Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 May 2022, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan with a delegation of the Association of Women in Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic, headed by the President of the Association, Altynai Abdykerimova. 

During the event, the activities of the Association, which was established as an independent body uniting professional women in the energy sector, were presented. 

This body provides comprehensive support, promotes ideas, supports women energy workers, creates a common territory for them, where there is an opportunity to discuss the implementation of women in the energy sector. The objective of this initiative is to unite women and girls, create a platform for discussion and implementation of educational, mentoring initiatives, ensuring gender balance so that the number of women leaders in the energy sector of Kyrgyzstan increases, and for women to strive for career growth in this area.

Elmira Bekmurodova, Chairman of the Gender Council under the Ministry of Energy, shared her experience of the system of the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan in this direction during the meeting. It was noted that a number of legal acts have been adopted in Uzbekistan, including decrees and resolutions of the President of the country, to ensure women’s rights, in particular, gender equality and protection of women, strengthening the status of women’s entrepreneurship.

As Bekmurodova emphasized, significant efforts have been made in the Ministry of Energy, at enterprises and organizations of the system in recent years to ensure gender equality and increase the role of women in public and political life. Equal opportunities have been created for women and men in the field of employment under the system of the Ministry of Energy. As the monitoring shows, there have been no cases of refusal or dismissal based on gender in employment.

There are tangible positive steps in terms of introducing gender equality, as only 15 women work in the central office of the ministry, 4 of whom hold leadership positions.

To date, 120,730 people work in the system of the fuel and energy complex. Of these, 13,700 are women, of whom 3,120 have higher education, 7,500 have specialized secondary education, and 3,800 have secondary education.

In general, safe working conditions have been created in the system of the Ministry of Energy, ensuring the maintenance of the health of women and men.

Further, the meeting was continued in the ASKUE data center, where the chairmen and representatives of the Gender Councils of joint-stock companies supervised by the Ministry of Energy, as well as subordinate structures of the Ministry of Energy, met.

The delegation of the Association of Women in Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic also got acquainted with the Information Center for Nuclear Technologies of the Uzatom Agency.