Turkmenistan Parliament has reviewed the national legislation on its compliance with the international legal instruments in the area of gender equality. The national legislation review was facilitated by United Nations Population Fund’s international gender expert Dr. Aysel Vazirova in close consultations with Mejlis of Turkmenistan and Country Office in Turkmenistan,
The members of Parliament of Turkmenistan discussed the key findings and the recommendations of the review, including the compliance of the general principles of all included in the research of conventions and relevant national laws in the field of gender equality.
“The review is an important tool for ensuring that laws are grounded in gender equality and women’s human rights and fully implemented, as part of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Turkmenistan,” said Dr. Vazirova. “The review is one of the substantive parts of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality in Turkmenistan for 2015-2020.”
Three key conclusions of the review included lack of a separate legal act and legislation on gender-based violence, need to expand the definition of “discrimination against women” and inclusion of the gender stereotypes into the existing legal acts, among other recommendations.
The review suggests development of the legislation on gender-based violence, which includes a definition of the gender-based violence as one of the forms of gender discrimination and human rights violation. The legislation must also include the definition of different forms of gender-based violence, including physical, sexual, economic and psychological.
In Turkmenistan, UNFPA has been a strategic partner of the Government and Mejlis of Turkmenistan in advancing the women’s rights, promoting gender equality and supporting Turkmenistan’s national human rights system in fulfilling its obligations under the international human rights treaties, including the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
“UNFPA will continue to advocate and to facilitate technical support in advancing equality under the law as it is a prerequisite for gender equality. We believe that legislating is not enough, parliamentarians must make sure laws are enforced and supported with evidence. UNFPA in Turkmenistan welcomes the decision of the Government of Turkmenistan to hold its first-ever national survey on the health and status of a woman in the family,” said Ms. Bayramgul Garabayeva, UNFPA Assistant Representative. “Data collection on the situation of violence against women is a necessary first step to ensure awareness and consistency in the development of legislative acts and support programmes in this area, the results of the national survey can serve as a solid base to revise existing and develop new legislation along with the findings of the gender legislation rveiew. UNFPA continues to technically support this important data collection exercise and strengthen the national system to promote gender equality.”
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For additional information, please contact:
Bayramgul Garabayeva, UNFPA Assistant Representative
Dovran Yamatov, UNFPA Programme Associate on Gender equality
Tel: 488325
Web: turkmenistan.unfpa.org, tm.one.un.org
