On Monday, 19 June, Astana hosted a meeting of the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian countries devoted to the ‘The role of women in innovations and technologies development’, organized with the support of the United Nations and the National Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan, the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan said in a press release.
The forum was attended by parliament speakers of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, parliament members from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, heads of public agencies, as well as representatives of non-governmental and international organizations, the diplomatic corps.
The Speaker of the Majilis (lower house) of Kazakhstan Parliament Yerlan Koshanov during his welcoming remarks, noted that the elimination of the digital gender gap should become a priority in the countries of Central Asia.
“President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is convinced that the level of development of the country is measured by the position of women in society. We believe that today’s meeting will contribute to the comprehensive expansion of women’s participation in the social, economic and political life of the countries of the region. In this regard, modern information and communication technologies create new opportunities for gender equality,” Koshanov said.
In her speech, Chair of the National Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva focused on the integration of the efforts of active women from the countries of the Central Asian region, the women’s business community, academic and scientific circles, non-governmental and civil sectors. “Given this platform and the active potential of its participants, we can jointly address common problems of improving the quality of life of women, our families, especially in the face of global and regional challenges,” she said.
She also proposed to expand cooperation between academic and expert communities of Central Asian countries on topical issues of demographic development, gender equality, implement projects in the field of tourism, culture, interact in the field of ecology, develop trade, including digital.
The meeting was moderated by the Deputy Chairman of the Majilis Daniya Espayeva. She shared on the priorities of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian countries, including digitalization as a new effective tool for the broad involvement of women in socio-economic relations.
Kazakhstan also intends to expand the exchange of experience on the role of women in ensuring peace and security.
The session resulted in the adoption of an Action Plan for the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian Countries for 2023. It envisages the holding of the International Conference “Women, Peace and Security” in Almaty.
Then at the thematic session titled ‘Best practices in the field of innovation and technology development with the participation of women’ the participants of the event discussed digital projects aimed at the development of women’s startups, the topics of artificial intelligence, digitalization in rural areas.
The also reviewed developments aimed at solving topical issues of family and society, women’s entrepreneurship, vocational education and employment.
The pressing issues that the regional community of women is facing were brought up. According to the UN Women Regional Office, more than 60 million women in Europe and Central Asia do not have access to mobile Internet and therefore miss opportunities for education and economic development more often than men.
Gender inequality in the exact and natural sciences turns out to be cross-cutting. It begins in high school, strengthens in high school, increases in university and ends with the labor market. As a result, women are relatively underrepresented in the areas of creating technical and technological innovations.
At the same time, experts believe that modern digital revolution opens up chances for the economic and social empowerment for women, and can be used to advance gender equality, a goal shared by all Central Asian countries.
The Women’s Dialogue of Central Asian countries is an informal platform for discussing topical issues of development and strengthening cooperation between women in the region. The dialog was launched in December 2020.
In previous years, the Dialogue was chaired by Uzbekistan (2021) and Turkmenistan (2022). The Dialogue was established and operates with the support of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), headquartered in Ashgabat, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the UN-Women. ///nCa, 20 June 2023
UNRCCA participates in the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Caucus meeting
On 19 June, In Astana, Kazakhstan, UNRCCA participated in the opening event of the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC) under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan in 2023. The event was focused on coordinating the WLC’s priorities and plans for 2023 and included a special session on the role of women of Central Asia in innovation and technology development. Hosted by the Deputy Chairperson of Majilis and the current Chair of the CAWLC, Ms. Dania Espaeva, the event gathered representatives from all Central Asian States, female political leaders as well as prominent female tech entrepreneurs and civil society.
Presenting the WLC’s plans for 2023, Ms. Espaeva, apart from the priorities promoted by the previous WLC chairmanships, proposed to expand the CAWLC’s scope of activities to gender-based violence and the role of women in innovation and technologies.
In his video address, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations and the UNRCCA Officer-in-Charge, Miroslav Jenča, called on the CAWLC to further step up its effort to promote participation of women in peacebuilding processes, following up the decisions of the chairmanships of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in CAWLC in 2021 and 2022 respectively. He also encouraged the platform to explore avenues for engaging with women of Afghanistan. Noting the CAWLC’s contribution to positive political dynamics in the region, he stressed the key role of the platform in promoting implementation of the Global Women, Peace and Security Agenda across Central Asia.
The session dedicated to Women in Innovation Technology development saw presentations and exchange of ideas on most creative and fast-growing women-led tech startups from all Central Asian States.
The event concluded by adopting the Final Document, including recommendations on promoting empowerment of women in the field of technology development and innovation in Central Asia.
The event marked the continuous relevance of the CAWLC – the network of prominent women leaders of Central Asia, supported by UNRCCA, UNDP and UN Women since its establishment in December 2020. ///UNRCCA, 19 June 2023
CAWLC, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Women’s Dialogue