some of whom are being sent abroad for training and professional development..

483.Women make up 38 per cent of all specialists and research associates. Among them are eight women academicians, 310 doctors of science (16 per cent) and 3,025 candidates of science (33%). Women account for a well-defined share of heads of scientific and educational institutions: accordingly, 20 women are vice rectors of higher learning institutions, two are rectors, 34 are faculty deans, and 390 chair departments.

484.The choice of training specialties in institutions of learning differs markedly between women and men. As a rule, women attending higher education institutions and specialized secondary learning institutions to receive a specialty opt for sectors such as education and health, whereas men tend to choose industry, agriculture, construction and education.

485.In Uzbekistan, a determined effort is under way to support and develop the talents of gifted young adults and adolescent boys and girls. Suffice it to say that Uzbekistan has met the Millennium Development Goals in terms of elementary and secondary education for boys and girls..

486.The Centre for Training Women in Telecommunications and Information Technology has been opened at the Tashkent University of Information Technology. The Centre’s work consists in training women in telecommunications, IT, e-government, e-commerce and other such fields, which will enable them to find good jobs and improve their lives. Its special target audience includes women who are finishing college and are seeking specialized training. More than 500 women a year attend the Centre, and the number of trainees will gradually increase.

487.Regional branches of the Centre are slated to be opened, which means that the Centre will be training not only women of Uzbekistan, but also women from other parts of Central Asia.

ARTICLE 11. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN EMPLOYMENT

488.Article 37 of the Constitution says this: “Everyone shall have the right to work, to choose one’s occupation freely, to enjoy fair conditions of work, and to be protected from unemployment in the manner prescribed by law”.

489.The Labour Code, which is based on the Constitution, guarantees women, on an equal footing with men, the right to work and to freely choose their occupations; the right to social protection upon retirement; and unemployment, sickness, and disability benefits.

490.Under Article 58 of the Labour Code, “the State guarantees every person equal opportunity in the acquisition of an occupation and a job, in conditions of work and employment, in being paid for one’s labour, and in job advancement”.

491.Since the Republic of Uzbekistan gained its independence, it has done a great deal of diligent work to strengthen the legal status of women and to ensure equal rights for women and men in all spheres of the life of the society, including the socio-economic sphere. An entire complex of legal acts defining the opportunities of women in the socio-economic sphere and, specifically, in labour relations has been developed and adopted. Those acts contain both general rules and standards for ensuring the labour rights of all citizens and special rules and procedures pertaining to the labour rights of women. .

492.Republic of Uzbekistan labour law contains guarantees for safeguarding women’s reproductive function. An array of measures have been established to protect motherhood and fatherhood. They include protection of pregnant women against unemployment, plus the transfer to a new job if a situation arises in which keeping their regular job is not possible; labour protection for pregnant women and for mothers who have breast-feeding children; and breaks for breast feeding. Paid leave to care for a sick child may be used by any family member.

493.In our view, preserving the societal value of motherhood (childbirth) in labour law is not discrimination, since it is aimed at equalizing the opportunities of working men and women with family responsibilities in the receipt of social assistance from the State. That is also the position of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and related ILO conventions.

494.In Uzbekistan, special value is given to women’s employment. Created in the republic every year are thousands of new jobs, 40 per cent of which are held by women; in 2006 alone, upwards of 147,000 new jobs were created for women, for which more than 40 billion sum were allocated.

495.Recent years have seen a considerable intensification of the State’s efforts to ensure employment, including for women, by means of creating the conditions for further expansion of home-based work, small business, and microfirms.

496.The 18 May 2007 presidential decree on additional measures to provide material and moral support to young families, which calls for enhancing the social status of the young family and for giving it the necessary assistance at the beginning of their working lives, is important to ensuring employment and to raising the public’s level of income, as is the 5 January 2006 presidential decree on measures to stimulate expansion of cooperation between large industrial enterprises and the provision of services based on the development of home-based work.

497.Those acts provide for the creation of conditions that encourage the broad enlistment of the public in home-based work by means of the following:

for enterprises that use the labour of home-based workers, the establishment of tax concessions on property (equipment, tools, and inventory) passed on for free use by the home-based worker so that they can make the payment due from the labour remuneration fund, in the amount of the money paid to the home-based workers under labour contracts;

consolidation of a system of measures aimed at providing social protection and labour protection for home-based workers.

according to the data of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, as a result of the development of home-based work, around 60,000 jobs were created in 2006, including 30,000 that used women’s labour. Nearly half of all the jobs were created in rural areas.

498.As of the beginning of 2007, a large increase in employment had been achieved, particularly for women, as a result of the development of new forms of home-based work. In the first quarter of 2007 alone, some 8,800 jobs were created on the basis of contracts with large industrial enterprises, and 13,100 jobs were created in family businesses. Home-based work gave women an immense opportunity to boost their economic potential, combine work in the home with work on the job, and earn money without being away from the family.

499.To improve the situation in employment, the Government approved territorial programmes for the period of 2005-2007 for providing women employment. The programmes involve the creation in each region of the requisite number of new jobs, mainly through the development of small business, the service sector, and home-based work. Concessional loans are granted to small businesses that employ women primarily or are headed by women. Banks made 90.087 billion sum available to women entrepreneurs, which is 214 percent more than in 2006. Accordingly, the joint-stock commercial bank Mikrokreditbank provided women who wished to engage in business more than 11.076 billion sum, which is 2.7-fold more than in 2006.

500.A sociological survey conducted among women by the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion showed that the level of satisfaction that women derived from the work they did on a day-to-day basis rose to 83.3 per cent in 2008 from 68.4 per cent in 2005 and 69.9 percent in 2006. At the same time, women’s satisfaction with the amount of money they earn at their primary place of work is growing: it rose to 76.5 percent in 2008 from 36.4 per cent in 2005. The conditions for involving women in business improved to 67.7 per cent in 2008 from 49.8 percent in 2005.

501.For purposes of implementing para. 28 of the Concluding Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in terms of seeking new possibilities for employing women, the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2007 performed a gender analysis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Labour Code.

502.In examining labour law in terms of its gender dimension, the Republic of Uzbekistan set out to determine the extent to which the norms of the Labour Code conform to the principle of gender equality and the extent to which the limitations incorporated by lawmakers are commensurate with women’s interests and the protection of their rights.

503.The analysis of the Labour Code through the lens of gender confirms that the law contains articles that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex when hiring or firing within the limits of the general norms of labour law. Republic of Uzbekistan labour law codifies guarantees for safeguarding women’s reproductive function. An array of measures have been established to protect parental rights, as well as motherhood and fatherhood. They include protection of pregnant women against unemployment, plus transfer to a new job if a situation arises in which keeping their regular job is not possible; labour protection for pregnant women and for mothers who have breast-feeding children; breaks for breast feeding; and the right of any family member to take paid leave to care for a sick child.

504.At the same time, the formation of market mechanisms for regulating labour in a new fashion are aggravating problems involving the participation of women in social production, thereby strengthening discriminatory trends. It is precisely that category of the population that is most vulnerable at the moment in the sphere of employment and labour relations, is least competitive on the labour market, and has a number of benefits established by law that place women on unequal footing with men and create the precedent of the emergence of unequal opportunities.

505.The gender analysis of the Labour Code conducted by government entities enables the following conclusions:

1.During the transition to market relations, it would be best in the Republic of Uzbekistan to preserve the regulatory role of the State in the social and labour spheres as a guarantee of women’s rights.

2.To protect women’s rights, it is necessary to incorporate in the Labour Code norms that define the concept of “discrimination against women”, the basis for which could be the definition given in Article 1 of the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”.

3.The female work force is less attractive to employers because women combine two functions—professional and maternal. In light of that, it would be best to afford women the right to decide for themselves whether to exercise the rights provided by the Labour Code or not. Moreover, the existing approaches to the system of social rights and guarantees for women should be changed. Specifically, we should move from the concept of “motherhood” to the concept of “parenthood”, or “working men and women with family responsibilities”. Under the requirements of the ILO Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention No. 156, a sane, civilized market economy requires that the focus of regulation in terms of working hours and rules for dismissal be not only the woman, but also men who have children under the age of 3 (in terms of night work) or children under the age of 14 (overtime, travel assignments, part-time workday), single fathers (in terms of dismissal or leave without pay if he has two children) and, inter alia, men during their wives’ pregnancy and childbirth. Those innovations make it possible to make not only motherhood, but also parenthood the focus of labour relations and to enhance the child-rearing responsibility of both parents.

4.It is necessary to develop a system for regulating job advancement for women through the introduction of an effective temporary quota mechanism for management-level personnel, the expansion of the training of women leaders for business and management and, inter alia, the use of a system of periodic open competitions for posts that require the participation of women and that, all things being equal, give preference to hiring them.

5.The Labour Code, while it prohibits discrimination based on various criteria in the sphere of labour and affords victims of discrimination the right to turn to the courts to restore the violated rights and recover damages and receive compensation for moral injury, does not establish with whom the obligation rests to prove the presence or absence of discrimination and the intent to commit it. That makes it necessary to introduce into the Labour Code the obligation of the employer to prove the absence of intent to discriminate against a worker, including cases of discrimination on the basis of sex.

506.The results of gender analysis of the Labour Code were taken into account in the National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the Basis of the Consideration of the Combined Second and Third Periodic Reports of Uzbekistan. That document calls for the development of a Framework for a National Strategy to Ensure Gender Equality in the Republic of Uzbekistan in the spheres of legislation, economics, social protection and employment and civil society; the development of a programme of professional development for women managers; and, inter alia, the conduct of social research on the status of women on the informal labour market.

ARTICLE 12. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH CARE

507.Uzbekistan is undertaking every appropriate measure to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care with a view to ensuring access to medical care on the basis of equality with men.

508.For purposes of improving the regulatory framework of the health care system, amendments and addenda were recently incorporated in the prevailing Republic of Uzbekistan laws on health protection; on social protection of the disabled; on State health inspection; on the prevention of AIDS; on medicines and pharmaceutical activities; and on the mandatory treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse. Laws on the prevention of the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection), on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, on psychiatric care, on protection of the public against tuberculosis, on the donation of blood and blood components, on the prevention of iron-deficiency anaemia, and on the guarantees of the rights of the child have been put in place.

509.The principal areas in the protection of women’s health are as follows:

1.Improvement of the system for the protection of people’s reproductive health.

2.Screening of mothers and children.

3.Development of the system for continuous training, upgrading of the skills of specialists and of public awareness in the protection of reproductive health, and enhancement of the culture of health.

4.Expansion of international cooperation for the improvement of women’s reproductive health, childbirth, and child rearing.

5.Fortification of the infrastructure of children’s and maternity facilities.

6.Development of the republic’s blood service.

510.Тhe Ministry of Health, in the course of implementing State programmes, is doing meaningful work that is focused on improving the health of women of child-bearing age, extending the interval between births, preventing marriages at an early age and to close relatives, preventing unwanted pregnancies, upgrading the skills of medical personnel, fortifying the infrastructure of maternity and children’s facilities, and raising the public’s awareness in matters of reproductive health. In all oblasts of the country, medical examinations of women of child-bearing age are performed by primary care facilities, and contraceptives are provided to women who need them with an eye to preventing unwanted pregnancies and extending the interval between births.

511.Today, the republic has 3,108 rural treatment facilities where the public, including children and women, is given primary medical care, where pregnant women receive prenatal care, where women of child-bearing age are provided with various kinds of contraception and treatment is on an outpatient basis.

512.Eleven screening centres are in operation in the republic: in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Andijan, Namangan, Fergana, Karshi, Termez, Urgench, Navoi and Nukus. To do prenatal and neonatal screening, the centres are equipped with biochemical analyzers that make it possible to do screening tests: biochemical screening of pregnant women for congenital anomalies of the fetus, and screening of newborns for congenital hypothyreosis and phenylketonuria. All child patients are under dispensary observation and receive iodine-containing preparations and nutritional care.

513.In Uzbekistan, a great deal of attention is constantly focused on upgrading the skills of specialists who work in the field of protecting mothers and children. An educational programme has been in place since 2002 for specialists whose field is the protection of the health of mothers and children. A total of 394 obstetrician-gynaecologists, pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, pediatric anaesthesiologist/ resuscitation experts and pediatric trauma specialists from all regions of the republic have upgraded their skills in Kiev, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye post-graduate medical academies. Specialists are trained with clinical residency. In 2002-2007, a total of 187 obstetrician-gynaecologists, 64 pediatric and hebiatric gynaecologists, 62 pediatricians, and 31 pediatric anaesthesiologist/resuscitation experts completed their residency and received assignments throughout all the regions.

514.In the context of cooperation with the UNFPA for the provision of emergency obstetric care, 425 obstetrician-gynaecologists from Andijan, Djizak, and Namangan oblasts have been trained.

515.The government is attempting to attract foreign investment and grants to implement population programmes and programmes for protecting reproductive health. In the context of State programmes, cooperation is continuing with WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID, JICA, the KfW bank, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank to implement programmes for the protection of mothers and children: “Ensuring a Safe Pregnancy”, “Increasing the Effectiveness of Perinatal Care”, “Expanded Immunization Programme”, “The Healthy Family”, “Encouraging and Promoting Breast Feeding”, “Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses”, “Improvement of Reproductive Health” and “Preventing Iron and Iodine Deficiency”.

516.In 2003-2006, the Ministry of Health implemented “Promoting Reproductive Health I-II” programmes worth 5.6 million euro with the KfW bank for purposes of providing contraceptives to women of child-bearing age. In those programs, all types of contraceptives went to seven pilot oblasts of the republic—Andijan, Fergana, Namangan, Surkhan-Darya, Kashka-Darya, Bukhara and Tashkent—and reproductive centres in the pilots oblasts were outfitted with audiovisual and computer equipment and DAMAS vehicles. Under a KfW bank grant, all maternity departments of the Central Republic Hospital and the clinic of the Namangan branch of NIIAiG [Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology] were provided with 14 ultrasound units and 28 cardiotocographs for studying the condition of the fetus.

517.In 2003-2007, to prevent anaemia in children and in women of child-bearing age, the Ministry of Health, with JICA, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the international non-governmental charitable foundation Soglom Avlod Uchun, implemented the “Programme of Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation” in nine oblasts of the republic. In all, the programme covers more than 4.5 million women and children.

518.The year 2005 saw the beginning of the implementation of the US$40 million investment project “Fortifying the Health of Women and Children”, which is funded by the Asian Development Bank. The project is designed to operate until 2010 and covers six regions of the country (Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm, Bukhara, Kashka-Darya, Tashkent and Fergana oblasts). Deliveries of US$8 million worth of equipment and gear to the institutions involved have begun under the project.

519.As a result of the introduction of integrated programmes for fortifying the reproductive health of women and children’s health, the improvement of the infrastructure of children’s facilities and birthing facilities, and the broad access afforded to various types of modern contraceptives, as well as the encouragement of a longer interval between births, the figures for maternal and children’s health have improved, as have those for reproductive health:

the number of women of child-bearing age suffering from EGD [extragenital diseases] in 2007 dropped below the figure for 2002 by 3.2 per cent to 69 per cent

the annual percentage of women of child-bearing age using contraceptives grew to 57.1 per cent in 2007 from 43 per cent in 2000;.

the age structure for those giving birth improved, i.e., 83.3 per cent of women giving birth were in the best childbirth age range (20-30), as opposed to 82.2 per cent in 2002;

the percentage of first births rose to 41.5 per cent in 2007 from 35.1 per cent in 2002. At the same time, the number of fourth and fifth births dropped to 5.4 and 0.6 per cent in 2007 from 8.5 and 3.0 per cent, respectively.

As a result of the introduction of new perinatal technologies in maternity homes, the number of pathological births dropped to 12.5 per cent in 2007 from 13.4 per cent in 2002;

the rate for the birth of children with congenital anomalies fell by 14 per cent below the rate for the year 2000;

the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births dropped by 21.5 percent, to 13.1 per cent in 2007 from 16.7 per cent in 2002;

the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births dropped by 26 per cent, to 23.8 in 2007 from 32.0 per cent in 2002;

the number of abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age dropped to 6.8 percent in 2007 from 8.4 per cent in 2002.

520.To provide skilled, specialized obstetric-gynaecological and perinatal care, the Republic of Uzbekistan has a Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with four regional branches, a Republican Perinatal Centre, 46 obstetrics complexes, and 280 departments in the clinics of medical institutions and scientific research institutes, medical units, and the Central Republic Hospital (central city hospitals), as well as 71 women’s clinics and 1,917 women’s women’s examination rooms.

521.The work against HIV/AIDS recently intensified. In 2007, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Strategic Programme against the Spread of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2007-2011.

522.The Ministry of Health issued its 5 September 2005 order No. 425 on the introduction of modern technologies to enhance the effectiveness of care provided to pregnant women in primary care facilities of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which calls for two examinations of a woman for HIV during pregnancy. At present, the testing is done on only pregnant women from risk groups

523.Uzbekistan is a country with a large percentage of youth in its population and with a traditionally high birth rate. Some 560,000 births are recorded every year. Since 2005, testing of pregnant women for HIV has been done when there are clinical or epidemiological indications and the women gives her voluntary consent.

524.All AIDS oblast centres have hotlines that provide counseling services on HIV/AIDS and STI [sexually transmitted infections].

525.In order to provide medical care to vulnerable groups of the population with regard to HIV infection and STIs, the republic has 31 Friendly Offices. In 2007, those offices recorded 9,354 visits, 6,549 of which (70 per cent) involved people with symptoms of STI. Individuals presenting with an STI were given pre-test and post-test counseling on HIV/AIDS, plus syndromic treatment by specialists. The friendly offices offer the possibility of receiving detailed information on skilled diagnostic and treatment assistance in specialized treatment-and-prevention facilities (dermatovenerologic and drug-abuse dispensary, infectious hospitals, etc.).

526.Given the urgency of the struggle against drug abuse in the Republic of Uzbekistan over the span of many years, a complex of measures that are socio-psychologically oriented, involve medical education and are geared to improving the milieu and treating women and adjusting their behavior have been created through the efforts of State structures and civil society.

527.Thanks to those efforts, the number of women who are drug abusers or substance abusers is diminishing from year to year. Accordingly, the percentage of women among the total number of drug abusers dropped to 5 per cent in 2007 from 5.2 per cent in 2006; the percentage of women among substance abusers was reduced to 7.8 per cent from 11.1 per cent; the number of girls among the abusers dropped to 6 and 8, respectively.

528.The Ministry of Health, together with local labour exchanges, is doing systematic work to find jobs for women who are drug-dependent. The percentage of working women who are drug abusers is growing from year to year, and they numbered 158 in 2007 (as opposed to 154 in 2006). At the same time, the number of women without a specific occupation is dropping, being 805 and 827, respectively.

529.In some regions (the Andijan and Surkhan-Darya oblasts), specialized departments have been opened for the treatment of women with drug-related disorders.

530.In order to expand drug-abuse services to the public, rehabilitation services have been further expanded in the drug-abuse field, and women who are drug-abusers can get effective medical, psychological and social assistance. In 2007, a total of 100 of the women who went through rehabilitation were placed in jobs.

ARTICLE 13. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SPHERES

531.The economic and social rights of women are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Labour Code, and other legal and regulatory acts.

532.The State is undertaking every appropriate measure to eliminate discrimination against women in economic and social life with a view to providing them rights that are equal to those of men.

533.Women today account for more than 45 per cent of all the country’s active labour resources. Women work in all leading production sectors, such as light industry, agriculture, transportation, construction, communications, public education, health care, culture and sports.

534.The State regularly devotes attention to this question and has created legal guarantees for women who are mothers and other working women in terms of their social protection on the job and in everyday life. All those guarantees are defined in the provisions of the Labour Code, presidential decrees, and other regulatory acts.

535.The rules for the loads a woman is allowed to lift and carry by hand have been revised; a list has been approved of jobs that have adverse working conditions and on which it is prohibited to employ women; social protection is provided for pregnant women and women with children.

536.The government programme for the social protection of women’s labour attaches a great deal of importance to issues that involve improving the skills and qualifications of women workers, to the creation of the requisite working conditions for them, and to options associated with removing them from conditions that are harmful or dangerous to their health.

537.Recent years have witnessed immense growth in women’s entrepreneurial activities, which are geared primarily to developing the production of consumer goods and providing services.

538.Microfinance, one of the tools associated with the social adjustments being made in the country, is spurring the economic growth of regions, a rise in the standard of living, and the creation of new jobs and the ownership class. It is important that the economic independence women are acquiring through their business activities is helping to strengthen their role in the makhallya, in society, and in child-rearing and to generally implement the goals of gender development.

539.An important role in the establishment of the system of microcredit was played by the 5 May 2006 presidential decree on the creation of the joint-stock commercial bank Mikrokreditbank, as well as by the laws adopted in recent years on credit unions, on microcredit organizations and on microfinance.

540.Operating in the republic today are 49 credit unions, which have formed an association; the volume of their assets already exceeds 37 billion sum. The financial services of the credit unions, 90 per cent of which are headed by women entrepreneurs who belong to the Tadbirkor Ayol Association of Business Women of Uzbekistan, are being used by more than 60,000 people. It is noteworthy that, in 2007, upwards of 70 per cent of the credit was issued to young women who were starting their own business.

541.The microfinance sector is the largest in Uzbekistan in terms of number of borrowers. According to the data of Mikrokreditbank, the credit portfolio in 2007 was 39,600,000,000 sum. The volume of credit issued to women exceeded 11 billion sum, which is 2.7-fold greater than in 2006. More than 12,000 jobs were created with those funds.

542.One of the basic principles underlying the overall strategy for reform in Uzbekistan in the transition period involves a strong social policy and social protection..

543.At present, social assistance for the public is provided primarily within the framework of two major programmes: one for families with children, and one for poor families. In order to improve the targeting of social assistance and to reduce administrative expenses associated with providing that assistance, a decision was made in Uzbekistan that was unparalleled around the world. Since 1994 for the programme assisting poor families and since 1997 for the program assisting families with children, the funds allocated from the budget are distributed by local self-governing bodies, the makhallyas.

544.Annually, through collective contracts and agreements, for the Republic of Uzbekistan as a whole,

more than 600,000 women get supplementary leave;

40,000 women get a one- to two-month extension of the legally prescribed period for maternity leave, at the employer’s expense;

200,000 women with large families and children of pre-school age work a shorter workday and are receiving material assistance;

more than 40,000 women who are on leave to care for a child between the ages of 2 and 3 are receiving material assistance (the State allowance is not paid after the child reaches the age of 2);

women who have children under the age of 3 and who are working in budget-funded organizations are afforded under the law the right to a workweek shortened by one hour.

545.Some 100,000 women working in the non-governmental sector are also afforded that right through collective contracts and agreements.

546.A number of regulations have been adopted in the republic on the most important aspects of labour protection and on the creation of equal opportunities for women, as well as to further their active participation in public activities.

547.The trade unions are doing work to ensure maximum employment, raise incomes and lower the level of property differentiation, as well as to expand entrepreneurial activities and home-based work everywhere, especially in rural areas.

548.Over the past year in the republic, more than 3,000 women were trained in programmes geared to developing local businesses and trades. A permanent commission has been created under the Chamber of Manufacturers and Business Persons of Uzbekistan for the development of women’s businesses. Concessions are in place for beginning women entrepreneurs for their first year of operation for the payment of self-employment license fees.

549.The use of home-based work has expanded in sectors such as agriculture, where today, according to the data of trade unions, more than 12,000 workers are engaged in home-based work and where women’s labour is widely used.

550.Women represent a majority in health care, education, culture, light industry and agriculture (70-76 percent).

551.In connection with that, the government is taking measures to raise wages in those areas. Accordingly, the 15 December 2005 presidential decision on improving the system of labour remuneration for medical workers was adopted, as was the 25 November 2005 presidential decision on measures to improve the labour remuneration system and enhance the material incentives for labour for public education workers, as well as corresponding decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers to implement the presidential decisions, plus the 7 September 2006 presidential decision on the programme of measures for 2007-2010 to further improve targeted social protection and social services for elderly persons who live alone, retired persons, and disabled persons.

552.The 19 March 2007 presidential decree on measures to further improve and strengthen the system of social protection for the public has a direct bearing on the social support of working women, and it includes the following:

a 1.5-fold increase in the volume of appropriations allocated from the State budget to pay for material assistance to poor families, with a simultaneous six-month increase of the period for its assignment and payment;

an increase in wages for teachers, auxiliary educational staff, and nurse/orderlies in Muruvvat orphanage/boarding schools by means of raising rates by one pay grade and reducing the number of children per teacher to 5-6 from 15-18;

the size of the material incentives fund for workers at Muruvvat and Sakhovat home/boarding facilities for children, the elderly, and the disabled; at special colleges for individuals with disabilities and developmental abnormalities; at sanatoriums for labour and war veterans; at rehabilitation centres for the disabled; and in in-home social services raised to 25 per cent of the wage fund.

wage supplements amounting to 15 per cent of wage rate of labour and war veterans sanatorium workers;

free meals for disabled students at specialized colleges for individuals with disabilities and developmental abnormalities;

monthly reimbursement for travel for in-home social service workers, as well as for in-home teachers of disabled children, in an amount equal to one minimum wage in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the oblasts and equal to 1.5 times the minimum wage in the city of Tashkent.

553.The Republic of Uzbekistan has a total of 402,538 disabled women, and 25,653 are capable of working. More than 10,000 disabled women are receiving an education in colleges and institutes.

554.The law on the social protection of the disabled provides for a 3 per cent quota in terms of job placement for the disabled. To date, a total of 25,653 disabled women have been placed in jobs. Article 220 of the Labour Code provides the disabled, including disabled women, the following benefits:

the recommendations of the occupational-medicine expert commission on part-time work, reduced workload, and other working conditions for disabled persons are binding on employers;

established for disabled persons of groups 1 and 2 is a reduced workweek of no more than 36 hours, with no reduction in salary;

disabled persons of groups 1 and 2 are afforded an annual basic extended leave of at least 30 calendar days;

disabled persons may not be enlisted for night work or for overtime or work on days off without their consent and under the condition that such work is not medically prohibited.

555.Subsidiaries of the Uzbek Society for the Disabled are being created at which disabled persons, including women, are placed in jobs, although, of course, placing disabled persons, especially women, in jobs is quite difficult.

556.Disabled women, like all disabled persons, have medical-service benefits and free meals. Disabled persons of groups 1 and 2, in particular, receive free medical services at specialized State medical facilities. Disabled persons who have certain conditions (cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, endocrine conditions, mental illnesses, and HIV; those who have had heart valve replacement operations or organ transplants; retired persons who live alone and need outside care, individuals who took part in the labour front during the war years of 1941-1945, veterans and disabled persons who took part in the war in 1941-1945, persons disabled in the cleanup after the Chernobyl accident and, inter alia, internationalist war veterans) receive free pharmaceuticals.

557.Once every two years, disabled persons are entitled to free passes to health resorts that are under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Special rehabilitation centres have been opened in all oblasts of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in the city of Tashkent for the disabled, to whom the centres provide free medical services. For purposes of integrating the disabled, including women, into society, conditions have been created to enable the full-fledged participation of the disabled in social and cultural life, namely:

free annual guided tours of historical places (Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, etc.) are arranged for the disabled;

disabled persons are allowed to attend theatres, movie houses, and sports facilities for free;

they can engage in sports at sports facilities for the disabled for free;

a theatre and music ensembles in which the disabled participate have been created in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

558.On an equal basis with all other citizens of the country, regardless of disability group, they take an active part in the life of the country, in round tables and seminars and in volunteer work and are instrumental in solving the social welfare problems of the disabled, which helps to integrate the disabled into society.

559.The women of Uzbekistan can, from a very young age, participate in the cultural life of the society, raise their intellectual and spiritual level, and engage in physical fitness and sports.

560.Books, magazines, and newspapers about women and for women are published in the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the present, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan alone is the founder of nine newspapers and one magazine for women, and virtually every women’s non-governmental organizations has its own publishing arm.

561.In the period of 2002–2008, the Uzbek Press and Information Agency published 46 titles devoted to women, printing a total of 145,500 copies consisting of 389.2 printer’s sheets.

562.In all, Uzbekistan has 12 newspapers (six regional) and three magazines devoted to the life and activities of women..

563.It should be emphasized that information about the participation of women in the political, socio-economic and cultural life of the country is published in more than just special publications for women. Information devoted to the role of women in solving problems of State and societal significance is published in all periodicals and newspapers, including in the journal Democratization and Human Rights, which is put out by the National Centre for Human Rights, and Public Opinion and Human Rights, which is put out by the Public Opinion Centre.

564.The monitoring of the periodic press done by the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion Ijtimoii Fikr in recent years shows that the Uzbekistan press is covering gender themes on its pages in adequate measure. At the same time, the correlation of articles in this area turns out to be different for the central and local (oblast and regional) mass media. For example, the percentage of articles in the central press was 60.5 per cent, whereas it was 39.5 percent in the oblast and rayon press. In the rayon press, as a rule, there are no articles of an analytical nature. In connection with that, henceforth the role of the local print media in informing the public, especially women, in terms of supporting the activities of the women of Uzbekistan has to be intensified.

565.Measures to ensure the rights of women convicts to education, health protection and, inter alia, labour protection are also within the view of the State.

566.The corrections facility for women has a secondary education school and a vocational school where women convicts study the following specialties: hand and machine sewing, beadwork, macramé, dress-making, sewing machine operator, computer work and machinist work. Upon completion of the courses, the women receive diplomas they can use to find work in their specialty.

567.Under a contract with the German Association of Public Universities, seminar classes that cover five cycles are being held with the women convicts: hand sewing, design and fabrication of garments, machine and hand knitting, hair styling and cutting, and decorative and applied arts. This project involves more than 100 women convicts who, upon completion of the courses, have received certificates and, once released, can find work in their specialty

568.Operating at the facility is a sewing factory where the women convicts can help their families in material terms. The women are allowed to work there based on considerations of age, state of health, ability to work, and specialty. Women older than 55 and women with children under the age of 3 are allowed to work if they wish. The number of hours the women work depends on the nature of the work and is regulated by the norms of labour legislation. As a rule, the women work six days a week.

569.The facility has a library with more than 10,000 literary books and more than 663 course books in Russian and Uzbek. The facility has subscriptions to the newspapers Vakt-Vremya, Soglom Avlod, Mokhiyat, Toshkent Okshomi, Vecherniy Tashkent, Narodnoye Slovo, Khalk Suzi, Pravda Vostoka, Islom Nuri and Ishonch, as well as the magazines Saodat, Konun Khimoyasida, Khukuk and Khidoyat.

570.A school operates in the facility to prepare the women for their release. The preparation for release begins no later than three months before the end of the sentence and includes an array of events geared to providing assistance to the individual about to be released in terms of job and living arrangements after the individual’s sentence has been served and in terms of the individual’s social rehabilitation.

571.In 2008, a total of 214 individuals were released from the facility, and two of them had no job or place to stay. The khokimiyat and adaptation centre of the city of Chirchika provided them a residence and a job. Twenty-one individuals were given material assistance by local authorities..

ARTICLE 14. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RURAL WOMEN

572.Uzbekistan safeguards the rights of all women, regardless of their nationality, language, religion, social origin, beliefs, personal or social status or place of residence. The State effects a balanced approach to improving the status of women living in the city as well as women living in rural areas, although it takes heed of the special problems that rural women encounter. The considerable role that they play in ensuring the economic well-being of their families, including their activities in the subsistence sector of the economy, is taken into account. Measures are being taken to ensure the application of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to rural women.

573.Ten years ago, the country adopted a national platform and a plan of action to improve the status of women, to include rural women. Their implementation created the conditions necessary for the substantial achievement of the equal rights of women in society, for the development of a legal and regulatory framework for the solution of the problems women face, and for the formation of a national mechanism for affording women rights and freedoms.

574.As studies that are under way show, in Uzbekistan, women engaged in the agricultural sector constitute 52.6%. Of the 235,000 farms registered in Uzbekistan, only 17,000 (7.2 per cent) are headed by women. Women’s wages in that sector are only 82 per cent of men’s wages. Women who have received microcredit constitute 15 per cent (2006). The average age of women farmers is 45-70. The average size of a farm varies between 10 ha and 110 ha.

575.In 2007, a sociological study was made of internal labour migration, and it included the status of rural women. The study was done in three regions of Uzbekistan: the city of Tashkent and the Kashka-Darya and Namangan oblasts.

576.The predominant types of activity of the women surveyed were as follows:

trade (including the “suitcase” trade)—39 per cent;

farm work, sorting and packaging of farm products—39 per cent;

cleaning services for premises and areas, laundry, etc.—35 per cent;

waitresses and dishwashers —18 per cent.

577.The study showed that it is necessary to continue developing the legal bases for protecting the rights of rural women who are responding to today’s realities and to the scales of internal and external migration flows. The creation of a legislative framework and of a State migration agency, the stimulation of the development of a network of private service providers (employment, advocacy, etc.) that regulate the employment of rural women and the provision of information and legal protection could improve the situation considerably.

578.Given that the majority of rural women and labour migrants have an acute need for information on elementary rights and obligations of workers and employers in the social-labour sphere and in the sphere of the observance of passport regulations, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan is conducting broad-scale information campaigns on those matters.

579.The Land Code and the laws on farming, on peasant (dekhkan) farms and on farm cooperatives (shirkat farming), all adopted in 1998, laid the legal foundation for agriculture as a whole and farming in particular.

580.Today, operating farms are granted a number of concessions, namely:

for two years after it is set up, a farm is exempt from the unified land tax;

farms that are created on liquidated shirkat farms and that specialize in horticulture and viticulture are exempt from the unified land tax for five years;

audits of a farm are prohibited without the permission of the Republican Coordination Council, and such audits can be conducted only once every four years;

loans in an amount equal to 300 times the minimum wage are being issued to new farms;

farms that introduce leading foreign technologies into the Republic are exempt from customs duties;

the export, on a barter basis, of fruit and vegetable produce, as well as products made from them, is permitted.

581.The above measures have contributed to the development of women’s entrepreneurial activities in recent years in rural areas. The republic today has more than 5 million business women. According to data as of the beginning of the year, one out of every five entrepreneurs is a woman. Almost three-quarters of women are engaged in the non-governmental sector. To the point, very illustrative here is the example of Tashkent Oblast, where more than half of the able-bodied population of the oblast consists of women. Providing them as many jobs as possible is an important measure the State can take in improving the status of women.

582.At present, more than 40 public organizations are engaged in solving the problems faced by rural women. The development of educational programmes is the most important of their activities. Among the more significant such programmes are “Women and the Law”, “Women’s Education” and “Women and the Economy”. Actively assisting to safeguard the rights of rural women are the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, the Mekhr Nuri Fund, the Women’s Assembly Public Association, the Fund for the Support of Social Initiatives, the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Sen Yolg’iz Emassan Fund and the Tadbirkor Ayol Association of Business Women of Uzbekistan. All those organizations are constantly working to solve the problems faced by rural women.

583.A great deal of support for entrepreneurial activities is being provided by the Forum for the Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Fund. Under its grant programme, 60 winners of the Programme of Family Grants for Women Entrepreneurs have received grants worth a total of 60 million sum for the development of small and medium-sized businesses and farms.

584.The Fund for the Support of Social Initiatives, with the participation of the Mekhr Nuri Fund and the Women’s Assembly Public Association, has implemented a project in seven regions of Uzbekistan to provide microcredits to women farmers. The first stage selected 70 people from target regions, and those people were given microcredit averaging 500,000 sum each, so-called start-up capital for further development of farming. In the second stage, another 70 women farmers were given microcredit of 3-5 million sum each.

585.It is significant that the economic independence acquired by the rural women by engaging in business helps to strengthen their role in the makhallya and in society, as well as in the rearing of children.

586.The Women’s Assembly Public Association is conducting a national Woman of the Year competition, giving successful representatives of the fairer sex an opportunity to demonstrate their achievements. Despite the fact that the competition is fairly new, it is very popular. For example, some 5,000 women from every corner of the country took part in it in 2007.

587.Every year, leading farmers are honored with high State awards, orders, and medals. More than 200 farmers have been awarded orders and medals, and more than 40 of them are women farmers. Hundreds of farmers have been awarded Mustakillik Badges.

588.The government of Uzbekistan, in partnership with the Asian Development bank, is effecting the project Implementation and Monitoring of Reforms in the Agricultural Sector. One of its goals is to identify still-existing problems and ways to eliminate them, as well as to develop a further strategy to expand this sector, which is extremely important to the country’s economy. Studies have already been conducted within the project in 17 rayons of the republic, and the farmers themselves were actively and directly involved in them.

589.In order to fully utilize the potential of women farmers and enhance their legal literacy and their role in the reforms being conducted in the agricultural sector, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, together with the Tadbirkor Ayol Association of Business Women and the Centre for the Support of Business and Farming, arranged a special forum in 2008.

590.The forum discussed such issues as lending, timely payment for delivered products, the interaction between farms and the enterprises that provide them with services and the correspondence between established productivity classes and actual soil fertility. Particular note was made of the need to enhance the legal literacy of the farmers; to rapidly and accurately convey to them all the requisite legislative information and all the innovations and advances with regard to increasing fertility and yield; and to enable closer contact between them and scientists who are doing agricultural research.

591.The forum participant were given handout materials that included the following: “Catalog of Mini Technologies for Agriculture”, which was prepared by the Ministry of External Economic Relations, Investment, and Trade; the book Legal and Economic Bases of Farming, which was provided by the Liberal Democratic Party; and other useful publications. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented a special programme adapted to the conditions in Uzbekistan for accountants and distributed it on CDs to the participants.

592.The positive experience of our country in the development of small business and private enterprise and in the creation of a legal environment favorable to that was deemed particularly noteworthy at the international Third Forum for Businesswomen, which took place recently in the capital of Qatar, Doha.

593.Vigorous work to provide assistance to business women is being done in all oblasts of the republic. Accordingly, in 2008 in Surkhan-Darya Oblast, through rayon centres for employment assistance, 28 women were granted preferential credits worth more than 33 million sum to set up family businesses. As a result of the development of the private sector, new jobs were created for 4,134 women. More than 600 women were provided with home-based work by large enterprises..

594.The educational and awareness-raising work of State, non-governmental and international entities is providing a great deal of assistance to rural women.

595.The Tashabbuskor Ayol Centre, which has branches in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and in oblasts and which is involved in providing support to 20,000 women farmers, in upgrading their skills, and in protecting their rights, has been established at the Association of Farms of Uzbekistan. In effectively using the concessions for the development of the farm movement in the country, the Centre is striving to expand the activities of women farmers in the Andijan, Namangan, and Fergana oblasts. At the moment, more than 2,000 farms that are managed by women are in operation here.

596.In April 2008, the Ezgulik Centre for Social and Legal Support of Women and Their Family Members opened in the city of Karshi; it houses special stress-release rooms, a medical office, and a special room for mothers and young children. Highly skilled specialists provide assistance in all matters pertaining to women’s rights in all spheres of the life of the society.

597.The UNDP provides considerable support in terms of raising awareness in matters involving women’s rights. For December 2007 through February 2008, the UNDP organized a three-month course on gender issues. The course is geared to stimulating studies relating to the CEDAW Convention and issues of women’s rights. Some 25 specialists, graduate students and sociologists took part in the course, where they were able to acquaint themselves with various aspects of the protection of women’s rights, including issues of gender equality and relevant law; with aspects of violence against women; with research methods; and, inter alia, with report preparation.

598.Oliy Majlis Senate members and Legislative Chamber deputies, representatives of involved ministries and departments and public organizations and specialists took part in an event arranged for the end of May 2008 by the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the Central Bank, and the Samarkand Oblast Khokimiyat. They discussed issues associated with the participation of rural women in business activities. It was noted that the ranks of women active in small business and private enterprise are growing from year to year. Some 11 billion sum in microcredit were allocated in 2007 to assist them in their successful work. Specifically, the Mekhr Nuri Fund gave women entrepreneurs grants totaling 60 million sum.

599.In March 2008, Termez hosted a seminar that was organized by the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and was attended by the chairpersons of women’s committees of the Samarkand, Bukhara, Navoi, Kashka-Darya, Surkhan-Darya and Khorezm oblasts; by directors of the board of the Surkhan-Darya Oblast youth movement Kamolot and of the oblast divisions of the Makhallya funds and funds for the development of children’s sports; and by women athletes.

600.The seminar noted that, in Surkhan-Darya Oblast, a great deal of attention is devoted to issues involving improving women’s health and increasing girls’ interest in national sports, as well as to meaningful ways in which students can spend their free time. Active in 13 rayons are rhythmic gymnastics groups whose members number 34,000 girls in all. In operation are 17 Barchinoy clubs, where girls learn the secrets of the national sport kurash. Created last year was an oblast division of the Federation of Synchronized Swimming, whose founders were the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the Association of Business Women, and the Centre for the Support of Business and Farming.

601.Training seminars involving farms headed by women in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Kashka-Darya, Surkhan-Darya and Khorezm oblasts were held 18-20 April 2008 in conjunction with the women’s wing of the Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP).

602.A great deal of attention in Uzbekistan is being devoted to protecting the health of rural women. Functioning in the republic at present are more than 3,100 rural medical stations that provide timely assistance to women, mothers, and children. Recently created in all regions were marriage and family centres and screening centres. As a result, the figure for maternal mortality per 100,000 births is 24, as opposed to 65 in 1991, and the average lifespan of women has increased to 74.6 from 70.

603.The State, together with civil-society institutions, is helping to raise the cultural level of rural women and expand their physical and intellectual potential.

604.At the initiative of President Islam Karimov, the Zulfiya State prize was created in 1999. Since that time, for special achievements in literature, culture, the arts, science, and education, this highly esteemed prize has been awarded to more than 112 of the country’s girls studying in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and higher-learning institutions and showing initiative, demonstrating success in their studies, and clearly displaying their talent.

605.Of the 200 children’s schools for music and the arts and the 20 colleges for culture and the arts under the Ministry for Cultural and Athletic Affairs, 53.2 per cent of the sports schools for children and adolescents operate in rural areas. Some 62.1 per cent of the students in those institutions and 74.3 per cent of the staff are women.

606.Women constitute 61.4 per cent of the staff members of cultural centres, libraries and sports clubs in rural areas. Modern recreation parks, clubs, and cultural institutions are being created to provide cultural recreation for women.

607.Traveling theatre groups and concert groups regularly visit rural areas.

ARTICLE 15. EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN BEFORE THE LAW

608.The State proclaims the equality of the rights of women and men before the law. Article 18 of the Constitution codifies the fact that “All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have equal rights and freedoms and shall be equal before the law, without discrimination by sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, convictions, or individual or social status.”

609.Article 19 of the Constitution establishes that “citizens’ rights and freedoms shall be inalienable, and no one shall have the right to deny them or limit them except through the courts.”

610.The provisions on the equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of sex, are codified in the Republic of Uzbekistan laws on education, on citizenship and on citizens’ recourse and in the Family, Labour, and Criminal codes and other laws regulating given rights of citizens.

611.To protect citizens from any form of discrimination, Uzbekistan has established criminal liability for violation of the equal rights of citizens (Article 141 of the Criminal Code), violation of the law on citizens’ recourse (Article 144 of the Criminal Code), and violation of the right to work (Article 148 of the Criminal Code), and the liability provides for punishment for direct or indirect violation or limitation of civil and political rights based on discrimination.

612.The administrative liability prescribed under the Code of Administrative Offences for offences involving violation of the laws on the State language (Article 42), citizens’ recourse (Article 43), unjustified denial of access to documents (Article 44), labour (Article 49), and refusal to hire citizens sent by the State employment service (Article 50) makes it possible to avert potential violations of the provisions of the Constitution and the law on elimination of discrimination against women.

613.The State affords women the same legal capacity as men and the same opportunities to exercise it. In particular, it provides them equal rights to enter into contracts and manage property, as well as ensures the same treatment in all stages of court proceedings.

614.In accordance with the general principles of the law, a citizen’s status as a person before the law may not be dependent on sex, race, social origin or religion.

615.Under Article 17 of the Civil Code, the legal capacity of a citizen is the capacity to have civil rights and obligations and is recognized in equal measure for all citizens. The legal capacity of a citizen arises when the citizen is born and ends when the citizen dies.

616.Article 18 of the Civil Code defines the content of legal capacity as follows: “Citizens may own property; inherit and will property; have savings in a bank; engage in entrepreneurship, dekhkan farming (or larger farming enterprises) or other activities not prohibited by law; use hired labour; create legal entities; perform transactions and participate in commitments; seek redress; choose a profession and a place to live; possess the copyright to works of science, literature or art or to an invention or other intellectual property protected by law.

617.“Citizens may also have other property or personal non-property rights”.

618.Under Article 22 of the Civil Code, the dispositive legal capacity of a citizen is the capacity of the citizen, by his own actions, to acquire and exercise civil rights and to create for himself civil obligations and carry them out. Dispositive legal capacity arises in full when the person attains the age of majority, i.e., when he reaches the age of 18.

619.A citizen who enters into marriage on a legal basis before attaining the age of majority acquires dispositive legal capacity in full upon entry into marriage. The dispositive legal capacity acquired as a result of the entry into marriage is retained in full in the event that the marriage is dissolved before the age of 18 is reached.

620.If the marriage is annulled, a court may decide that the spouse who is a minor loses full dispositive legal capacity as of a time named by the court.

621.Limiting the legal capacity and dispositive legal capacity of a citizen is prohibited by Article 23 of the Civil Code. No one may be limited in legal capacity or dispositive legal capacity except in cases and in the manner established by law. Failure to observe the conditions and procedures established by law to limit the dispositive legal capacity of a citizen results in the nullification of the act of the State body that established the limitation in question.

622.In the Republic of Uzbekistan, if a woman’s rights are violated, she may restore those rights with extra-legal or legal remedies. She has the right to the following:

first, to file a complaint with the appropriate State authorities that receive, consider and resolve citizen complaints in the manner prescribed by law by means of examining the arguments of the filer and giving the filer a written reply regarding the measures taken to restore the rights of the filer (administrative protection). The law on citizens’ recourse prohibits contacting authorities whose decisions and actions may be appealed, disclosing information on the private lives of citizens, and harassing family members in connection with a complaint filed with State authorities. State authorities that consider the complaints of citizens are obliged to afford the filer the right to use the services of a lawyer or her representatives, as well as to take immediate steps to stop illegal actions (or omissions to act) and to take measures to redress a wrong or ensure compensation for moral injury if the injury to the citizen resulted from violation of his rights, freedoms or legal interests;

second, to file a petition with the court with regard to wrongful acts or decisions of State authorities or officials (judicial relief). In the first half of 2007, civil courts considered more than 283,000 cases. Ninety-eight per cent of the claims were allowed. The quality of the consideration of cases has improved markedly. If 0.7 per cent of court rulings were overturned in the first half of 2006, that figure is now at 0.5 percent;

third, to petition the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis with a complaint regarding the violation of the rights and freedoms of a citizen if the citizen has already made use of the above-listed remedies and means of protection of his rights. The Ombudsman has the right to consider complaints filed by Republic of Uzbekistan citizens and foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic of Uzbekistan and to conduct an investigation of the complaint. The Ombudsman does not consider issues that are within the competence of the courts. After examining the arguments of the petitioner, the Ombudsman sends a finding to the appropriate State authority with recommendations regarding the restoration of the rights of the petitioner

fourth, to petition the public procurator’s offices, which oversee compliance with the law by ministries and departments, enterprises, institutions and organizations and khokims and which supervise the preliminary investigation of crimes and the treatment of citizens housed in correctional facilities. Public procurator’s authorities review the petitions and complaints of citizens and take measures to restore their violated rights. If there are grounds to do so, a public procurator may initiate a criminal case or proceedings on administrative offences against persons who have violated the rights of another individual and may bring an action and prosecute it in court if a citizen whose rights were violated cannot, for reasons of health or location, personally assert her rights in court.

fifth, to petition the law-enforcement authorities who are authorized to protect the human rights and freedoms codified by the Constitution and Republic of Uzbekistan law with objective, comprehensive consideration of filed complaints of citizens of violations of their Constitutional rights and freedoms, followed by measures taken under the law to address those complaints.

sixth, to contact members of the legal profession, who provide legal assistance to individuals and legal entities on the basis of the principles of the independence of the attorney, strict compliance with professional ethics, attorney-client privilege, and the use of methods and remedies not prohibited by law. At present in Uzbekistan, 23 law colleges are functioning, as are 348 law firms and 438 law offices in which 3,834 attorneys are employed. The rights and obligations of attorneys are defined in the 27 December 1996 law on the legal profession and the 25 December 1998 law on the guarantees of the legal practice and social protection of attorneys, as well as the Code of Civil Procedure, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Code of Administrative Liability.

623.Analysis of the activities of the Ombudsman with regard to considering citizen complaints shows that more often than not it is women who turn to the office (60 percent). The primary reason women petition the Ombudsman’s office involves human rights violations against a close relative (a son, husband or father).

624.At the same time, statistics for the period 2002-2007 show that of the total number of citizen complaints, 20 per cent of the filings pertained to violations of various categories of rights of women.

625.The main reasons that women petition the Ombudsman consist of violations of women’s rights by citizens’ self-governing bodies and khokimiyats, the failure of officials or State bodies to take lawful measures to resolve women’s problems, violations of rights with regard to medical services, violations of housing rights and, inter alia, the nonpayment of the maintenance allowance for children.

626.Another category of complaints involves the tardy enforcement of court decisions that have entered into force, as well as the omission to act on the part of court officers to perform their official duties. The contentions made by the filers in the six types of complaints have been corroborated, and have been resolved with prevailing law.

627.More than 60 per cent of complaints filed by women and taken up by the Ombudsman, with a request for assistance to ensure housing rights, the recovery of child support, or the receipt of benefits and pensions, have been resolved in a positive fashion.

628.Given the expansion of the functions and powers of regional representatives of the Ombudsman, issues associated with ensuring and protecting the rights of women in the republic’s oblasts have been, since 2004, among the priority areas of their activities and are monitored daily.

629.In 2002-2007, the observance of various categories of rights of women and children was monitored throughout the country, and the results of that monitoring were used to generate Ombudsman recommendations geared to improving legislation and regulations in the field of the protection of women’s rights, eliminating deficiencies identified, and boosting the responsibility of officials to comply with Republic of Uzbekistan law in matters involving the protection of mothers and children.

630.The Ombudsman monitored the following:

1.the safeguarding of women’s reproductive rights in Djizak Oblast (2002);

2.the safeguarding of the rights and legal interests of Republic of Uzbekistan home owners (2005-2006);

3.the observance of women’s labour rights at enterprises of light industry of the Andijan, Namangan and Fergana oblasts (2006);

4.the observance of the rights of farmers in the Pskent and Buka rayons of Tashkent Oblast (2007-2008).

631.A growing trend of complaints indicating violations in the sphere of employment and labour relations was the basis in 2006 for monitoring done in conjunction with the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan and the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan of the observance of women’s labour rights at enterprises of light industry of the Andijan, Namangan and Fergana oblasts.

632.The monitoring made it possible to track the progress made at enterprises with varying forms of ownership in the implementation of protective measures for working women and in the enforcement of labour law in order to ascertain the extent to which modern safety equipment to prevent workplace injuries had been introduced at light-industry enterprises and the health-and-hygiene conditions for preventing occupational illnesses among women workers.

633.In order to correct the deficiencies identified by the monitoring, the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis prepared her own recommendations.

634.In the monitoring done in 2007 of the safeguarding of the rights of farmers in the Pskent and Buka rayons of Tashkent Oblast, particular attention was paid to the activities of farms headed by women. The purpose of the monitoring was to research the problems encountered by women farmers in implementing the Republic of Uzbekistan law on farms and other legal and regulatory acts and to study the factors that result in the violation of the rights of farmers, including women farmers, by officials and State authorities.

635.In addition to that, one of the components of the Ombudsman’s monitoring studies of the observance of civil rights, including those of women, is a questionnaire survey of various segments of the population, which is used to study the activities of territorial authorities in terms of observing women’s rights and introducing gender equality and to generate recommendations and suggestions to improve it.

636.In the context of the implementation of the National Plan to implement the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, the parliament’s office of the Ombudsman—together with the National Centre for Human Rights, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, and the NGO Centre for the Support of Civil Initiatives—have been conducting training seminars since 2005 that are devoted to the training staff members of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the National Centre for Human Rights, the office of the Ombudsman, and non-governmental organizations of the country to be national CEDAW implementation, reporting and monitoring experts.

ARTICLE 16. MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN MATTERS RELATING TO MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATIONS

637.Matters relating to marriage and family relations are regulated by the Family Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, whose main provisions are aimed at protecting the rights of women in the family and at eliminating discrimination against women in family relations.

638.The regulation of family relations is based on the principle of the voluntary nature of the marital union of a man and a women, the equality of the personal and property rights of the spouses, the resolution of family issues by mutual consent, the priority assigned to the family rearing of the children and to their well-being and development, and the protection of the rights and interests of minors and disabled members of the family.

639.Article 3 of the Family Code states this: “All citizens shall have equal rights in family relations. Any direct or indirect restriction of rights or the establishment of direct or indirect privileges at the time of entry into marriage or interference in family relations on the grounds of sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, beliefs, individual or social status, or other circumstances are prohibited.

640.“The rights of citizens in family relations may be restricted solely on the basis of the law and only to the extent necessary to protect the morals, honor, dignity, health, rights and law-given interests of other members of the family and other citizens.”

641.Article 11 specifies that family rights are protected by the courts in accordance with the regulations on civil proceedings or, in cases provided for by this Code, by guardianship or wardship authorities or other State authorities.

642.Family rights are protected by the means set forth in the relevant articles of the Family Code.

643.The Family Code establishes the rules for entry into marriage and the conditions under which a marriage may not be entered into or may be annulled.

644.Underlying those rules are the principles of the equality of rights of women and men and the voluntary and conscious nature of marriage and its consequences.

645.Under Article 13 of the Family Code, “Marriages are concluded in the civil registry office.

646.“A marriage concluded in a religious ceremony is not deemed to have legal force.

647.“The marriage is concluded in the physical presence of the persons entering into the marriage upon the expiry of one month after the date they filed the application with the civil registry office.

648.“If there are legitimate reasons to do so, the civil registry office may allow the marriage to take place before the expiry of the month.

649.“Under special circumstances (such as pregnancy, the birth of a child or the illness of one of the parties), the marriage may take place on the day the application is filed.

650.“The marriage is concluded in the manner established for the State registration of civil acts.

651.“The refusal of a civil registry office to register a marriage may be appealed directly before a court or a higher authority”.

652.The Family Code makes special stipulations of cases in which a marriage may not be registered.

653.A marriage may not be concluded

between persons at least one of whom is already in a registered marriage;

between relatives in the directly ascending or descending line, between full and half brothers and sisters, and between adoptive parents and adopted sons (or daughters);

between persons at least one of whom is recognized by the court as not having the capacity to act as a result of a mental disorder (mental illness or dementia).

654.With an eye to averting any negative consequences of the marriage that might affect the health of the spouses, a free medical examination is provided for the persons entering into the marriage. Under the Statute on Medical Service for Persons Entering into Marriage, which was approved by the 17 April 2007 decision of the Republic of Uzbekistan Cabinet of Ministers, the examination of persons over the age of 50 may be done solely with their consent. The subsequent report issued to the person explains the potential consequences of any diseases found.

655.Under the Family Code, a marriage is annulled in the following cases:

the conditions and rules for entry into marriage were violated;

a fictitious marriage is entered into, that is, one or both of the spouses registered the marriage with no intention of creating a family;

one of the persons entering into the marriage concealed from the other the presence of venereal disease or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and the latter files a claim in court.

656.A marriage may be annulled in court only.

657.Moreover, a marriage concluded with a person who is not of marriageable age may be annulled if required by the interests of the person who entered into the marriage before attaining marriageable age. The annulment may be requested by person who entered into the marriage before reaching marriageable age or his or her parents or ward, as well as by guardianship or wardship authorities or a public procurator.

658.If a spouse reaches marriageable age by the time the case is settled in court, the marriage may be annulled solely if that person requests it to be.

659.A case for the annulment of a marriage because one of the spouses had not reached marriageable age is heard with the participation of guardianship and protection authorities if the spouses (or one of them) have not reached marriageable age by the time the case is heard in court.

660.Article 136 of the Criminal Code specifies liability for forcing a women to enter into marriage or preventing her from doing so, and Article 126, for polygamy.

661.Thus, Republic of Uzbekistan law prohibits forced marriages and guarantees judicial protection of the rights of women both in the case of forced marriage and in the case of polygamy.

662.Under Article 15, “Marriageable age shall be 18 for men and 17 for women.

663.“If there are valid reasons or exceptional circumstances, the khokim of the rayon, city or town where the marriage is being registered may, at the request of the persons wishing to marry, lower the age of marriage, but by no more than one year”.

664.However, given that the Republic of Uzbekistan has adopted a law on the guarantees of the rights of the child, according to which a child, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is any person who has not reached the age of 18, the question of establishing the same age for persons of both sexes—18 for men and women—is under discussion. Public sentiment toward the marriageable age for women is undergoing a change. At present, one-third of women marry at 19, and 56 per cent, between 20 and 24, which is best from the standpoint of fertility and readiness for family life.

665.It should be noted that when Republic of Uzbekistan legislation was being monitored in 2008 for conformance to the norms of international law in the sphere of gender equality, the Centre for Monitoring the Implementation of Legal and Regulatory Acts in the Ministry of Justice suggested that amendments be incorporated into the Family Code to set the marriageable age for women at 18.

666.Under the Family Code, it must be noted, a woman and a man have equal rights both during the marriage and during its dissolution. Spouses are afforded equal rights in the family and bear equal responsibilities. That is stated as follows:

upon entry into marriage, the spouses may, if they wish, choose the surname of one of the spouses as their common surname, or each of them may keep their premarital surname;

a change of name by one of the spouses does not entail a change of name by the other spouse;

matters involving child-rearing and other life issues are resolved by the spouses together;

each of the spouses is free to choose his or her occupation, profession, and place of stay or residence;

spouses enjoy equal rights to community property even if one of them remains in the home doing housekeeping and caring for the children or, for other legitimate reasons, has no independent wages or other income;

spouses have equal rights in terms of owning, using and disposing of property that is their community property.

667.A spouse who wishes to perform a transaction involving the disposal of immovable community property that is in his or her name must obtain notarized consent from the other spouse. A spouse whose notarized consent for a transaction was not obtained is entitled, for a year after the date he or she learned or should have learned of the transaction, to petition a court to declare the transaction null and void.

668.Personal items (clothing, footwear, etc.), with the exception of jewelry and other luxury items, although acquired during the marriage with the shared funds of the spouses, are the private property of the spouse who used them.

669.The community property of the spouses may be divided between them on the basis of an agreement between them. If the spouses so wish, their agreement on the division of the community property may be notarized.

670.In the event of a dispute, the division of the community property of the spouses, as well as the determination of the share each spouse has in that property, is effected in court.

671.Under Republic of Uzbekistan law, parents have equal rights and bear equal responsibilities with regard to their children, namely:

equal rights and responsibilities with regard to rearing their children and providing them the requisite level of education;

equal rights and responsibilities with regard to representing the rights and interests of the children before any legal persons or individuals, including the courts;

equal responsibilities with regard to maintaining their children who are under the age of majority;

equal responsibilities to provide material assistance to each other;

equal rights of both spouses to adopt children if the other spouse agrees to do so.

672.It should be noted that marriages between citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and marriages between citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and foreign citizens or stateless persons that are performed outside the Republic of Uzbekistan, but conform to the law of the State on whose territory they were performed are recognized as valid in the Republic of Uzbekistan if none of the circumstances precluding entry into marriage in accordance with Article 16 of the Family Code is present.

673.Marriages between foreign citizens that are performed outside the Republic of Uzbekistan and conform to the law of the State on whose territory they were performed are recognized as valid in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

674.Thus, the Family Code contains no provisions aimed at discriminating against women in marriage or in family relation.

675.A good deal of work is being done in Uzbekistan to acquaint the public with the provisions of the Family Code and to explain the rights and responsibilities of women and men in marriage and in family relations and issues involving the elimination of violence against women and children. NGOs are making a big contribution to educational work among women and to providing legal assistance to the public in matters associated with family conflicts. NGOs that specialize in the support of women and protection of the family are functioning in virtually every region of the country.

676.Accordingly, with the assistance of the Women’s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the women’s committee of Fergana Oblast, the Fergana Oblast justice department, with the support of United Nations Fund for Population Activities, registered the Centre for Social and Legal Support of Women and Their Families Kalb Nuri on 10 September 2007.

677.The purpose of the Centre is to provide social and legal services for achieving gender equality, to prevent gender violence, to strengthen the institution of the family, to train and produce well-integrated individuals and to enhance the public and political activities of women.

678.The Centre performs the following types of activities:

the promotion of spiritual values, personal dignity, and culture, and the improvement and strengthening of the institution of the family in the society;

the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and the elevation of the culture of family interaction;

overcoming of gender stereotypes and patriarchal relations, elevation of the status and public and political activities of women, and facilitation of independent decision-making on all levels;

an increase in the knowledge and culture of the law among women and men;

the support of the individualized and creative activities of women, and assistance in the creation of family microenterprises and in the set-up of home-based work;

provision of practical assistance to victims of trafficking and domestic violence and to women who find themselves in difficult straits.

679.The Centre provides assistance to women in preparing documents for court and participates in court proceedings as an authorized attorney or public advocate, both of which correspond to the centre’s mandate.

680.In 2007 and during five months of 2008, the Women’s Committee, the Tashkent Oblast khokimiyat, and the Fund for the Kamolot Public Movement conducted awareness-raising educational work among women and girls, men and boys and spiritual and religious leaders. In addition, in two settlement assemblies and 10 village assemblies of citizens, spiritual and moral advisors of the makhallyas had private conversations with families in which questions arose regarding the equal distribution of domestic and family responsibilities between the men and the women.

681.In 2007, Legal Information and Referral Centres were opened in oblast offices and in the Association of Business Women of Uzbekistan.

682.В 2007, the following numbers of women received advice in those centers: Republic of Karakalpakstan, 438; Andijan Oblast, 267; Bukhara Oblast, 146; Djizak Oblast, 97; Navoi Oblast, 104; Namangan Oblast, 357; Samarkand Oblast, 171; Surkhan-Darya Oblast, 190; Syr-Darya Oblast, 214; Tashkent Oblast, 182; Fergana Oblast, 325; Khorezm Oblast, 94.

683.Those figures in the first half of 2008 were as follows: Republic of Karakalpakstan, 194; Andijan Oblast, 69; Bukhara Oblast, 56; Djizak Oblast, 91; Navoi Oblast, 41; Namangan Oblast, 143; Samarkand Oblast, 89; Surkhan-Darya Oblast, 79; Syr-Darya Oblast, 112; Tashkent Oblast, 92; Fergana Oblast, 187; Khorezm Oblast, 64.

684.Incorporated in the programmes of general-education schools, academic high schools and professional colleges in Uzbekistan’s system of continuous education are subjects that are geared to preparing youth for family life and that, accordingly, address topics devoted to sex education for adolescent boys and girls and to the legal guarantees for the protection of women against discrimination in marriage and family relations.

ANNEXES

Annex No. 1

Draft

LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN ON GUARANTEES OF EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITES FOR WOMEN AND MEN

Chapter I. General provisions

Article 1. Purpose of this law

The purpose of this Law shall be to define the guarantee of rights and opportunities for women and men in the political, economic, social, cultural and other areas of the life of the society and to regulate the legal bases for preventing discrimination based on sex.

The Law is aimed at implementing the provisions of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the equality of rights of women and men.

Article 2. Basic concepts and definitions

Equal rights of women and men—rights that are guaranteed by the State, are codified in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and other regulatory and legal acts and are equal for women and men in terms of the exercise of personal, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Equal opportunities for women and men—the provision of equal political, economic and social conditions for the exercise by women and men of the human rights and freedoms established by the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the norms of international law.

Direct sexual discrimination—any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which is aimed at impairing or nullifying the recognition for persons of both sexes of the human rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of the life of the society.

Indirect discrimination—neutral treatment, criteria, or practices of State authorities, enterprises, organizations, institutions, non-governmental organizations, mass media or officials that place the representatives of one sex in a position that is not equal to that of the representatives of the other sex, unless the practice is necessary.

Gender—the social aspect of relations between men and women that is manifest in all spheres of the life of the society.

Gender equality—equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men in terms of their exercise in the political, economic, social and cultural fields.

Gender statistics—statistics on the status of women by comparisons with that of men in all spheres of the life of the society.

Gender analysis—analysis of laws and regulatory and legal acts in order to identify norms and provisions that do not conform to the principle of equality of women and men that is codified in the Constitution and in the norms of international law.

Gender needs and interests—the daily needs and interests of women and men in connection with their social role in society.

Sexual harassment—abusive behavior of a sexual nature, verbal or physical, directed toward a person with whom one has a work relationship.

Article 3. Law on equal rights and opportunities

Law on equal rights and opportunities for women and men is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, universal principles and norms of international law, international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan, this law, and other legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

If an international treaty to which the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party establishes rules other than those provided for by Republic of Uzbekistan law on equal rights and opportunities, the rules of the international treaty shall take precedence.

Article 4. Prevention of discrimination against women

Women and men shall have equal rights.

Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field shall represent discrimination against women.

Any manifestation of direct or indirect discrimination against women shall be prohibited and shall be eliminated in the manner prescribed by law.

Special measures aimed at accelerating the establishment of true equality between women and men shall not be regarded as sexual discrimination.

Article 5. State policy on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and  men

The State policy on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men shall be carried out in the following areas:

forming, expanding and improving the legal framework for ensuring the equal rights of the sexes;

creating organizational and legal mechanisms for implementing the universal principles and norms of international law, as well as the international obligations of the Republic of Uzbekistan with regard to equality of the sexes;

adopting and implementing special State target programmes aimed at achieving equality between women and men and at eliminating the causes and conditions responsible for sexual discrimination;

incorporating measures to ensure the equal rights of the sexes into Statewide programmes aimed at implementing the Constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as into social development programmes;

funding measures to ensure the equal rights of women and men from the State budget and other sources not prohibited by law;

conducting gender analysis of legal and regulatory acts being adopted by State authorities;

adopting measures to form a culture of equal rights of men and women;

adopting measures to protect society against information, propaganda and campaigns that are geared to sexual discrimination, as well as measures that preclude the release of print, audio, and video products that promote violence, cruelty, pornography, drug abuse, alcoholism, etc.;

improving the activities of legislative, executive, and judicial branch authorities in ensuring equality between women and men.

adopting measures to eradicate prejudice and to abolish customs and practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of one of the sexes.

Article 6. Safeguarding of equal opportunities for women and men by State administrative authorities

State administrative authorities shall:

participate in the conduct of a unified State policy to ensure the equal rights of the sexes;

develop and implement State target programmes aimed at ensuring the equal rights of women and men;

create the requisite legal, economic and social conditions for the exercise of the equal rights and freedoms of citizens, to include creating the possibilities for supporting and implementing measures with regard to the equal rights of the sexes;

set up structural subdivisions for ensuring equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

arrange the continuous oversight (monitoring) of the provision of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

perform a systemic analysis of the implementation of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

develop measures to prevent and eliminate sexual discrimination;

systematically study issues of gender-based division of labour and the gender needs and interests of the public;

prepare gender-based statistical and other information for State social programmes and for national reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan to United Nations convention agencies;

consider and resolve citizen complaints regarding the violation of gender equality and take measures to restore the violated rights;

develop cooperation and interaction with non-governmental and international organizations that address issues of gender equality;

assist in elevating citizens’ awareness in the sphere of gender equality.

Article 7. Participation of non-governmental organizations in ensuring equality of women and men

Non-governmental non-commercial organizations, including those created for purposes of implementing the Constitutional principle of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men, shall:

participate in the drafting of the decisions being taken by State agencies for matters associated with ensuring the equality of women and men;

in the courts and other State bodies, represent and protect the rights of citizens who have been subjected to sexual discrimination;

create independent expert bodies that present findings on the violation of the principle of the equal rights of the sexes;

field and support candidates whose programmes include protection of the principle of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

carry out awareness-raising and educational activities aimed at producing a culture of equal rights of the sexes;

perform public monitoring of compliance with the principle of the equal rights of the sexes;

provide suggestions to the appropriate State bodies on how to improve gender equality;

interface with State bodies, citizens’ self-governing bodies, the mass media and scientific and educational institutions on issues of gender equality;

exercise other rights afforded them under the law.

Non-governmental non-commercial organizations shall be entitled to receive from given State bodies procedural, informational and other assistance aimed at eliminating sexual discrimination.

Article 8. Safeguarding of equal rights for women and men by citizens’ self-governing bodies

In the sphere of implementing the principle of the equality of women and men, citizens’ self-governing bodies shall:

perform public monitoring of the enforcement of laws and other legislative acts, including decisions of local administrative authorities, in matters involving the provision of guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men;

monitor compliance with the principle of the equal rights of women and men when candidates are nominated for positions as deputies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Oliy Majlis and local kengashes of peoples deputies;

hear the reports of rayon, city, and oblast khokimiyats, as well as of the directors of enterprises, institutions and organizations, on matters of safeguarding gender equality;

assist local State authorities in conducting events to raise the level of culture with regard to the equal rights of women and men;

take measures geared to protecting the interests of women, elevating their role in public life, engendering a spiritual and moral environment in the family, and educating the younger generation;

interface with educational institutions in matters involving rearing children in the spirit of gender equality;

promote employment among women and men living within the territory, to include arranging home-based work;

organize and upgrade the activities of mediation boards in citizens’ self-governing bodies;

receive citizens, hear their complaints, claims, and suggestions with regard to matters involving safeguarding of the equality of women and men;

in the manner prescribed by law, submit information to the appropriate authorities regarding holding officials liable for failure to enforce, or for improper enforcement of, decisions taken by the citizens’ self-governing bodies within their jurisdiction.

Chapter II. Guarantees of equal opportunities for women and men in the sphere of State service and the exercise of suffrage

Article 9. Equal opportunities for women and men in civil service

Upon entry into civil service and during that service, no direct or indirect restrictions of any kind or privileges may be established on the grounds of sex.

The directors of State agencies and their officials shall be obliged to ensure equal access for citizens of both sexes to civil service, including to their collegial bodies, in accordance with capabilities and professional training, independent of the sex of the applicant.

The directors of State agencies, enterprises, institutions and organizations shall be guided by the provisions of Article 46 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Constitution on the equality of the rights of women and men when they recruit and deploy personnel. Violation of the requirements of this article shall, in the prescribed manner, result in the revocation of unlawful orders and the annulment of competition results.

Article 10. Equal access for women and men to competitions for filling civil service positions

When vacant civil service positions, including management positions, are being filled through competitions, women and men shall participate in equal measure and under the same conditions.

Competitions may not be announced to individuals of just one sex.

The personnel departments of State agencies have the obligation to provide competition commissions information not only on the education and professional training of the individuals participating in the competition, but also on the ratio of women to men in the civil service positions in question.

Similar information shall be provided by the personnel departments of State agencies with regard to certification, job advancement, and pay increases for State employees.

Article 11. Guarantees of equal opportunities for women and men in the exercise of the right to be elected to office

Women and men are equally eligible to run for the post of deputy in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in local kengashes of people’s deputies.

In the election of deputies to the Oliy Majlis and to local kengashes of people’s deputies, the number of women on the lists of candidates from the political parties must constitute at least 30 per cent of the total number of candidates put forward by a political party for the post of deputy.

In the event that the requirements set forth in this article are not complied with, the electoral commission shall, within three days, notify the political party of the violation.

Article 12. Equal opportunities for women and men in the formation of electoral commissions and referendum commissions

In the formation of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, okrug electoral commissions, territorial and district electoral commissions and referendum commissions, the Constitutional principle of equal rights and freedoms and equal opportunities for women and men must be taken into account.

Chapter III. Guarantees of equal opportunities for women and men in the social, economic and cultural spheres

Article 13. Guarantees of equal rights for women and men in education, medicine, science and culture

The State shall guarantee the following:

equal conditions for women and men’s access to receiving a basic general education and secondary professional and higher education; to all types of vocational training and skill upgrades; and to participation in the education and science process;

equal rights for women and men to health protection, skilled medical care, and family planning;

assistance to gender education of the public: the introduction of special gender-aware education courses; development of studies of issues pertaining to the equal rights of the sexes; the use of curricula and textbooks that do not promote sexual discrimination.

equal conditions for the participation of women and men in recreational events, sports and all areas of social and cultural life.

Article 14. Guarantees of equal rights fo r women and men in the economic  sphere

State agencies and the directors of organizations of all forms of ownership shall be obliged to provide women and men equal access to the economic resources of society, including movable and immovable property, land, financial assets, credit and social funds, as well as to a freely chosen occupation and job.

Article 15. Equal rights for women and men in labour relations

For purposes of achieving equal rights for women and men in social and labour relations, an employer (or director of a State agency or organization, regardless of the form of ownership) shall ensure the following:

equal opportunities for women and men in terms of employment;

equal access for women and men to vacant jobs;

equal wages (remuneration) for women and men for equal work or work of equal quality or value;

equal opportunities for skill upgrades, re-training, and job advancement;

equal rights for women and men in the event of mass layoffs;

suitable working conditions for pregnant women and women with children;

safe working conditions that ensure the preservation of life and limb of women as well as men.

The employer shall be obliged to provide the right and opportunity for employees—women as well as men—to combine their work and their family obligations.

Article 16. Inclusion of measures to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in collective contracts and agreements

In collective-agreement regulation of social and labour relations (general agreement, regional agreements, sector [intersector] rate agreements and collective contracts), it shall be mandatory that such agreements (contracts) include provisions that ensure equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men and the improvement of conditions for combining work and family obligations, with an indication of when they will be implemented.

Article 17. Equal rights for women and men in the sphere of social protection

State administrative authorities of the Republic of Uzbekistan, enterprises, institutions, organizations, citizens’ self-governing bodies and officials shall be obliged, when implementing measures for the social protection of the public, to consider the interests of women and men in equal measure.

The use of systems of social insurance, pension support and targeted social assistance that aggravate the status of either of the sexes shall be prohibited.

Chapter IV. Liability for violation of the law on equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men

Article 18. Lodging complaints regarding sexual discrimination

Citizen complaints regarding direct or indirect sexual discrimination or the actions (or omission to act) of State agencies, officials, enterprises, institutions, organizations, non-governmental non-commercial organizations, citizens’ self-governing bodies or the mass media shall be subject to consideration by higher State agencies, organizations, non-governmental non-commercial organizations or officials or the courts in the manner prescribed by law.

Harassment of individuals or restriction of their rights in connection with their having lodged a complaint of sexual discrimination, as well as of individuals providing expert assessment of whether the actions (or omission to act) of agencies or officials discriminate against women or men, shall be prohibited.

Individuals who are in difficult straits and are victims of family violence, sexual harassment or various forms of sexual discrimination at work and in their daily lives shall be provided psychiatric, legal, and other forms of assistance by the appropriate services of executive-branch authorities, non-governmental non-commercial organizations and citizens’ self-governing bodies.

Such individuals shall be afforded judicial protection and free, competent legal assistance.

Article 19. Control and monitoring of compliance with the law on equal rights and opportunities for women and men

Control and monitoring of compliance with the laws and other regulatory and legal acts on equal rights and opportunities for women and men shall be performed by the appropriate State administrative authorities in the manner prescribed by law.

Article 20. Liability for violation of the law on equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men

Officials of State agencies who perform executive or administrative functions, as well as directors and other employees of other organizations who perform similar functions, who have violated the requirements of the laws that pertain to equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men shall be held liable under the law.

Chapter V. Concluding provisions

Article 21. Entry of this law into force

This law shall enter into force on the date of its official publication.

Annex No. 2 (to Article 7)

2.1. Composition of State administrative bodies as of 1 January 2006

	As a percentage of the total		Distribution by sex
Women	Men	Women	Men
Total in State administrative bodies	100.0	100.0	15.9	84.1
In legislative and representative bodies	84.2	88.2	15.3	84.7
Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan	3.1	3.0	16.6	83.4
consisting of:
Legislative Chamber	1.8	1.6	17.6	82.4
Senate	1.3	1.4	15.3	84.7
Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan	0.8	1.3	10.5	89.5
Kengashes of people’s deputies of oblasts and city of Tashkent	7.2	9.8	12.1	87.9
Rayon kengashes of people’s deputies	59.8	63.1	15.2	84.8
City kengashes of people’s deputies	13.3	10.9	18.8	81.2
In executive bodies	0.2	1.0	3.4	96.6
consisting of:
Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan	0.1	0.5	3.4	96.6
Senior officials	0.1	0.1	11.1	88.9
Ministers and chairpersons of State committees	–	0.4	–	100.0
In judicial bodies	15.7	10.9	21.5	78.5
consisting of:
Constitutional Court	0.3	0.2	23.5	76.5
Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan	0.6	0.4	23.3	76.7
Higher Economic Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan	0.8	0.9	13.8	86.2
Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan , oblast and Tashkent city courts, and interrayon, rayon and city courts	12.3	7.9	22.8	77.2
Economic courts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and oblasts	1.6	1.4	17.3	82.7

2.2 Women and men employed in management posts, by economic sector as of 1 January 2006

	Number of managers		As a percentage of total		Distribution by sex , %
Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men
Total	49 , 009	130 , 396	100.0	100.0	27.3	72.7
consisting of :
I ndustry	5 , 816	25 , 439	11.9	19.5	18.6	81.4
agriculture and forestry	460	10 , 600	0.9	8.1	4.2	95.8
T ransportation	877	5 , 503	1.8	4.2	13.7	86.3
C ommunications	995	2 , 019	2.0	1.5	33.0	67.0
C onstruction	1 , 163	5 , 161	2.4	4.0	18.4	81.6
commerce, public catering, sales, procurement	863	3,188	1.8	2.4	21.3	78.7
housing and nonproduction types of public services	725	4,518	1.5	3.5	13.8	86.2
health care, physical fitness, sports, and social welfare	3 , 481	6157	7.1	4.7	36.1	63.9
public education	24 , 519	29 , 145	50.0	22.4	45.7	54.3
culture and the arts	1 , 490	1 , 849	3.0	1.4	44.6	55.4
science and science services	462	1 , 237	0.9	1.0	27.2	72.8
finance, credit and insurance	1 , 303	4 , 675	2.7	3.6	21.8	78.2
other sectors	6 , 855	30 , 905	14.0	23.7	18.2	81 . 8

2.3. Women deputies elected to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan

No.	Full name	Territory	Ethnicity	Name of body that sponsored the candidate	Post held before election
1	Annakilicheva, Guliston Akhmedovna	Republic of Karakalpakstan	Uzbek	People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [NDPU]	Editor-in-chief, Amy Tongi newspaper
2	Niyazova, DzhamilyaAbdukadirovna	Republic of Karakalpakstan	Uzbek	Fidokorlar National Democratic Party [NDPF]	Deputy chair, Tadbirkor Ayol Association
3	Abdulayeva, Sharbat Zulpikarovna	Bukhara Oblast	Uzbek	NDPU	Specialist, Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan
4	Botirova, Zukhra Baratovna	Bukhara Oblast	Uzbek	Adolat Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [SDPU]	Deputy chair, Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan
5	Umarova, ShoiraAkbutayevna	Djizak Oblast	Uzbek	Fidokorlar NDPF	Oliy Majlis of Republic of Uzbekistan
6	Burkhanova, Matlyuba Fayzullayevna	Navoi Oblast	Uzbek	Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [UzLiDeP]	Department head, Civil Registry Office, city of Navoi
7	Bobomurodova, Anora Yavkochtiyevna	Navoi Oblast	Uzbek	Voters’ Initiative Group	Vice rector, Institute for Professional Development of Teachers of Navoi Oblast
8	Akhunova, Oysha Mukhamadzhonovna	Namangan Oblast	Uzbek	Adolat SDPU	Judge, Namangan Oblast Economic Court
9	Abullayeva, Mukhabbat	Namangan Oblast	Uzbek	NDPU	First secretary, kengash NDPU, Namangan Oblast
10	Abullayeva, TursnoyKurbonova	Surkhan-Darya Oblast	Uzbek	Voters’ Initiative Group	Chair, Women’s Committee, city of Termez
11	Safayeva, Mashkura	Kashka-Darya Oblast	Uzbek	NDPU	Oliy Majlis of Republic
12	Akhmedova, Sorakhon Tolibzhonovna	Fergana Oblast	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Head of Department for Training Science and Pedagogical Personnel, Academy of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Republic of Uzbekistan
13	Ruzmatova, Nabiyakhon	Fergana Oblast	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Head of Department of Public Education, Dangara Rayon
14	Makhmetova, Matlyuba Adilovna	Fergana Oblast	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Department head, Civil Registry Office, city of Fergana
15	Dzhumamuratova, Klara Shakhnazarovna	Khorezm Oblast	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Chair, Tadbirkor Ayol Oblast Association
16	Zaripova, Ranozhon	Khorezm Oblast	Uzbek	Milliy Tiklanish Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [DPMT]	Editor, Sotom Avlod Uchun newspaper
17	Yunusova, Aliya Tuygunovna	Tashkent Oblast	Uzbek	NDPU	Head of Department of Education, National Centre for Human Rights, Republic of Uzbekistan
18	Kariyeva, Munira Dzhurayevna	Tashkent Oblast	Uzbek	Milliy Tiklanish DPMT	Executive director, private firm Zhurabek
19	Salimova, Sharipa Egamberdiyevna	Tashkent Oblast	Uzbek	Milliy Tiklanish DPMT	Oliy Majlis of Republic of Uzbekistan
20	Akhmedova, Surayye Mirpizalovna	Tashkent Oblast	Uzbek	Fidokorlar NDPF	Chair, Women’s Committee, Chinaz Rayon
21	Toshmukhammedova, Dilerom Gafurdzhanovna	City of Tashkent	Uzbek	Adolat SDPU	Director, private firm Farmed

2.4. Women members of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan

No.	Full name	Year of birth	Place of birth	Ethnicity	Party affiliation	Body that sponsored candidate	Education	Specialty	Post- grad degree	Post held before election
1	Abdurakhimova, Farida Yuldashevna	1950	City of Tashkent	Uzbek	NDPU	City of Tashkent	Higher	Journalist	none	Chair, Women’s Committee, city of Tashkent
2	Gerasimova, Svetlana Ivanovna	1951	City of Tashkent	Russian	NDPU	City of Tashkent	Higher	Teacher	none	Director, school No. 50, city of Tashkent
3	Sharipova, Dilbar Usmanovna	1958	City of Kagan	Uzbek	No party	Bukhara Oblast	Higher	Internist	none	Chief physician, KaganCityHospital
4	Karimova, Nodira Khazratovna	1956	Farish Rayon	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Djizak Oblast	Higher	Teacher	none	Executive director, Djizak Oblast Division of Soglom Avlod Uchun Foundation
5	Valiyeva, Rano Nasimovna	1959	Kiziltepa Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Navoi Oblast	Higher	Agronomist	none	Director, Valiobod farm of Kiziltepa Rayon
6	Boltaboyeva, Markhabat	1950	Chartak Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Namangan Oblast	Higher	Obstetrician-gynaecologist	none	Director, ChartakMedicalCollege
7	Shokirova, Gulsanam	1954	Chust Rayon	Uzbek	UzLiDeP	Namangan Oblast	Higher	Agronomist	none	Director of Gulshan farm, Chust Rayon
8	Shodiyeva, Khamrotosh Normurodovna	1959	Kattakurgan Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Samarkand Oblast	Higher	Teacher	none	Director, Teachers College, Kattakurgan Rayon
9	Artukbayeva, Khaytkhon	1946	City of Gulistan	Uzbek	NDPU	Syr-Darya Oblast	Higher	Teacher	none	Executive secretary, Oblast Division, Union of Writers of Uzbekistan
10	Abullayeva, BarnokhonAnvarovna	1964	Uchkuprik Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Fergana Oblast	Higher	Agronomist	none	Director, Agro-EconomicCollege, BesharikRayon
11	Pak, Vera Borisovna	1938	Kungirat Rayon	Korean	NDPU	Khorezm Oblast		Teacher	none	Director, Mekhribonlik Orphanage No. 20, city of Khiva
12	Inamova, Svetlana Tursunovna	1951	Djalolkuduk Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree	Higher	Internist	Candidate, medical sciences	Deputy prime minister, Republic of Uzbekistan, chair of Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan
13	Mukhitdinova, Farrukha Fakhriddinovna	1955	Tashkent Rayon	Uzbek	NDPU	Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree	Higher	Jurist	Candidate, legal sciences	Presiding judge, Supreme Court of Republic of Uzbekistan
14	Adilkhodzhayeva, Surayye Makhkamovna	1964	City of Tashkent	Uzbek	No party	Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree	Higher	Jurist/instructor	Candidate,legal sciences	Tashkent State Law Institute, Chair “Theory of State and Law”, acting professor of department
15	Razhobova, Mavzhuda Abdullayevna	1955	Shofirkan Rayon	Uzbek	No party	Republic of Uzbekistan presidential decree	Higher	Jurist	Candidate, legal sciences	Presiding judge, Yakkasaray District Criminal Court, city of Tashkent

2.5. Number of women in political parties of Uzbekistan

Party	2005	2006	2007	2008 (1 st quarter )
UzLiDeP	49 , 467	33.56	49 , 573	34.04	49 , 573	34.04	53 , 982	34.8
Fidokorlar NPPF	22 , 383	36.25	31 , 480	42.99	35 , 444	45.30	34 , 979	44.9
Milliy Tiklanish DPMT	27 , 834	46.06	32 , 173	47.49	32 , 173	47.49	53 , 412	49.09
NDPU	166 , 749	34.6	104 , 611	33.01	127.9	36.8	132 , 344	37.45
ADOLAT SDPU	18 , 789	38.77	25 , 551	43.18	25 , 551	43.18	32 , 290	50.26
Total	285 , 222	35.6	243 , 388	36.7	142 , 869	40.9	307 , 007	40.4

Annex No. 3 (to Article 10)

3.1 Number of students in vocational colleges

Area	First year		Second year		Third year		Total
Number of students	Of which are girls	Number of students	Of which are girls	Number of students	Of which are girls	Number of students	Of which are girls
For entire republic	429 , 647	208 , 923	345 , 115	168 , 598	246 , 856	116 , 428	1 , 021 , 618	493 , 949
Education	60 , 762	49 , 081	51 , 237	42 , 682	26 , 091	21 , 203	138 , 090	112 , 966
Humanities and the arts	5 , 856	2 , 685	5 , 162	2 , 280	4 , 183	2 , 159	15 , 201	7 , 124
Social sciences, business and law	97 , 886	42 , 121	82 , 773	34 , 408	60 , 096	26 , 722	240 , 755	103 , 251
Science	214	40	139	30	127	26	480	96
Engineering and construction	142 , 690	48 , 316	110 , 622	37 , 869	85 , 589	30 , 770	338 , 901	116 , 955
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries	32 , 171	3 , 856	25 , 370	2 , 945	22 , 619	2 , 420	80 , 160	9 , 221
Health care and human services	63 , 920	52 , 670	49 , 530	40 , 858	33 , 837	28 , 050	147 , 287	121 , 578
Service sector	26 , 148	10 , 154	20 , 282	7 , 526	14 , 314	5 , 078	60 , 744	22 , 758

Annex No. 4 (to Article 12)

4.1. Demographics

Area	Birth rate		Mortality rate		Infant mortality rate		Natural increase		Maternal mortality rate
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
City of Tashkent	14.5	16.1	15.6	16.9	18.1	8.3	8	8.6	8.4	7.8	25	22.3	22.3	22.7	18.4	6.2	8.1	7	8.5	10.3	51.4	52.3	44.9	22	30.6
Andijan Obl.	18.7	20.1	20.1	20.2	22.6	5.2	4.9	5.2	5.2	5.1	13.8	13.7	12.3	12	12.3	13.5	15.2	14.9	15	17.5	23.2	25.7	21.3	24.8	21.8
Bukhara Obl.	18.8	19.4	19.8	19.9	21	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.5	14.9	13.9	12	13.2	13.1	14.2	14.9	15.3	15.3	16.5	18	23.4	29.7	19.6	18.4
Djizak Obl.	21.8	22.9	22.9	22.4	23.7	4.2	4	4.2	4.2	4.2	13.9	11.8	12.3	10.5	10.3	17.6	18.9	18.7	18.2	19.5	35.2	24.5	25	21.1	15.7
Kashka-Darya Obl.	23.5	22.8	22.2	22.1	24	4.1	4	4.1	4.1	4.1	14.7	14	13.8	13.2	12.5	19.4	18.8	18.1	18	19.9	31.5	24.4	24.4	22.2	23.5
Navoi Obl.	18.9	20.1	19.9	20	21.4	5	4.9	5.3	5.1	5	15.7	12.4	10.9	9.4	9.7	13.9	15.2	14.6	14.9	16.4	71.9	55.8	49.7	42.9	39.7
Namangan Obl.	20	20.6	20.2	20.1	24.1	5	4.7	4.9	4.8	4.7	15.8	13.8	15.1	13.9	13.5	15	15.9	15.3	15.3	19.4	31.8	21	30.6	35.2	23.2
Samarkand Obl.	21.4	22	21.8	23.5	23.2	4.9	4.8	5	4.8	4.9	13.9	12	12.7	12	12.5	16.5	17.2	16.8	18.7	18.3	42.2	20.9	17.4	14.5	17.4
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	22.5	22.1	21.9	22.7	23.2	4.3	4	4.3	4.1	4	14.7	11.7	11.6	10.3	9.8	18.2	18.1	17.6	18.6	19.2	24.1	19.5	23.8	18.2	24
Syr-Darya Obl.	20.5	21.3	21.2	22.5	23.7	5.2	5	5.5	5.5	5.1	17.9	18	16.7	15.6	13.7	15.3	16.3	15.7	17	18.6	14.5	21	34.7	19.6	24.5
Tashkent Obl.	17.9	19.8	18.7	19.5	21.4	6.4	6.2	6.8	6.5	6.2	15.2	15.3	15.4	13.8	12.4	11.5	13.6	11.9	13	15.2	52.7	44.6	43.3	31.1	29.8
Fergana Obl.	18.8	21.2	19.7	20.4	23.7	5.2	4.8	5.2	5.1	5.1	20	19.6	19.3	19.1	16.6	13.6	16.4	14.5	15.3	18.6	28.4	31.6	31.4	27	25.8
Khorezm Obl.	20.8	22.5	21.7	22.6	24.4	5	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	18.9	16.9	16.3	16.6	13.2	15.8	17.9	17.1	18	19.8	27.1	54.5	40.8	33.2	22
Republic of Karakalpakstan	20.6	22.5	20.6	22.3	23	5.6	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.3	18.3	17.9	17.4	16.8	14	15	17.3	14.8	16.8	17.7	25	22.9	15.3	28.4	16.4
Republic of Uzbekistan	19.8	20.9	20.3	21	22.7	5.3	5	5.4	5.3	5.2	16.4	15.2	14.9	14.4	13.2	14.5	15.9	14.9	15.7	17.5	32.2	31.4	30.8	24.3	23.8

4.2. Morbidity rate among women, newly diagnosed, for 2007

	Total illnesses		Infectious diseases		Neoplasms		Endocrine system diseases		Diseases of the blood and hemopoietic organs		Psychiatric disorders		Nervous system diseases
Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population
Republic of Uzbekistan	734 , 511	54 , 602	16 , 7139	1 , 242.4	23 , 720	176.3	493 , 127	3 , 665.5	1 , 611 , 608	11 , 979.4	16 , 004	119	241 , 649	1 , 796.2
Republic of Karakalpakstan	376 , 894	47 , 289.1	6 , 113	767	736	92.3	7 , 991	1 , 002.6	171 , 557	21 , 525.3	686	86.1	8 , 481	1 , 064.1
Andijan Obl.	681 , 995	56 , 089.7	11 , 725	964.3	1 , 092	89.8	38 , 074	3 , 131.3	196 , 136	16 , 130.9	1 , 409	115.9	23 , 887	1 , 964.6
Bukhara Obl.	457 , 540	58 , 561.2	8 , 781	1 , 123.9	1 , 111	142.2	33 , 279	4 , 259.4	79 , 338	10 , 154.6	802	102.6	14 , 395	1 , 842.4
Djizak Obl.	211 , 190	39 , 327.7	6 , 231	1 , 160.3	579	107.8	10 , 262	1 , 911	64 , 153	11 , 946.6	858	159.8	7 , 381	1 , 374.5
Kashka-Darya Obl.	630 , 584	50 , 845.3	17 , 887	1 , 442.3	1 , 071	86.4	39 , 768	3 , 206.6	129 , 230	10 , 420.1	1 , 971	158.9	24 , 316	1 , 960.6
Navoi Obl.	305 , 692	74 , 704.8	5 , 848	1 , 429.1	1 , 162	284	10 , 372	2 , 534.7	86 , 933	21 , 244.6	541	132.2	9 , 797	2 , 394.2
Namangan Obl.	665 , 459	62 , 030.2	13 , 436	1 , 252.4	1 , 544	143.9	39 , 716	3 , 702.1	185 , 469	17 , 288.3	1 , 404	130.9	10 , 315	961.5
Samarkand Obl.	669 , 220	44 , 881	12 , 344	827.8	1 , 743	116.9	66 , 742	4 , 476	169 , 217	11 , 348.5	1 , 452	97.4	9 , 825	658.9
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	415 , 242	42 , 354.3	11 , 011	1 , 123.1	1 , 443	147.2	21 , 435	2 , 186.4	96 , 147	9 , 806.9	1 , 072	109.3	13 , 344	1 , 361.1
Syr-Darya Obl.	118 , 223	34 , 467.3	2 , 557	745.5	1 , 265	368.8	7 , 206	2 , 100.9	25 , 327	7 , 384	463	135	5 , 306	1 , 546.9
Tashkent Obl.	604 , 861	48 , 100.3	22 , 454	1 , 785.6	3 , 085	245.3	79 , 282	6 , 304.7	108 , 986	8 , 666.9	980	77.9	17 , 221	1 , 369.5
Fergana Obl.	982 , 091	66 , 641.2	18 , 554	1 , 259	2 , 071	140.5	92 , 792	6 , 296.5	203 , 039	13 , 777.5	1 , 051	71.3	32 , 592	2 , 211.6
Khorezm Obl.	466 , 672	62 , 289.4	16 , 922	2 , 258.7	1 , 641	219	19 , 392	2 , 588.4	53 , 204	7 , 401.4	734	98	26 , 797	3 , 576.7
City of Tashkent	760 , 048	68 , 788.8	13 , 276	1 , 201.6	5 , 177	468.5	26 , 816	2 , 427	42 , 872	3 , 880.2	2 , 581	233.6	38 , 292	3 , 465.7

4.3. Morbidity rate among women, newly diagnosed, for 2007

	Diseases of the eye and its accessory apparatus		Diseases of the ear and the mastoid process		Circulatory system diseases		Respiratory diseases		Digestive tract diseases		Urogenital diseases		Pregnancy, birth, and the puerperal period
Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population
Republic of Uzbekistan	215 , 002	1 , 598.3	179 , 273	1 , 332.6	201 , 430	1 , 497.3	175 , 1038	1 , 3015.8	814 , 474	6 , 054.1	476 , 199	3 , 539.7	232 , 826	1 , 730.6
Republic of Karakalpakstan	7 , 300	915.9	9 , 767	1 , 225.5	7 , 918	993.5	67 , 251	8 , 438.0	20 , 401	2 , 559.7	26 , 735	3 , 354.5	16 , 792	2 , 106.9
Andijan Obl.	16 , 257	1 , 337.0	15 , 204	1 , 250.4	11 , 183	919.7	148 , 197	12 , 188.3	74 , 748	6 , 147.5	40 , 405	3 , 323.1	22 , 155	1 , 822.1
Bukhara Obl.	13 , 586	1 , 738.9	12 , 155	1 , 555.7	9 , 777	1 , 251.4	95 , 555	12 , 230.3	102 , 174	13 , 077.4	20 , 920	2 , 677.6	8 , 591	1 , 099.6
Djizak Obl.	8 , 636	1 , 608.2	4 , 493	836.7	9 , 039	1 , 683.2	35 , 879	6 , 681.4	21 , 378	3 , 981.0	18 , 364	3 , 419.7	6 , 207	1 , 155.9
Kashka-Darya Obl.	11 , 804	951.8	17 , 723	1 , 429.0	20 , 921	1 , 686.9	144 , 768	11 , 672.9	102 , 365	8 , 253.9	44 , 657	3 , 600.8	9 , 437	760.9
Navoi Obl.	4 , 795	1 , 171.8	6 , 823	1 , 667.4	5 , 053	1 , 234.8	70 , 981	17 , 346.3	41 , 948	10 , 251.2	23 , 999	5 , 864.9	9 , 500	2 , 321.6
Namangan Obl.	20 , 550	1 , 915.5	13 , 717	1 , 278.6	13 , 456	1 , 254.3	181 , 991	16 , 964.1	42 , 053	3 , 919.9	33 , 154	3 , 090.4	18 , 411	1 , 716.2
Samarkand Obl.	18 , 475	1 , 239.0	11 , 885	797.1	10 , 452	701.0	159 , 672	10 , 708.3	53 , 644	3 , 597.6	41 , 071	2 , 754.4	32 , 172	2 , 157.6
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	10 , 100	1 , 030.2	15 , 880	1 , 619.7	17 , 834	1 , 819.0	103 , 860	10 , 593.6	41 , 079	4 , 190.0	23 , 231	2 , 369.5	13 , 313	1 , 357.9
Syr-Darya Obl.	1 , 941	565.9	2 , 999	874.3	3 , 961	1 , 154.8	32 , 836	9 , 573.2	6 , 608	1 , 926.5	13 , 077	3 , 812.5	2 , 689	784.0
Tashkent Obl.	17 , 931	1 , 425.9	11 , 243	894.1	18 , 752	1 , 491.2	161 , 036	12 , 806.0	43 , 775	3 , 479.5	35 , 355	2 , 811.5	17 , 712	1 , 408.5
Fergana Obl.	45 , 151	3 , 063.8	25 , 787	1 , 749.8	28 , 607	1 , 941.2	262 , 311	17 , 799.5	58 , 947	3 , 999.9	76 , 444	5 , 187.2	22 , 594	1 , 533.1
Khorezm Obl.	6 , 587	879.2	7 , 654	1 , 021.6	24 , 506	3 , 271.0	80 , 181	10 , 702.2	93 , 200	12 , 439.9	33 , 977	4 , 535.1	34 , 256	4 , 572.3
City of Tashkent	31 , 907	2 , 887.8	23 , 943	2 , 167.0	19 , 971	1 , 807.5	206 , 520	18 , 691.3	112 , 174	10 , 152.4	44 , 810	4 , 055.6	18 , 997	1 , 719.3

4.4. Morbidity rate among women, first-time diagnosis, for 2007

	Diseases of the skin and hypodermis		Diseases of the musculoskeletal system		Congenital anomalies		Conditions arising in the perinatal period		Symptoms, signs, and abnormalities identified in clinical tests		Injuries and poisonings
Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population	Abs . No.	Per 100,000 population
Republic of Uzbekistan	306 , 689	2 , 279.7	119 , 198	886.0	7 , 537	56.0	57 , 138	424.7	13 , 728	102.0	417 , 914	3 , 106.4
Republic of Karakalpakstan	10 , 817	1 , 357.2	2 , 645	331.9	170	21.3	1 , 645	206.4	-	-	9 , 889	1 , 240.8
Andijan Obl.	23 , 503	1 , 933.0	8 , 269	680.1	223	18.3	5 , 728	471.1	1 , 259	103.5	42 , 541	3 , 498.7
Bukhara Obl.	14 , 838	1 , 899.1	7 , 000	895.9	563	72.1	3 , 228	413.2	690	88.3	30 , 757	3 , 936.6
Djizak Obl.	5 , 463	1 , 017.3	806	150.1	132	24.6	2 , 282	424.9	242	45.1	8 , 805	1 , 639.7
Kashka-Darya Obl.	21 , 975	1 , 771.9	8 , 544	688.9	644	51.9	5 , 169	416.8	758	61.1	27 , 576	2 , 223.5
Navoi Obl.	7 , 590	1 , 854.8	1 , 907	466.0	241	58.9	1 , 840	449.7	333	81.4	16 , 329	3 , 990.5
Namangan Obl.	18 , 100	1 , 687.2	6 , 365	593.3	441	41.1	5 , 733	534.4	300	28.0	59 , 324	5 , 529.8
Samarkand Obl.	17 , 048	1 , 143.3	7 , 850	526.5	539	36.1	7 , 209	483.5	1 , 972	132.2	45 , 908	3 , 078.8
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	15 , 914	1 , 623.2	6 , 715	684.9	327	33.3	2 , 048	208.9	1 , 181	120.5	19 , 308	1 , 969.4
Syr-Darya Obl.	4 , 081	1 , 189.8	1 , 266	369.1	96	28.0	1 , 723	502.3	-	-	4 , 822	1 , 405.8
Tashkent Obl.	19 , 279	1 , 533.1	9 , 035	718.5	1 , 006	80.0	6 , 684	531.5	1 , 361	108.2	29 , 704	2 , 362.1
Fergana Obl.	44 , 847	3 , 043.2	16 , 006	1 , 086.1	645	43.8	6 , 957	472.1	1 , 102	74.8	42 , 594	2 , 890.3
Khorezm Obl.	20 , 147	2 , 689.1	8 , 461	1 , 129.3	1 , 227	163.8	2 , 458	328.1	4 , 319	576.5	30 , 989	4 , 136.3
City of Tashkent	83 , 087	7 , 519.9	34 , 329	3 , 107.0	1 , 283	116.1	4 , 434	401.3	211	19.1	49 , 368	4 , 468.1

4.5. Medical personnel for obstetrics and pediatric institutions for 2007

	Pediatricians		Neonatal specialists		Obstetrician-gynaecologists
Total	Category	Doc., med. sci.	Cand., med. sci.	Total	Category	Doc., med. sci.	Cand., med. sci.	Total	Category	Doc., med. sci.	Cand., med. sci.
Higher	I	II	Higher	I	II	Higher	I	II
Republic of Uzbekistan	8,812	2,221	3,179	3 53	44	178	1 , 405	489	549	47	6	9	5 , 584	1 , 547	2 , 294	275	35	117
Republic of Karakalpakstan	634	99	92	33	1	7	73	35	23	2	-	-	337	89	118	21	-	1
Andijan Obl.	717	367	197	51	6	22	130	43	42	7	-	3	429	133	132	38	1	4
Bukhara Obl.	355	127	106	13	-	1	87	35	26	10	-	-	377	142	111	12	2	5
Djizak Obl.	230	41	79	5	-	-	35	7	16	-	-	-	172	36	91	11	-	1
Kashka-Darya Obl.	802	117	480	-	-	-	114	30	63	8	-	-	444	74	262	4	-	1
Navoi Obl.	168	47	81	5	-	-	30	5	13	3	-	-	109	34	67	1	-	-
Namangan Obl.	637	200	281	20	-	2	91	37	39	1	-	-	377	108	186	41	-	-
Samarkand Obl.	1 , 279	120	498	83	6	33	184	35	92	8	2	1	609	93	307	92	3	15
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	458	71	234	17	-	-	100	28	52	4	-	-	321	42	200	19	-	-
Syr-Darya Obl.	113	21	46	3	-	-	33	9	9	1	-	-	110	48	34	2	-	-
Tashkent Obl.	569	213	283	9	-	1	91	40	27	-	-	-	404	169	184	7	-	3
Fergana Obl.	661	192	269	10	-	3	136	59	57	-	-	-	406	120	181	4	-	2
Khorezm Obl.	449	66	188	8	-	3	67	24	38	-	-	-	344	60	194	1	-	3
City of Tashkent	1 , 277	433	323	92	-	5	148	78	39	2	-	1	685	319	195	18	1	9
Repub. fac., city of Tashkent	463	107	22	4	31	101	86	24	13	1	4	4	460	80	32	4	28	73

4.6. General figures for birth rate, mortality rate and infant mortality rate for individual countries*

Country	Year	Number of births	Number of deaths	Year	Infant mortality rate (number of deaths before the age of 1 per 1,000 births)
Per 1,000 population
Uzbekistan	2007	22.7	5.2	2007	13.2
Russia	2005	10.2	16.1	2005	11.0
Azerbaijan	2005	16.9	(2004) 6.0	2005	74.0
Kyrgyzstan	2005	21.5	7.2	2005	58.0
Kazakhstan	2005	18.4	10.4	2005	27.0
Tajikistan	2005	26.1	6.0	2005	59.0
Ukraine	2005	9.1	16.7	2005	13.0
Belarus	2005	9.2	14.5	2005	7.0
Bulgaria	2004	9.0	14.1	2005	12.0
Hungary	2005	9.7	13.5	2005	6.0
Great Britain	2004	12.0	9.8	2005	5.0
Germany	2004	8.5	9.9	2005	4.0
Turkey	2005	18.9	7.0	2005	26.0
Denmark	2004	11.9	(2003) 11.0	2005	4.0
Latvia	2005	9.4	14.2	2005	8.0
Estonia	2005	10.7	12.9	2005	6.0
CIS **	2005	12.4	13.6	2005	14.1

* Based on data from WHO Regional Office for Europe .

** CIS – Commonwealth of Independent States .

4.7. Subdivisions, units, facilities, departments (rooms) for 200

	Obstetrics-gynaecology		Examination room
	Subdivisions, units, facilities, departments (rooms)		Subdivisions, units, facilities, departments (rooms)
	budgetary		extra-budgetary		budgetary		extra-budgetary
Area	Total	Departments	Rooms		Departments	Rooms		Total	Departments	Rooms		Departments	Rooms
Andijan Obl.	248		248			60		60
Bukhara Obl.	197		197			20		20
Djizak Obl.	59	1	57		1	16		16
Kashka-Darya Obl.	201	4	197			23		23
Karakalpakstan	175	5	170			34		34
Namangan Obl.	99	1	98			32		32
Navoi Obl.	108		108			19		19
Samarkand Obl.	394		394			27		27
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	164		164			46		46
Syr-Darya Obl.	40		40			9		9
Tashkent Obl.	301	3	298			52		52
Fergana Obl.	182		182			301		301
Khorezm Obl.	84	10	73		1	87		87
City of Tashkent	152		152			43		43
Repub. fac., city of Tashkent	22		22			2		2
Republic of Uzbekistan	2426	24	2400		2	771		771

4.8. Visits to obstetrician-gynaecologists, 2007

	Obstetrician-gynaecologist		Pediatric obstetrician-gynaecologist
Total	For pregnancy	Total	For children’s and adolescent gynaecology
Republic of Uzbekistan	14 , 610.3	6 , 055.8	1 , 017.3	271.9
Republic of Karakalpakstan	899.7	281.6	57.3	15.3
Andijan	921.3	457.9	76.7	20
Bukhara	881.2	346.5	42.0	11.1
Djizak	502.0	185.1	21.3	4.3
Kashka-Darya	1 , 299.2	338.3	98.2	19.4
Navoi	293.3	107.8	53.5	15
Namangan	1 , 201.5	441.1	45.6	20.2
Samarkand	1 , 483	844.5	84.1	17.2
Surkhan-Darya	854.8	299.3	52.1	17.5
Syr-Darya	291.2	159.1	27.4	15.2
Tashkent	1 , 352	599.2	103	20.1
Fergana	1 , 360.8	445.4	160.7	19.5
Khorezm	1 , 135	843.1	55.2	38.8
City of Tashkent	2 , 135.3	706.9	140.2	38.3

4.9. Structure of occupational diseases among women, first-time diagnosis, 2005-2007

No.		2005		2006		2007
Total	Women	Total	Women	Total	Women
1	Silicosis	-	-	-	-	3	-
2	Silicotuberculosis	-	-	-	-	1	-
3	Electric welder’s pneumoconiosis	-	-	1	-	1	-
4	Chronic bronchitis	17	2	16	7	23	4
5	Bronchial asthma	7	5	7	4	5	2
6	Toxic chemical poisoning	24	-	25	-	39	7
7	Mercury poisoning	-	-	-	-	1	-
8	Lead poisoning	1	-	-	-	-	-
9	Organic solvent poisoning	1	-	-	-	-	-
10	Ethylated gasoline poisoning	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Natural gas poisoning	-	-	1	-	-	-
12	Vibration sickness	8	1	5	-	8	1
13	Diseases of the ear, nose, and throat	45	5	34	5	34	4
14	Skin disease	2	1	1	-	1	1
15	Radiculitis	-	-	-	-	6	1
16	Brucellosis	3	-	3	1	5	-
17	Toxic hepatitis	1	1	1	1	2	1
18	Pulmonary tuberculosis	-	-	-	-	1	1
19	Varicose conditions	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Plexalgia	8	-	1	-	-	-
21	Cataracts	-	-	-	-	1	-
22	Epicondylitis	-	-	-	-	-	-
23	Arthro-arthritis	1	1	-	-	-	-
24	Other	3	2	-	-	2	-
Total	121	18	95	18	133	22

4.10. Preliminary information on the makeup of women in labour, by age, for 12 months of 2007

Area	15-16 years of age		17-19 years of age		20-29 years of age
2006		2007		2006		2007		2006		2007
	Abs.	%	Abs.	%	Abs.	%	Abs.	%	Abs.	%	Abs.	%
City of Tashkent	32	0.07	31	0.06	2 , 372	5.7	2 , 158	4.7	30 , 437	73.7	33 , 397	73.3
Andijan Obl.	4	0.01	5	0.01	1 , 156	2.3	1 , 283	2.3	40 , 058	81.5	43 , 803	81.6
Bukhara Obl.	4	0.01	4	0.01	707	2.4	872	2.8	26 , 139	87.5	25 , 975	83.5
Djizak Obl.	0	0	0	0	758	3.4	737	3.3	18 , 555	83.7	18 , 483	83.3
Kashka-Darya Obl.	2	0	4	0.07	1 , 766	3.3	1 , 909	3.3	45 , 993	86.6	49 , 541	87.7
Navoi Obl.	3	0.01	4	0.01	382	2.4	376	2.2	12 , 887	82.7	13 , 209	79.9
Namangan Obl.	5	0.01	5	0.01	1 , 721	4.1	2 , 158	4.2	36 , 572	87.3	43 , 489	86
Samarkand Obl.	7	0.01	2	0	2 , 551	4.3	2 , 605	4.3	50 , 443	86	52 , 698	86.3
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	1	0.002	1	0	745	1.8	447	1.1	32 , 723	83.4	35 , 385	85.1
Syr-Darya Obl.	8	0.06	9	0.1	577	4	613	4.1	11 , 200	77.9	11 , 656	78.9
Tashkent Obl.	11	0.03	22	0.04	2 , 178	5	1 , 807	3.8	35 , 451	81.2	38 , 865	82
Fergana Obl.	19	0.01	14	0.01	2 , 360	4	2 , 795	4	48 , 369	81.9	55 , 980	80.3
Khorezm Obl.	0	0	1	0	1 , 066	3.6	1 , 067	3.4	25 , 939	88.7	26 , 423	85.4
Karakalpakstan	1	0	2	0	1 , 123	3.4	1 , 212	3.5	26 , 048	81	27 , 358	79.3
Uzbekistan	97	0.01	104	0.01	19 , 462	3.6	20 , 039	3.4	439 , 656	83.3	476 , 262	82.7

4.11. Preliminary information on the makeup of women in labour, by age, for 12  months of 2007

	30-34 years of age		35-44 years of age		45 or older
2006		2007		2006		2007		2006		2007
	Abs.	%	.	Abs	%	.	Abs	%	.	Abs	%	.	Abs	%	.	Abs	%
City of Tashkent	6 , 134	14.8	7 , 466	16.3	2 , 276	5.5	2 , 470	5.4	9	0.02	8	0.01
Andijan Obl.	6 , 849	13.9	7 , 399	13.7	1 , 040	2.1	1 , 146	2.1	3	0.07	0	0
Bukhara Obl.	2 , 611	8.7	3 , 716	11.9	402	1.3	538	1.7	0	0	0	0
Djizak Obl.	2 , 598	11.7	2 , 593	11.5	234	1.0	231	1.0	0	0	0	0
Kashka-Darya Obl.	5020	9.4	4 , 570	8.0	282	0.5	428	0.7	0	0	0	0
Navoi Obl.	2 , 145	13.7	2 , 726	16.5	157	1.0	197	1.1	0	0	0	0
Namangan Obl.	3 , 357	8.0	4 , 412	8.7	205	0.5	456	0.9	0	0	0	0
Samarkand Obl.	4 , 817	8.2	5 , 031	8.2	765	1.3	745	1.2	4	0.06	1	0
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	5 , 556	14.1	5 , 487	13.2	201	0.5	266	0.6	0	0	1	0
Syr-Darya Obl.	2 , 456	17.0	2 , 365	16.0	129	0.9	127	0.8	0	0	0	0
Tashkent Obl.	5 , 322	12.2	6 , 011	12.7	696	1.6	672	1.4	0	0	0	0
Fergana Obl.	7 , 323	12.4	9 , 690	13.9	997	1.7	1 , 215	1.7	0	0	0	0
Khorezm Obl.	2 , 055	7.0	3 , 204	10.2	180	0.6	223	0.7	0	0	0	0
Republic of Karakalpakstan	4 , 160	12.0	5 , 029	14.6	819	2.0	911	2.6	0	0	0	0
Uzbekistan	60 , 403	11.3	69 , 699	12.1	8 , 383	1.5	9 , 625	1.6	16	0.00	10	0.00

4.12. Facilities for Mother and Child for 2007

	Ped . diagnostic centre	Reproduct - ive centres		Centre for Mother and Child		Obl . pediatric surgery centres		Children’s orthopedic centre		Cardio-rheumatology centre		Perinatal centres		Marriage and the Family Centre	Screening centre		Pediatric rehabilita- tion centre		Pediatric surgical endoscopy centres
Fac.	Fac.	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	Fac.	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds
Republic of Uzbekistan	1	4	3	496	1	200	1	150	1	120	4	690	2	10	2	120	1	40
Republic of Karakalpakstan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Andijan Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bukhara Obl.	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	70	-	-
Djizak Obl.	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kashka-Darya Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Navoi Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Namangan Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Samarkand Obl.	-	-	1	160	1	200	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Syr-Darya Obl.	-	-	1	60	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tashkent Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	50	-	-
Fergana Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Khorezm Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	185	-	1	-	-	-	-
City of Tashkent	1	-	1	276	-	-	-	-	1	120	2	380	-	-	-	-	-	-
Repub. fac., city of Tashkent	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	125	-	1	-	-	1	40
Repub. fac., Tashkent Obl.	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-	150	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

4.13. Facilities for Mother and Child for 2007

	No . of maternity hospitals		Mother and Child hospitals		Poliomyelitis hospitals		Pediatric rayon hospitals		Pediatric neurological hospitals		Institute of Obstetrics and Gynae-cology		Branches of Institute of Obstetr . and Gynae-cology		Oblast pediatric hospitals		City pediatric hospitals		Pediatric infectious hospitals		Pediatric tuberculosis hospitals		Other pediatric hospitals (obl. pediatric surgery)
Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds	Fac.	beds
Republic of Uzbekistan	4 7	6 , 010	2	145	1	100	6	370	1	250	1	230	4	815	12	2 , 942	25	3 , 107	36	3 , 235	2	150	1	110
Republic of Karakalpak-stan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	200	1	142	-	-	1	120	-	-	-	-
Andijan Obl.	4	670	1	75	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	250	2	220	2	460	-	-	1	110
Bukhara Obl.	4	460	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	195	-	-	1	275	-	-	-	-
Djizak Obl.	2	160	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	165	1	110	-	-	-	-	1	50	-	-
Kashka-Darya Obl.	4	570	-	-	-	-	2	160	-	-	-	-	1	200	1	455	7	700	5	400	-	-	-	-
Navoi Obl.	1	150	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	125	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Namangan Obl.	2	310	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	250	1	370	3	389	3	330	-	-	-	-
Samarkand Obl.	4	505	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	320	2	238	1	40	-	-	-	-
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	2	170	-	-	-	-	1	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	300	-	-	1	110	-	-	-	-
Syr-Darya Obl.	-	-	1	70	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	175	-	-	1	120	-	-	-	-
Tashkent Obl.	10	999	-	-	-	-	3	170	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	500	10	640	-	-	-	-
Fergana Obl.	3	580	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	225	3	339	8	420	-	-	-	-
Khorezm Obl.	2	215	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	275	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
City of Tashkent	9	1 , 221	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	721	3	320	1	100	-	-
Repub. fac., city of Tashkent	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	250	1	230	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Repub. fac., Tashkent Obl.	-	-	-	-	1	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

4.14. Staffing tables and staffing levels for obstetrician-gynaecologists in treatment and prevention facilities for the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2007

		For entire facility		Polyclinic
Staffing table	Filled	Individuals	% of full complement	Coefficient of overlap	Staffing table	Filled	Individuals
Republic of Uzbekistan	5 , 631	5 , 537.75	4 , 494	98.3	1.2	2 , 366	2 , 371.75	2 , 084
Republic of Karakalpakstan	319	306	283	95.9	1.1	151	144	141
Andijan Obl.	378	376	308	99.5	1.2	143	141	114
Bukhara Obl.	481	426	366	88.6	1.2	167.5	162.5	161
Djizak Obl.	234	230	151	98.6	1.5	94	94	80
Kashka-Darya Obl.	453	446	367	98.5	1.2	187	182	152
Navoi Obl.	1295	126.25	98	97.5	1.3	43	42.25	31
Namangan Obl.	392	390	380	99.5	1.0	147	146	162
Samarkand Obl.	530	523.25	538	98.7	1.0	274.5	268.5	264
Surkhan-Darya Obl.	403	377	265	93.5	1.4	163	160	109
Syr-Darya Obl.	184	174	98	94.6	1.8	71	58	34
Tashkent Obl.	488.5	465.25	321	95.2	1.4	195.5	181.75	142
Fergana Obl.	429.5	528	344	122.9	1.5	127.25	228.5	154
Khorezm Obl.	332	319.5	219	96.2	1.5	194	174.5	173
City of Tashkent	877.5	850.5	756	96.9	1.1	408.25	388.75	367

4.15. Information on occupational morbidity among women in the Republic of Uzbekistan (as of 31 December 2007)

Number of working women in the Republic - 719,427

number of women who work in harmful or hazardous conditions - 143,988

Number of individuals with occupational illness total for republic - 7,779

number of women with occupational illnesses - 1,958 (25.1%)

Number of individuals with first-time diagnosis of occupationalillness

total for 2005-2007 - 349

of whom are women - 58 (16.6%)

broken down by year:

2005, total121, of whom are women 18 (15%)

2006, total 95, of whom are women 18 (19%)

2007, total133, of whom are women 22 (16.5%)

Structure of occupational illness among women of the Republic:

diseases of the ear, nose, and throat - 22%

chronic bronchitis - 20%

industrial poisoning (lead, mercury, organic solvents and others) - 11%

acute and chronic pesticide poisoning - 10%

bronchial asthma - 9%

diseases of the skin (occupational dermatoses) - 9%

varicose conditions of the lower extremities - 5%

Annex No. 5 (to Article 13)

5.1. Data of the Society of the Disabled on the number of disabled women in Uzbekistan

No.	Territory	Total number of disabled women as of 1 January 2008	Total number of disabled women working as of 1 April 2008		Consisting of
Group 1 disabled	Group 2 disabled	Group 3 disabled
1.	Republic of Karakalpakstan	32 , 143	520	8	182	330
2	Andijan Obl.	42 , 701	1 , 496	38	1 , 001	457
3	Bukhara Obl.	23 , 412	2 , 582	42	2 , 116	424
4	Djizak Obl.	16 , 672	1 , 803	20	1 , 543	240
5	Kashka-Darya Obl.	26 , 812	784	26	236	522
6	Navoi Obl.	18 , 844	1 , 318	18	868	432
7	Namangan Obl.	27 , 045	1 , 312	19	705	588
8	Samarkand Obl.	46 , 200	1 , 809	51	1 , 265	493
9	Surkhan-Darya Obl.	20 , 373	895	39	549	307
10	Syr-Darya Obl.	16 , 698	2 , 813	19	2 , 721	73
11	Tashkent Obl.	30 , 612	2 , 844	21	1 , 826	997
12	Fergana Obl.	48 , 766	2 , 507	40	1 , 759	708
13	Khorezm Obl.	23 , 303	1 , 730	34	1 , 467	229
14	City of Tashkent	28 , 957	3 , 240	41	1 , 921	1 , 278
	Total	402 , 538	25 , 653	416	18 , 159	7 , 078

Annex No. 6 (to Article 14)

6.1. State Statistics Committee

Demographic indicators for 2007

	Migration of rural women (in persons )
Arrivals	Departures	Migration increase	Ratio of permanent population of women (as of beginning of year, number of urban women per 1,000 rural women)
Republic of Uzbekistan	38,943	60,582	-21,639	565
Republic of Karakalpakstan	3,379	8,864	-5,485	971
Oblasts :
Andijan	2,736	2,625	111	419
Bukhara	1,883	2,904	-1,021	409
Djizak	2,933	5,128	-2,195	434
Kashka-Darya	1,854	3,020	-1,166	326
Navoi	955	1,937	-982	630
Namangan	1,218	1,372	-154	589
Samarkand	3,870	6,294	-2,424	339
Surkhan-Darya	5,175	6,756	-1,581	241
Syr-Darya	2,487	4,078	-1,591	438
Tashkent	5,785	9,879	-4,094	657
Fergana	3,784	4,737	-953	395
Khorezm	2,884	2,988	-104	283

6.2. GENDER ASPECTS OF BUSINESS

Number of business persons who are members of the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, by region, as of 1 January 2006

		Total, in persons		As a percentage of the total		Distribution by sex, as a percentage
Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men
Republic of Uzbekistan	1 , 477	4 , 912	100.0	100.0	23.1	76.9
Republic of Karakalpakstan	22	114	1.5	2.3	16.2	83.8
Oblasts :
Andijan	26	196	1.8	4.0	11.7	88.3
Bukhara	138	506	9.3	10.3	21.4	78.6
Djizak	71	231	4.8	4.7	23.5	76.5
Kashka-Darya	494	1 , 306	33.4	26.6	27.4	72.6
Navoi	107	411	7.2	8.4	20.7	79.3
Namangan	220	360	14.9	7.3	37.9	62.1
Samarkand	43	400	2.9	8.1	9.7	90.3
Surkhan-Darya	40	207	2.7	4.2	16.2	83.8
Syr-Darya	3	12	0.2	0.2	20.0	80.0
Tashkent	110	372	7.4	7.6	22.8	77.2
Fergana	76	400	5.1	8.1	16.0	84.0
Khorezm	82	222	5.6	4.5	27.0	73.0
City of Tashkent	45	175	3.0	3.6	20.5	79.5