Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

sessment of the Possibilities for Income Diversification through Rural Crafts 
Development: In Support of Small Businesses and Job Creation Women and Men in Rural Communities in the Republic of 
Uzbekistan
. pp. 19–21. Forthcoming.
43 
article 68 of the Labor Code provides for additional guarantees for women who need social protection and for those 
experiencing difficulty in finding a job and unable to compete equally in the labor market. among such women are 
single mothers and those with large families that include children under 14 years of age and disabled children. article 
224 prohibits any denial of employment to women or reduction in the pay of those employed due to conditions related 
to pregnancy or child care. the law also instructs employers to rehire women without testing. article 228-1 states that 
“women with children aged up to three years who are working in institutions and state-funded organizations, will enjoy 
reduced duration of working time which is fixed at not more than thirty-five hours a week. the remuneration of these 
women will be of same amount at par with corresponding categories of employees with full working period.”
44 
In particular, pregnant women and women going on for parental leave after completing maternity leave, receive lump-
sum financial support at the rate of 1.2 times the minimum salary. Women or mentioned persons on parental leave have 
the right to receive the benefits as follows: i) maternity leave of 70 calendar days before childbirth, and 56 days days 
after birth (70 days in case of difficult childbirth) with payment of benefits under state social insurance; ii) shorter work 
day schedule; iii) rotation of annual vacation granted to pregnant women or women on parental leave after birth of child, 
and availed of at will, before or after maternity leave or parental leave; iv) option granted to a woman or mentioned 
persons on parental leave to work part-time or from home at will and under an agreement with the employer; and 
(v) preservation of place of employment (posting) is preserved for a woman during parental leave. these leaves are 
included in the calculation of seniority and record of service.

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14
Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
In an effort to promote wage parity between men and women, the government ratified 
International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 100 (equal Remuneration for Men 
and Women Workers for Work of equal Value).
45
Recent legislation regarding job creation 
and employment indirectly relates to women, particularly young people, and includes female 
graduates of professional colleges.
46
Strategy of actions on Further development of Uzbekistan in 2017–2021 directly addresses 
employment for women and female graduates of vocational colleges. as a result, in 2017, micro-
loans totaling SUM11 billion were allocated for the financing of the business plans of female 
college graduates.
47
In an effort to attract female graduates to business and entrepreneurship 
and in cooperation with the Central Bank, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the BWa, 
and the Center for Secondary Specialized Vocational education, the WCU conducts annual 
competitions for the best business project of a female entrepreneur.
48
the BWa also has a special business training program for female college graduates, along 
with further employment opportunities. In 2016–2017, about 3,500 female vocational college 
graduates were hired and more than 550 rural women started a business in response to BWa 
interventions. Up to 120 women from all 13 provinces received training in four directions of 
entrepreneurship and were guided toward a new profession.
49
the government supports home-based businesses. In 2017, socially vulnerable groups (disabled 
persons, mothers with many children, women survivors) in all regions received sewing machines 
and raw materials to help them start a home business. In January–august 2017, targeted 
programs created 62,600 jobs for women—24,000 (38.3%) in industry, 14,500 (23.2%) in 
services, 14,400 (23%) in agriculture, and 13,300 (21.2%) in construction and infrastructure. In 
addition, subsidiary plots, 
dehkan
farms, and family businesses provided 79,300 employment 
opportunities, and individual entrepreneurs created 25,700 jobs. In 2016, about 300,000 jobs 
were created through diverse funding sources on the basis of business plans presented by 
women. In 2017, the government allocated SUM1 trillion for programs set up to involve more 
women and youth in entrepreneurship, family businesses, and home-based labor, and SUM60 
billion for loans to more than 10,000 graduates of secondary special educational institutions.
50
Home-based businesses help women gain access to paid work and at the same time contribute 
to overall development in the rural areas. However, women employed in home businesses carry 
45 
Ratified by Uzbekistan on 30 august 1997.
46 
the latest versions of the Law on Labor protection
 
and the decree of the president on Measures to Further Improve 
State policy in the Field of employment and Radically Improve the efficiency of Labor agencies increases the personal 
responsibility for employment growth among heads of executive authorities and territorial industrial complexes for 
growth of employment, and enhances the effectiveness of measures for the employment of unemployed working-age 
population, especially young people.
47 
Under para. 70 of protocol No. 1 of the Cabinet of Ministers (14 January 2017), Study of the Legitimacy of Jobs 
Created for Women and Graduates of professional Colleges, and provision of Concrete Measures to Increase Women’s 
employment, and Creation of decent Conditions for Work and development of Female entrepreneurship,
 
the WCU, 
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Central Bank, and the association of Banks of Uzbekistan developed and 
endorsed a joint plan of action to ensure interagency cooperation.
48 
In 2016–2017, various educational training programs were organized to help college graduates acquire entrepreneurial 
skills and support in obtaining concessional loans. Students from 800 colleges participated in the competition and 
182,235 girls attended 2,457 training courses; of these, 177 have expressed a desire to start a business. 
49 
data provided by the BWa to adB in November 2017 for theis CGa update.
50 
data provided by the WCU to adB in November 2017 for this CGa update.

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Crosscutting Gender Equality Issues
15
a double burden because they must also perform unpaid reproductive work daily.
51
therefore, 
home-based initiatives should include measures to ease women’s traditional reproductive 
labor and decrease their time poverty and drudgery (e.g., through better access to basic 
infrastructure, sustainable energy, and water supply, allowing them to use time- and labor-
saving home appliances), as well as improvements in social infrastructure (e.g., daily child care 
facilities, longer day classes for primary school students), accompanied by awareness-raising 
interventions promoting gender equality.
D. Gender roles and Norms
Uzbekistan’s civil, criminal, labor, and family laws are based on gender equality, and the 
legal framework for protecting women’s rights complies with international standards. the 
traditional gender contract is not part of formal law or policy.
52
However, it does prescribe the 
roles of women and men that govern gender relations and assigns them different jobs, values, 
responsibilities, and obligations.
53
In Uzbek society, traditional notions associated with to motherhood, children, and family are 
prevalent. If a woman decides to have a career in business, politics, or any other field, she is 
expected to balance her work with her reproductive functions. the traditional distribution of 
family responsibilities usually remains the same, adding to women’s time poverty and limiting 
opportunities for self-development, competitiveness in the labor market, SMe participation, 
and business size
.
It also impedes women’s career choices and aspirations.
Marriage and family are considered the pillars of society.
54
Given a choice, the parents of a 
young girl would opt to marry her off when she completes the mandatory secondary vocational 
education (college or academic lyceum), rather than strive for higher education. this decision 
might also have economic root causes since families, especially those with limited financial 
resources, give preference to sons when it comes to higher education because the daughters 
are expected to marry and leave the family home. Young men also have more leeway to marry at 
a later age, continue their education, or find jobs. these factors increase gender asymmetry in 
higher education.
Several government and nongovernment agencies are mandated to support the family as an 
institution. For instance, a commission under the