Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 1 October 2020, the UN headquarters in New York hosted a global summit dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing + 25).

The high-level videoconference was attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Chairman of the 75th session of the General Assembly Folkan Bozkir, head of UN Women, Fumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, leaders and representatives of more than 173 countries, experts from specialized agencies, funds and programs of the Organization, and also leaders of women’s non-governmental organizations and civil society.

The delegation of the Republic of Uzbekistan was represented by the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the Chairman of the Commission on Gender Equality of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, who made a speech in Uzbek.

The main purpose of the forum was to review the implementation by countries of the provisions of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), progress achieved in the field of gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls in the context of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted during the Fourth World Conference on Women, held on 4-15 September 1995 in Beijing (PRC). It was emphasized that the Beijing Platform for Action is an international document in which states have formulated obligations to protect and promote women’s rights. And today, it is the gold standard for gender equality and the empowerment of women. It identifies 12 critical areas of concern where decisive action is needed.

Strategic goals are identified on the basis of critical areas of concern, and the specific actions to be taken to achieve them address issues of equality, development and peace. The Platform for Action aims to improve the situation of all women without exception. The document drew the attention of the world community to many areas in which it is necessary to ensure equality between men and women.

In this context, the global summit has become a bright and significant event in the life of the world community, where all the positive aspects of the work done to support women were discussed. Participants reviewed in detail the progress made in improving the status of women around the world over the past quarter century. In particular, advances in girls’ education, women’s economic empowerment and political participation, and active reform efforts aimed at abolishing discriminatory laws.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, UN Secretary General A. Guterres noted that over the past 25 years after the adoption of the declaration by the states, great work has been done, thanks to which the status of women in society has significantly increased throughout the world.

During the large-scale forum, the heads of the delegations of the countries informed about the progress of their governments’ implementation of measures to implement the provisions of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the promotion and empowerment of women.

Speaking at the meeting, Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva acquainted the participants with the practical measures adopted in our country in recent years and the ongoing reforms to provide comprehensive support for women, ensure gender equality and empower them, which are identified by priority areas of state policy, especially during a pandemic.

The speech of the Chairman of the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan aroused particular interest among the participants of the event. They welcomed and highly appreciated the measures taken in the republic to improve the status of women, enhance their participation in the implementation of state policy, in the social and political life and socio-economic development of the country, as well as their involvement in decision-making processes.