Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

On Establishment of the Republican Scientific–Practical Center “Oila”. 
# 54 of 2 February.
http://old.lex.uz/pages/Getact.aspx?lact_id=844011.

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Introduction
3
Uzbekistan, and the Business Women’s association (tadbirkor ayol, or BWa).
6
the decree also 
envisions the establishment of a family-oriented Scientific–practical Research Center, under the 
Cabinet of Ministers, to conduct fundamental, applied, and innovative research in the area of 
family values and traditions. these recent developments allow for more systematic approaches 
to the gender equality issues presented in this assessment.
C. Gender and Development Indicators
table 1 provides basic statistics on social indicators in Uzbekistan.
Table 1: Basic Statistics
Item 
No.
Indicator
year
Value
1.
population (million)
2016
31.85
2.
population below the poverty line (%)
a
2015
12.8
b
3.
average annual population growth
c
(%)
2011–2016
1.9
4.
Maternal mortality rate (’000)
2016
17.4
5.
Infant mortality rate (’000)
2016
10.7
6.
population with access to safe drinking water
d
(%, urban)
2016
93.2
7.
population with access to safe drinking water (%, rural)
2016
75.3
8.
population with access to sanitation (%, urban)
2016
78.7
9.
population with access to sanitation (%, rural)
2016
42.1
10.
primary school gross enrollment (%), for both girls and boys
2016
99.9
a
Cabinet of Ministers. 1998. On the establishment of the Oila National Scientific[en dash]practical Center
(decree No. 54). 2 February. tashkent http://old.lex.uz/pages/Getact.aspx?lact_id=844011.
b
adB. 2017
. Basic Statistics
. Manila. https://www.adb.org/publications/basic-statistics-2017. 
c
From data provided to adB in april 2018 by the State Committee on Statistics for items 3–9.
d
proportion of households whose source of drinking water is surface water, well water drawn with the help of buckets 
or a hand pump, or bottled water.
e
United Nations development programme. 2016. 
Human Development Report 2016
. New York. 
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/UZB.pdf.
6 
president of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 2018. On Measures for Radical Improvement of activities in the Field of 
Support of Women and Strengthening of the Institute of the Family. 2 February. tashkent.

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Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
4
In 2016, Uzbekistan ranked 105th out of 185 countries in the Human development Index and 
was categorized as a high human development country. In the Gender Inequality Index that 
same year, Uzbekistan was rated 57th out of 188 countries, mainly because of women’s.
7
In 2014, the Organisation for economic Co-operation and development (OeCd) included 
Uzbekistan in its Social Institutions and Gender Index. 
8
Uzbekistan ranked 52nd out of 86 non-
OeCd countries and received an overall score of 0.1475 (medium category).
9
Both the Global Gender Gap Index
10
and the Gender equity Index
11
show that Uzbekistan 
is close to attaining gender equality in education (enrollment, educational attainment, and 
literacy) and health (sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy).
despite these positive indicators, issues related to the status of women and gender equality 
still require attention, especially issues regarding (i) significant gender disparities in property 
ownership; (ii) gender asymmetry in higher segments of decision making and managerial 
positions; (iii) horizontal and vertical segregation in the labor market, where women mostly 
have seasonal and low-paid jobs in the formal and informal sectors; and (iv) traditional attitudes 
toward the roles of women and men in the family and society, which predominantly position 
women as mothers and family caretakers.
according to World Bank estimations of the national poverty line, the low-income population 
made up 27.5 % of the total population in 2001.
12
In 2015, 12.8% of the population was below 
the poverty line.
13
poverty-level estimates in Uzbekistan are based on estimates of the World 
Bank, which sets the absolute poverty line according to calorie consumption per person per 
day (2,100). In addition, the government classifies the vulnerable and low-income population 
as poor, and sets the low-income threshold at 1.5 times the minimum wage.
14
although rural 
poverty declined in 2015 (to 15.9%), it remained significantly higher than urban poverty (9.5%) 
(footnote 12).
7 
United Nations development programme. 2016.