Conference brings gender equality into Uzbekistan’s forestry sector

Attended by a wide range of national and international experts, a conference on implementing the Strategy for Gender Equality in the Forestry System of Uzbekistan was organized in Tashkent by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with Uzbekistan’s State Forestry Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Center for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture.

In close cooperation with FAO, Uzbekistan has recently introduced the principles of gender equality in forest management policies and practices. One of the biggest achievements in this regards is the first long-term, budgeted Corporate Gender Strategy of the State Forestry Committee for 2021–2025.

Developed in consultations with relevant national actors within the framework of the FAO project "Sustainable forest management in mountain and valley areas of Uzbekistan," the Strategy builds on advanced foreign experience.

"During 2019–2021, we analyzed Uzbekistan’s forestry sector from a gender perspective and studied the opinion of the local population living in forest areas and adjacent settlements; gaps and shortcomings of the legal framework were identified," said Olimjon Kakhkharov, technical coordinator of the FAO project. “Based on the information gathered, the gender strategy and the action plan of the State Forestry Committee for the period 2021–2025 were developed, reflecting the main priorities and needs of forest-dependent communities.”

The project supports four districts representing different types of forest ecosystems in Uzbekistan; Syrdarya, Dekhkanabad, Kitab, and Pop state forest organizations. In these regions, FAO is working on establishing sustainable forest management, forest area information systems, and electronic maps, as well as involving the local population in the forest management process.

Participants of today’s сonference also presented and discussed the activities of Gender Councils under the State Forestry Committee, the Forestry Committee of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and other regional departments of forestry organizations.

9 December 2021, Tashkent, Uzbekistan