Uzbekistan - Country Gender Assessment 2024

Addressing gender gaps is critical to the success of Uzbekistan’s inclusive transformation. Uzbekistan’s national income would be about 29 percent higher if women were to participate in equal measure to men. If working women were simply to catch up to the wages earned by men, the increased income would pull more than 700,000 people out of poverty. What prevents Uzbekistan from realizing such massive potential This Country Gender Assessment identifies strengths and examines the remaining barriers to greater equality within Uzbekistan’s ongoing social and economic transformation. It consolidates existing analytical work by the government, the World Bank, development partners, academia, and others. Ultimately, it proposes a set of high-priority goals essential to closing the gap between Uzbekistan’s current performance and its potential for more inclusive prosperity. The enduring challenge of gender inequality holds Uzbekistan back from its development potential. Comparing to global benchmarks identifies many of the strengths and weaknesses in Uzbekistan’s recent performance with regards to gender equality. In the 2022 global Gender Development Index, which measures gaps in human development achievements across health, knowledge, and living standards, Uzbekistan is ranked 106 out of 189 countries. Since monitoring began, life expectancy is the only component of the index for which women have ranked higher than men. Legal impediments to equality measured by the Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) index in 2023 revealed that Uzbekistan, with a score of just 70.6, ranked at the bottom of the list of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) countries, especially with respect to legislation addressing gender-based violence (GBV), equality in the workplace, equal pay, parenthood, and pensions. It should be noted however that recent legislation promises to raise the country’s future performance on the WBL measure in 2024, especially with respect to GBV and workplace protections introduced in the country’s new labor code. Despite challenges, Uzbekistan performs relatively well in several critical dimensions, above all with respect to equal access to basic health and education services, as is highlighted in the country’s strong performance in the global Gender Inequality Index. Collectively, these comparisons suggest that while Uzbekistan has a strong tradition investing in human capital for both men and women, an urgent agenda to foster a more inclusive society remains incomplete. But success promises to generate a virtuous circle of gender equity and economic growth.