WOMEN RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
In the period of the Revival of the New Epoch of the Powerful State the efforts of Honorable President of Turkmenistan, the current time represents full triumph in ensuring and unconditional observance of human rights and freedoms in compliance with universally recognized norms of the international law. These rights are enshrined in the Constitution and guaranteed by the laws of Turkmenistan. The issues of ensuring, stimulating, protecting and observing the human and civil rights and freedoms are indicated among the strategic vectors of the political course initiated and implemented by the head of the state.
The issues of granting equal rights and ensuring equal opportunities for women remain among the significant priorities of the state strategy. The empowerment of women and the enhancement of their economic and political status are important in the context of ensuring sustainable development in all areas of the public and social life. Turkmenistan realizes active policy to provide for gender equality and therefore define the task of implementing the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men as the basic principle of intensification of the political issue. By providing equal opportunities for women in all areas of the sociopolitical life, in various economic sectors and segments, Turkmenistan pays special attention and emphasizes the priority of eliminating legal discrimination based on gender in the system of the national law.
Our Hero Arkadag, emphasized the importance of supporting the efforts of women in the fields of science and private entrepreneurship, the introduction of positive applied developments accumulated by members of the Women's Union within the framework of stimulating the women's activity. The National Action Plan to Provide Gender Equality in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025 was adopted, the main objectives of which are the introduction of promising development mechanisms in the context of working up and implementation of gender-oriented state policy in various areas of the public life, coordination of actions of the government authorities, social organizations and associations to prevent the facts of legal discrimination on the basis of gender, create conditions for ensuring and observing gender equality, full realization of individual opportunities and abilities of women and men in all areas of life. In particular, the Plan The National Action Plan to Provide Gender Equality addresses the issues of women's employment, the provision of information and orientation support through the resources of the mass media for the positive experience of women's business and self-employment. This Plan was adopted basically in accordance with the legal norms of the Constitution of Turkmenistan. Article 29 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan states: «A man and a woman in Turkmenistan have equal rights and freedoms, and equal opportunities for their realization». In the text of the law of Turkmenistan «On state guarantees of ensuring equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men», the above-mentioned constitutional principle is further developed through specific legislative norms and organizational methods of their implementation.
Deep honor to a woman, respect to her work, talent is one of the imperishable traditions of our people for centuries. From the first days of independence, gender equality received powerful development, having led to formation of the modern principles as one of the basic vectors of the state policy. The development and deepening of its constitutional and legal foundations contributes to the creation of favorable conditions for the educational, physical and intellectual development, free and fruitful work of women, the effective realization of their own creative abilities and private entrepreneurial initiative. The national legislation, based on the principles of constitutional equality, provides for important basic foundations and guarantees that allow creating equal conditions for achieving equal inclusion of men and women in power structures, women's economic independence, the development of their own commercial and private entrepreneurial activities and successful career growth, equal criteria for the exercise of rights and responsibilities in the family. From the standpoint of gender equality, the implementation of correspondence of Turkmenistan's national legislation to the international norms and the gender analysis of the situation, as well as the results of the gender division and the main indicators of the status of women indicate progress in various areas and consistent work on further development of the gender policy. Currently, women successfully work in numerous government authorities, institutions, including in the National Parliament of Turkmenistan.
The issues of women's private entrepreneurial activity, empowerment of women are recognized as the perspective direction in the context of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and their relevance is increasing. Private entrepreneurship makes it possible to ensure the economic independence of a woman, allows her, through the formation and accumulation of funds, not only to satisfy her own needs, but also to significantly improve her social status, strengthen the well-being of her family and society as a whole. Where gender criteria are met, the confident success of implemented programs and strategies is seen. Thus, the development of women's private entrepreneurship contributes to the social stability of the society and the state. Among the basic criteria and factors that create favorable prerequisites for the development of women's business in the country, the following are indicated: favorable political and legislative situation, growth of financial, credit and economic potential, effective support to business and communications, as well as active development and implementation of progressive information and communication technologies.
Taking into account the creative initiatives proclaimed by the Head of the State, during the regular meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held on April 20, 2021 Turkmenistan was elected a member of the Executive Board of the UN Office for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Matters for the period 2022-2024. This fact suggested the evidence of full recognition and approval by the world community of positive nature of the international initiatives of our state. As a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly, the UN Women Office was established in 2010 with the aim of improving the effectiveness of institutions and organizations dealing with gender equality and the empowerment of women. This structure functions as the main coordinating body of the UN system on issues of gender equality. The Executive Council of the «UN-Women» performs the main administrative functions. The structure includes 51 members elected by the UN Economic and Social Council for a 3-year term. This decision is organically combined with the efforts of the Government of Turkmenistan to involve women in the socio-political, economic, social and cultural life of the country.
Consecutive job is done to implement the proposals of the relevant UN units and the measures outlined in the national socioeconomic development programs. These program measures imply decisive steps in the field of protection of reproductive health of women, men and adolescents, creation of new job places for the population, further improvement of professional qualification of women, stimulation of women's private enterprise initiative, as well as expansion of women's participation in industries with high wages.
Gulsenem HOMMADOVA,
Lecturer of the International Law and Comparative Jurisprudence Department
Institute of International Relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan