Foreign minister receives representative of UN Women in Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, Dec. 5, 2020 / Kabar /. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbaev received UN Women Country Office representative in the Kyrgyz Republic Ulziisuren Jamsran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan reported.

During the meeting, issues of cooperation in the field of empowering women, as well as promoting gender equality at the national and local levels were discussed.

Kazakbaev paid special attention to assistance in improving the socio-economic situation of women and girls, especially in rural areas, ensuring their access to health care and education, as well as providing support to women who find themselves in difficult life situations: single mothers, women migrants left without daily income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, he noted the importance of UN Women's response to the urgent needs of women and girls in vulnerable situations, calling for special attention to support rehabilitation and crisis centers for women who have experienced violence.

In turn, Jamsran welcomed the main achievements of Kyrgyzstan in the development of gender equality. In particular, she emphasized the progress in improving national legislation and gender-oriented national programs, as well as in fulfilling the international obligations of the Kyrgyz Republic under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Role of Women in ensuring peace and security.

She noted that UN Women has involved leading international experts to assist the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and other national partners in the implementation of commitments to achieve gender equality, and also reaffirmed its readiness to continue its full support for the empowerment of women, including within existing projects and programs.

The sides agreed that, despite the progress made by the Kyrgyz Republic in the development of gender equality, it is necessary to continue joint efforts to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls, and also to improve their socio-economic situation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, the sides expressed their intention to strengthen cooperation by creating a Roadmap, in accordance with the priority issues of the gender agenda of the Kyrgyz Republic.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Kazakbaev thanked UN Women for the long-term support provided to the Kyrgyz Republic in the development of gender equality, and expressed hope for further continuation of fruitful interaction.