Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Representatives of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington met with the Assistant Secretary of State, the Head of the Department of State’s Department for Global Women’s Issues, and Special Envoy Kelley Currie, Dunyo news agency reported.

The department of the State Department, headed by Kelley Currie, is the main executive body of all the projects and initiatives of the current administration in the field of protecting the rights and interests of women in the world, actively promoting gender issues abroad.

During the negotiations, information was provided on measures taken under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to strengthen the role and importance of women in public and public life, their participation in decision-making processes in all sectors of government.

It is noted that among the women of our country there are about 30 members of parliament, including the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, who took this place for the first time in the history of independent Uzbekistan, as well as more than 10 leaders of local authorities.

It is emphasized that today in the country all conditions are created for the full realization of the potential of women, any discriminatory elements are eliminated, increased attention is paid to obtaining a quality education, and the necessary incentives for female entrepreneurship are provided.

Particular attention was paid to the work of the Education Center in Termez, where young Afghans, including women, are trained in the specialties demanded by the economy of Afghanistan.

Ambassador Kelley Currie welcomed the efforts undertaken in Uzbekistan in the field of gender equality, promoting the widespread involvement of women in the country’s political and social life, and promoting programs for the education of women in Afghanistan.

According to her, the American side positively assesses the decisive shifts in our country, which are becoming a real driver of growth in the activity of the female half of society, not only in Uzbekistan, but also in Central Asia as a whole.

According to the representative of the State Department, the republic’s leadership deserves great recognition for the great progress in eradicating forced labor, the victims of which were not only men but also women, who represented mainly vulnerable segments of the population.

According to the Uzbek diplomatic mission in the United States, initiatives such as the creation of the Commission on Gender Equality in the Senate of the Oliy Majlis and the adoption of the law on guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for women and men are assessed by the American side as evidence of the irreversibility of the initiated changes and the firm determination of the leadership of Uzbekistan to continue course to strengthen the new image of the country and further deepen reforms.

The negotiations also discussed the prospects for inclusion of Uzbekistan in the US Global Initiative on Women’s Development and Prosperity (Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative), launched in February 2019 by President Donald Trump. This initiative is a project to help women in developing countries by financing programs aimed at creating equal employment opportunities for women (education and training), supporting entrepreneurship, creating legislative and institutional mechanisms that remove obstacles to women’s widespread involvement in economic processes.

For these purposes, the US Agency for International Development has created a US$50 million fund, which is planned to be expanded, including by attracting funds from the World Bank, IMF, and large American business.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on organizing mutual visits of delegations of the two countries in order to establish and strengthen dialogue on pressing issues of ensuring gender equality as the epidemiological situation in the world normalizes.