The Global Summit of Women, held in Beijing, has become an international platform aimed at promoting gender equality and increasing women’s participation in society. This event was organized as a continuation of the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, which took place in China in 1995. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at that conference, remain key international documents on the protection of women’s rights, gender equality, and social development.

At the summit, participants discussed topics such as digital inequality, economic opportunities, and women’s participation in governance and decision-making. President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping delivered an address, recalling his statement at the United Nations in 2015 that women’s development must advance in parallel with economic progress.

According to experts, significant progress has been achieved worldwide in recent years in the field of women’s rights protection. In particular, maternal mortality has decreased by one-third, and the number of women in national parliaments in most countries has doubled. Thirty years ago, laws against violence existed in only 12 countries, while today they are in force in 193.

In China, women are also actively engaged in higher education, science, and entrepreneurship. The country’s legal and political systems provide favorable conditions for their participation and advancement in these fields.

So, what is the current situation in this regard in Uzbekistan? According to representatives of the Uzbekistan delegation participating in the international summit, under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, large-scale reforms are being implemented, based on the principle of upholding human dignity. The country’s development strategy defines family and women’s support and the promotion of gender equality as key national priorities. Uzbekistan is consistently implementing its own model, which, within the framework of the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy, sets specific goals for strengthening the system of comprehensive support for women, ensuring their rights and legitimate interests, and increasing their economic participation.

As a result of implementing the Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality by 2030 within the Sustainable Development Goals, the share of women in public and state administration has exceeded 35 percent. Government programs focused on housing provision, maternal and child health, youth support, particularly for girls, at all stages of education, and the creation of broader opportunities for them have become an effective nationwide system. In this context, Uzbekistan has developed the National Program “Family Well-Being”.

In recent years, preschool education coverage in Uzbekistan has increased from 27 to 78 percent, while women’s enrollment in higher education has reached 54 percent. As part of this process, the state has provided special support to women in need of social protection, doubled government allowances, and increased the admission quota for women without higher education fivefold.

Women are now eligible for interest-free education loans, and the state budget fully funds master’s degree studies without repayment obligations. As a result, more than 64 percent of master’s students in the country’s universities are women.

The “From Poverty to Prosperity” program is being implemented, and through the “Mahallabay” (Neighborhood-Based) system, individual work is being carried out with each household and family to provide the necessary resources to increase women’s income and promote self-sufficiency.

At the same time, more than 600 million women worldwide still live in conflict conditions, and over 2 billion remain without social protection. This reality calls for continuous effort, international cooperation, and solidarity. Building a society in which women can independently shape their future and fully realize their potential is a shared goal for all of us. In this regard, the Beijing Summit once again reaffirmed that women’s rights are an integral part of human rights.

Muhayyo Toshqorayeva, UzA