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Kyrgyzstan - 3rd periodic report of states parties [2007] UNCEDAWSPR 1; CEDAW/C/KGZ/3 (2 March 2007)

Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against women

Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Third periodic report of States Parties

Kyrgyzstan*

* The present report is being issued without formal editing.

For the initial report submitted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan, see CEDAW/C/KGZ/1, which was considered by the Committee at its twentieth session. For the second periodic report, see CEDAW/C/KGZ/2 and Add.1, which was considered by the Committee at its thirtieth session.

Approved by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic

Ref. No. 20-4/968 of 20 December 2006;

Approved by Decision No. 1 of the National Council on Women, Family, and Gender Development reporting to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic of 21 December 2006

Third periodic report of the Kyrgyz Republic

on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

2006

List of abbreviations

Contents

Introduction

1. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as CEDAW), the Kyrgyz Republic hereby submits its third periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

2. The Committee reviewed the second report of the Kyrgyz Republic in January 2004 and, in addition to positive assessments of the measures adopted by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic for purposes of implementing CEDAW, made its Final Comments with regard to issues arousing its concern.

3. The Comments were discussed at a meeting of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, and resolution No. 837 of 12 November 2004 on the approval of the Matrix of Activities for Implementing the Final Comments of the UN Committee on the Elimination of [All Forms of] Discrimination against Women to the Second Periodic Report.

4. Under the Matrix, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic charged ministries, State committees, State commissions, local State administrative bodies and local self-government bodies with ensuring the implementation of the appropriate measures in partnership with relevant non-governmental and international organizations that are engaged in addressing such problems.

5. In this report, pursuant to the guidelines for preparation set forth in CEDAW/C/7/Rev.3, the Kyrgyz Republic focused its attention on the period from 2002 through 2005.

6. The report gives responses to the CEDAW Committee's final comments presented in CEDAW/C/1999/I/L.Add.3, CEDAW/C/SR.632 and CEDAW/C/SR.633 of 14 January 2004, CEDAW/C/KGZ/2 and CEDAW/C/KGZ/2.Add.1.

7. The report was prepared by the Secretariat of National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development reporting to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic together with members of the working group¾authorized representatives of ministries and departments and a group of independent experts.

8. The National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development reporting to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter referred to as the National Council) is headed by the State Secretary of the Kyrgyz Republic, and its working advisory and coordinating body is the Secretariat of the National Council.

9. With respect to this report, it should be noted that certain changes were made in the system of executive bodies of authority after the Parliamentary elections (March 2005). The Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Policy was reconstituted within the structure of the Government, and the Ministry of Culture was re-established. New structures were created: the National Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic to Prevent Corruption, the State Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic on Migration and Employment and the Financial Intelligence Service of the Kyrgyz Republic. The last two organizations were headed by women.

10. The report is based on materials submitted by the above-mentioned entities, as well as the following ministries: Justice, Health, Economics and Finance, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Foreign Affairs, Labour and Social Welfare and Agriculture and Water Resources, as well as judicial and law-enforcement bodies, the National Statistical Committee and other State structures whose competence includes the handling of matters involving the elimination of discrimination against women.

А. Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 837 of 12 November 2004 on the approval of the Matrix of Activities for Implementing the Final Comments of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to the Second Periodic Report of the Kyrgyz Republic on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

11. In implementing the recommendations of the Committee, the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, in the context of the Matrix, entrusted various governmental agencies with the following tasks:

12. The Judicial Department within the Ministry of Justice was charged with analyzing actions initiated in the courts on the basis of the Convention and the provisions of gender-equality law, as well as any court decisions in which reference is made to the provisions of the convention or domestic gender-equality law.

13. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Judicial Department were delegated with the following:

– taking preventive actions to identify and eradicate human trafficking and violence by introducing protection orders and other measures under the law;

– keeping records and managing the data for each incident involving violence against women, including domestic disputes.

14. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare was charged with developing activities to improve the economic status of women by training and re-training them for work in all spheres of the national economy.

15. The Ministry of Health was charged with the following:

– analyzing mandatory health standards to ensure the employment of women, thereby precluding the possibility of direct or indirect discrimination against women in the labour market;

– developing and implementing a broad system of measures to reduce the maternal and child mortality rates and medical abortions by providing women with the requisite medical services and promoting and expanding the use of contraceptives;

– in the insurance system, devoting special attention to the provision of treatment to women patients in hospitals and other medical facilities.

16. The Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Policy and the Ministry of Culture, for purposes of eliminating traditional stereotypes and asserting the equal rights of men and women in all spheres of life, were charged with facilitating the conduct of gender analysis and the creation of new textbooks and teaching aids, as well as the teaching of special gender-education courses.

17. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was charged with devoting special attention to the participation of women in activities associated with conflict resolution and to the enlistment of women into the process of ongoing negotiations.

18. The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources was charged with the following:

– drafting special development programmes for women living in remote mountainous and highland rural areas,

– devoting special attention to the participation of rural women in the implementation of rural investment projects and to their enlistment in rural development and land reforms.

19. The National Statistical Committee was charged with performing special processing of statistical data on a regular basis and releasing a compendium of gender-disaggregated statistics annually.

20. The Secretariat of the National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development, for informational purposes, published the Comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Matrix of Activities for implementing the comments in the press and released a special brochure titled "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Guide to Action".

B. International programmes

21. The programme officer of the UN Volunteers Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic is the chairman of the Thematic Group on Gender. The group includes representatives of all the UN institutions operating in the country. The group members provide invaluable assistance in the implementation of the provisions of international conventions in national law, in the implementation of national programmes that comply with the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Declaration of Millennium Development Goals, etc.

22. The primary areas of activity of the Gender Component of the UNDP Social Governance Programme are as following:

– advising the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on the development of a gender policy and reducing poverty among women and mitigating their circumstances;

– generating gender statistics;

– incorporating gender perspectives into the policies and strategies of ministries and departments;

– promoting gender education in higher educational institutions;

– promoting the advancement of women to political leadership positions;

– supporting the Gender Bureau of the Adilet Legal Clinic.

23. In 2001, the UNDP, along with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and specialists of the Swedish non-governmental organization Sprangbradan, conducted a study called "Women in Politics", which was based on an analysis of the participation of women in political life and the current situation with regard to gender relations in Kyrgyzstan, and developed a joint project called "Promoting Gender Equality in Politics in the Kyrgyz Republic".

24. In subsequent years, deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh, political party leaders, and representatives of the mass media, State structures and non-governmental organizations were brought into the project on both the national and regional levels. Arranged for them were trips to Sweden (2002−2004) for the exchange of experience; workshops in Kiev (2004) for observing elections; training sessions called "Women in Leadership: Access to Political Power"; and a conference called "Women's Participation in the Development of Small and Medium Business and Network Cooperation".

25. In 2002−2005, the UNDP Social Governance Programme supported orientation seminars on the incorporation of gender perspectives in the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

26. A number of meetings and workshops involving situation analysis were held in 2002 under the rubric "Gender Aspects of the Activities on a Central Staff, as well as in Departments for Employment, Social welfare, and Vocational Training" for the purpose of integrating gender into the work and programmes of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. Developed as a result was the "Guidelines for Incorporating Gender Perspectives into Policy and Strategy", for the subsequent dissemination of the resulting experience and methodology to the entire sector.

27. Similar activities, with the Secretariat playing a coordinating role and UNDP providing support, were held in other ministries and departments, specifically, in the ministries of education and culture, as well as finance, and the agency for affairs of state service.

28. A project called "Strengthening the Potential of Local Authority" is being implemented within the framework of the joint Programme of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the UNDP on "Political and Administrative Governance at the Local Level". A total of 1,232 communal organizations have been created in the context of the project, 339 of which are headed by women and involve very profitable projects for the construction of mini mills and the development of poultry farming and indigenous handicrafts.

29. Since 2003, as a result of the measures taken, the UNDP, together with the UN Population Fund and the Soros−Kyrgyzstan Foundation, has developed and is implementing the programme "Academic Gender" and the project "Gender in Education" for the support of gender education. Monitoring of the development of academic gender and the impediments to it has revealed a shortage or complete absence of educational materials on gender, the absence of proper qualifications among instructors and a lack of understanding of the importance of incorporating academic gender into education by the administrations of higher educational institutions.

30. Since 2003, a cooperation agreement between the UNDP Programme for Social Governance, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the American Association of Jurists has supported the Adilet Legal Clinic (Association of Young Lawyers).

31. An integral part of the Adilet clinic has been the Gender Bureau, which has provided legal counselling on the following issues:

– violence and discrimination on grounds of sex,

– women's rights to land,

– legal rights of single mothers,

– citizenship of a woman who has married a foreigner,

– marital and marital-contract issues,

– crisis centres and temporary shelters for victims of violence,

– protection of clients' interests in court.

32. The Bureau has conducted a number of workshops on "Competent Authorities on Gender Equality Issues" for rural residents and on "A Life Free of Violence" for representatives of NGOs of southern regions of the country, 49.0 per cent of whom are refugees from Tajikistan.

33. A considerable contribution to overcoming discrimination against women is being made by the OSCE, ILO, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM and UNESCO; by the international development agencies of Great Britain, Canada, Japan and France; and by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation through various projects for supporting the development of the civilian sector in Kyrgyzstan.

С. Institutional base

34. Subsequently, after the initial and second reports on the implementation of the Convention, acting on the Final Recommendations of the UN Committee and further developing a gender strategy required upgrading the institutional structure and the implementation mechanisms.

35. The following Kyrgyz Republic presidential decrees have been adopted:

– Measures to increase the effectiveness of with which basic human and civil rights and freedoms in the Kyrgyz Republic are safeguarded (2001);

– Measures to improve prosecutorial oversight and to further strengthen the rule of law in the Kyrgyz Republic (2001);

– Further improvement of personnel policy to attract women leaders to public administration (2002);

36. In 2005, at the initiative of the women's movement of Kyrgyzstan, which had the support of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, the institution of the Special Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on Matters of Gender Development was created in the Zhogorku Kenesh, and its functions include helping, with the authority of the President, to advance gender policy and gender perspectives into the law-making arena.

37. The Basic Programmes for the Development of the Kyrgyz Republic that meet the Millennium Development Goals, the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRA) for the Period from 2003 through 2005 contain objectives and sections for gender development.

38. As indicated in previous reports, the National Programme for the Advancement of Women, "Ayalzat", was in place from 1996 through 2000. A new phase consisted of the National Plan of Action (NPA) for Achieving Gender Equality for the Period 2002−2006. The main priority of the NPA was to incorporate gender perspectives into State administration policy.

39. The National Programme "Human Rights" for the period from 2002 through 2010 prescribes a number of measures to eliminate gender inequality.

40. In 2000, the institution of the Ombudsman was established in the Kyrgyz Republic. Unfortunately, women nominees twice (in 2002 and 2006) failed to gain confirmation in the Kyrgyz Republic Parliament for deputy ombudsman positions.

41. The National Council, created in June 1998 as a public agency, was strengthened in 2001 by the creation of its working body, the Secretariat, which is a structural subdivision of the Office of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.

42. The Chairman of the National Council is the State Secretary of the Kyrgyz Republic. Members of the National Council consist of the heads of ministries and departments and legislative and judicial representatives, as well as representatives of parties and non-governmental organizations. The Secretariat of the National Council is headed by a woman who has experience as a member of parliament (2002−2005), has gone through leadership school in the civil-society sector and has been the head of a regional State administrative body.

D. Non-governmental organizations

43. Particular attention in the transition period was focused on the process of the democratization and formation of civil society. Public awareness of and interest in gender issues has grown markedly.

44. Numerous non-governmental organizations (hereinafter referred to as NGOs) that address those problems have been created in the country. The political and institutional bases of their activities are being developed. The Civil Code has established the legal forms of organization for the activities of NGOs as public associations, foundations, non-State non-commercial institutions, and alliances of legal entities.

45. The Law on Non-Commercial Organizations defines legal status, rights and duties, and the rules for creating, reorganizing, and terminating NGOs. The conditions for registering an NGO have been established.

46. Under the Law on State Procurements, funding has gotten under way for a number of NGO projects that previously received financial support from international foundations and organizations. Since 2003, the Republic budget has provided for the allocation of grants that provide incentive for joint projects between local self-government bodies and NGOs to address social problems. The Republic budget for 2005−2010 provides for an increase in the funds to finance NGO projects.

47. The draft law on the State social mandate has been drawn up and will facilitate the more active participation of NGOs in addressing State problems.

48. In his annual messages to the people, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic notes the role of NGOs in the socio-political life of the country. He underscored that they need State support, specifically, through the system of grants for the implementation of socially significant projects.

49. Women participate in these processes through networks of women's non-governmental organizations and women's associations, clubs, and centres. The contributions made by women correspond to their professional interests. They are involved in the protection of women's rights and the advancement of women, and they further the development of their business activities.

50. A milestone in the development of the non-governmental sector is the National Council initiative on the development of projects for the Concept for State Support of NGOs and the Programme of State Support of NGOs for 2007−2010. The Concept will reflect the goals and objectives of state support of non-governmental organizations, and that support will provide for the following:

– co-financing of the programmes of socially oriented NGOs through the State social mandate,

– creation of councils for the interaction of State bodies and public associations,

– the joint conduct of conferences, round tables, seminars and training sessions on socially significant problems.

51. With National Council support, women's NGOs have taken part in international forums and congresses (St. Petersburg), in the III World Congress of Rural Women (Madrid), etc.

52. The Union of Women Entrepreneurs of Kyrgyzstan became a member of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs and is part of the steering committee for preparing for the next World Congress of Rural Women.

53. State bodies have begun to collaborate more actively with NGOs and public associations. The latter are being brought into the development of draft laws and State programmes. Ministries and local administrative bodies of regions are holding tentative open competitions for the performance of socially significant projects by non-governmental organizations.

54. All the work being done by the National Council with NGOs is being widely covered in the mass media. Produced annually are booklets, calendars, and other materials on the most successful leaders of NGOs and their activities.

55. The State's conferring of awards on the most active leaders of non-governmental organizations is evidence of the State's high regard for the work of NGOs.

56. Active in Kyrgyzstan are industry trade unions that are coordinated by the Federation of Trade Unions of the Kyrgyz Republic. Their main task is to establish civilized labour relations in the country. Created to reconcile the interests of owners, employees and bodies of authority is a system of trilateral social partnership in the field of labour relations under the law on social partnership in the Kyrgyz Republic. Tripartism has a 15-year history in the country.

Article 1. Definition of discrimination against women

57. The initial and second reports of the Kyrgyz Republic on the implementation of CEDAW properly reflect the constitutional and legislative guarantees that ensure the observance of the principle of the equality of men and women in the country. As a whole, the legal status specified by the guarantees remains in force.

58. The basic concepts of discrimination and gender discrimination have been incorporated into national laws.

59. The "basic concepts" are anchored in the law of the Kyrgyz Republic on the bases of State guarantees to safeguard gender equality of 12 March 2003 (Art. 1):

– "Gender discrimination is any distinction, exclusion, or preference that limits or denies the equal exercise of rights on the grounds of sex";

– "Open gender discrimination is discrimination that singles out sexual identity";

– "Implicit gender discrimination is discrimination that makes no direct reference to sexual identity".

60. The Law defines the objects (Art. 3) and subjects (Art. 4) of gender equality:

– the objects are the public and social relations that are subject to legal regulation;

– the subjects are individuals, legal persons, and the State.

61. The Law imposes a "Prohibition on gender discrimination" (Art. 6) that prohibits open and implicit gender discrimination in any sphere of activity in relation to persons of the opposite sex, and subjects of gender equality that commit open or implicit discrimination shall be liable under Kyrgyz Republic law.

62. The Law (Art. 6) specifies that the following "is not gender discrimination":

– the adoption on the basis of this Law of special, temporary measures geared to achieving actual equal rights in gender relations;

– protection of the functions of maternity;

– the conscription of only males in cases established by Kyrgyz Republic law.

63. In addition, the Law defines as an impediment to gender equality (Art. 8) the existence of various traditions and norms of customary law that are discriminatory against women.

Article 2. Commitments to eliminate discrimination

64. The law of the Kyrgyz Republic on the bases of State guarantees to safeguard gender equality requires the performance of gender-based legal analysis of the entire legislative base and of State, regional and local programmes.

65. During the reporting period, only one law, on HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic, was analyzed, in 2005.

66. Overall, based on the data provided by the Zhogorku Kenesh, 10 draft laws pertaining to the achievement of gender equality were reviewed over the period of 2002 through 2006.

67. The Family Code of the Kyrgyz Republic was adopted on 30 August 2003. Under the Code, relations between family members and persons living with them shall be based on principles of gender equality, as well as on respect for the honour and dignity of the individual. The Code directly prohibits gender discrimination in family relations (Art. 3) and does not allow gender discrimination by one spouse against the other (Art. 32, para. 5), and household work may not serve as a means of gender discrimination and must be done equally by both spouses (Art. 41).

Article 3. Development and advancement of women

68. Kyrgyzstan, as a participating State, continues in all areas of political, social, economic, and cultural life to undertake all follow-on measures, including legislative measures, to ensure comprehensive development and progress for the women of the country so as to guarantee that they can exercise and enjoy human rights and basic freedoms on the basis of equality with men.

69. Issued for the further development and advancement of women was the Kyrgyz Republic presidential decree on the National Plan of Action for Achieving Gender Equality in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Period 2002−2006, which is geared to implementing the principle of gender equality in all spheres of life.

70. The above decree is geared to achieving the following priority objectives:

– improving institutional mechanisms by enhancing public awareness of gender problems and by taking the gender factor into account in State policy and law;

– improving the law and existing mechanisms for placing a high priority on women's rights by encouraging the participation of women in decision-making processes and by increasing the number of women in governmental bodies;

– eradicating manifestations of traditional discrimination based on gender;

– encouraging the economic independence of women, and facilitating access to market-economy information and to credits, with an eye to preventing the growth of poverty among women;

– devoting special attention to issues pertaining to the protection of women's health during the development of relevant programmes and projects, as well as to strategies for achieving priority goals identified in documents of the World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and UNHCR in Kyrgyzstan.

71. The concept of the National Plan of Action reflects the political will of the State and the principles of gender equality for all parties responsible for its implementation and facilitates the achievement of the democratic and equal status of women in all spheres of life, providing the possibility of a dialogue between decision-makers and social partners.

72. The NPA calls for the participation in its implementation of all policy-making bodies in order to minimize or eliminate the differences between the real opportunities available to men and women, as well as to ensure that they are included in the process of overcoming the difficulties of the transition period.

73. The priority goals of the NPA are as follows:

– to increase employment and eliminate gender discrimination on the labour market;

– to raise public awareness of gender problems,

– to educate the public in matters of ensuring gender equality,

– to establish the legal basis and a system of social services for protecting health and protecting motherhood,

– to warn against and eliminate violence against women, men and children.

74. Taking into account the Final Recommendations of the Committee, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic decided, as a matter of priority, to strength the legal basis for providing equal opportunities and to create the social environment necessary for improving the status of women through the elimination of all existing prejudices and systematically created and strengthened the regulatory base for protecting basic human rights and freedoms, regardless of gender identity.

75. The recommendations of the CEDAW Committee are also being carried out through the implementation of special programmes adopted by the ministries and regions referred to in the relevant articles of this report.

76. In order to properly reflect the situation, this report provides statistical data that attest to both the actual status of women and to the factors and difficulties that affect the extent to which the commitments made under CEDAW are being met.

77. Since 1998, with the support of the UNFPA, UNDP, UNIFEM and other international organizations, as well as within the framework of the project "Gender and the Millennium Development Goals", the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic has annually published compendia of gender-disaggregated statistics called "Gender Relationships in the Kyrgyz Republic" and "Men and Women of the Kyrgyz Republic". They contain various gender-disaggregated data. The compendia are also published annually in Russian, Kyrgyz and English.

78. Meanwhile, the obstacles that hinder the achievement of progress and gender equality continued to exist in the reporting period. They are as follows:

– the instability of the institutional mechanism;

– inadequate funding of gender programmes and projects;

– unabated poverty and unemployment among women;

– the slowness of the incorporation of gender perspectives into policies and the popular consciousness;

– the retention of the patriarchal structure and the survival of cultural stereotypes that hinder the advancement of women,

– the low level of awareness among women themselves of their rights, and the continuing effect of gender stereotypes in which the woman herself is the vehicle for, primarily, family traditions and values.

79. The gender neutrality of many provisions of national law, in failing to into account the disproportions that exist between the status of men and the status of women in society, places women at a disadvantage. With different starting points, women are losing the economic and political battle with men.

80. That brings about the need to conduct gender analysis of laws and State programmes and to prepare new draft laws or amendments or suggestions for existing laws that would be more sensitive to the interests of women and would take into account the specific nature of women's status at this stage, would facilitate a more active gender policy, and would have a well-directed effect on changing the gender norms in the public consciousness.

81. It is obvious today that a simple declaration of the equality of women's rights and freedoms and of political adherence to that are not enough. What is needed is the actual implementation of a policy for achieving gender equality through changes in the law, the development of specific mechanisms for equal rights based on actual practices, the diminution of the effects of adverse cultural stereotypes and factors and the incorporation of additional mechanisms that enhance opportunities for women.

Article 4. Accelerating the achievement of equality between men and women

82. The information presented in the initial and second reports with regard to this article remains essentially the same.

83. For various reasons, the question of the advisability of broader legislative consolidation of quotas for the level of representation of women in State bodies of authority has long remained open. Special temporary measures of positive discrimination are underused in the practice of law in Kyrgyzstan, which affected the makeup of the Parliament convened in 2005, in which, for the first time in the history of the country's parliamentary government, there was not one woman.

84. In the context of Article 4 of the Convention, it should also be noted that, for purposes of increasing the level of representation of women in decision-making posts in the political and social life of the country, the National Council, in reviewing the draft law on the bases of State service, recommended including a broader range of special temporary measures to increase the number of women in civil service, including establishing quotas and hiring 1 to 1 for State positions. However, not all the recommendations were taken into account when the law was adopted.

85. Under the current conditions, Kyrgyzstan continues to search for an optimal model that would be geared to bringing about equality between men and women and formulating an equal-opportunity policy. As a result, the country's Parliament has found ways to legislatively consolidate quotas, specifically in the law on the bases of State guarantees to safeguard gender equality.

86. The law on the bases of State guarantees to safeguard gender equality is intended to establish progressive, democratic relations between women and men in the social, political, economic and cultural spheres of life and to put a barrier up against discrimination on the basis of sex, by providing State guarantees of equal rights to individuals of both sexes.

87. The adoption of that law laid the foundation for the incorporation of the principle of equal rights and opportunities into national legislation, with its subsequent application in the practice of law. In Chapter V, "The Mechanism for Ensuring the Observance of Gender Equality", Article 23 ("The Competence of the Zhogorku Kenesh in Ensuring Gender Equality") provides the fundamental principle underlying the establishment of the legal bases of the State policy on gender equality.

88. Under the above-mentioned law, the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic, within the limits of its competence, is appointing the following, such that individuals of one sex do not account for more than 70 per cent of those serving:

– judges of the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic;

– judges of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic;

– members of the Central Elections and Referendums Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic;

– auditors of the Chamber of Accounts of the Kyrgyz Republic.

89. The law also provides for gender-based legal analysis of the entire legislative base, other regulatory and legal instruments, and State, regional and local programmes of the Kyrgyz Republic on gender equality, for purposes of studying them and identifying gender-equality violations.

90. Gender-based legal analysis is performed by State agencies, independent public organizations and other non-governmental associations.

91. The presidential decree of 15 February 2004 created the Commission on Gender Analysis of Laws and Regulations under the Secretariat of the National Council on Women, Family, and Gender Development reporting to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.

92. The Commission was charged with performing the following functions:

– performing expert analysis of the conformance of draft regulatory and legal enactments and other documents to gender perspectives;

– improving the procedures for performing gender analysis;

– mobilizing the efforts of human rights institutions, State structures and public organizations to promote the principles of gender equality.

93. As for measures that facilitate positive discrimination for women and that pertain to working conditions and the protection of maternity, the information included in the initial and second reports remains the same.

Article 5. Gender roles and stereotypes

94. The work to eradicate sexual stereotypes was done primarily in the areas of culture (Ministry of Culture), education (Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Policy), religion (State Commission on Religions), and the mass media. The Secretariat facilitated the work of those bodies and collaborated with civil-society organizations in that area.

95. The stereotypes continue to exist and to affect the role and place of women in Kyrgyz society, politics, and family life. They affect the status of women not only in the areas of political representation, decision making and economic activities, but also at the level of everyday life.

96. Women are engaged in business at the intermediate level. The patriarchal image of the mother and wife leaves no room for open public self-affirmation or for recognition of the merits of the woman entrepreneur or woman politician, which, in turn, discourages the creation of positive images of the socially and economically active woman. On the contrary, a woman who is "too successful and accomplished" and has an active position in life tries not to irritate the dominant male majority, which is making the decisions in politics and law-making and in the mass media. Thus, despite a woman's rather active role in business and the civil sector, she does not always receive proper recognition in the pages of the press or in the electronic mass media.

97. The Family Code of the Kyrgyz Republic has set the minimum marriageable age at 18 years, which can be lowered by two years under special circumstances; but according to the research data of the Crisis Centres, the number of precocious marriages is growing. The reasons for such marriages in most cases are poverty, unemployment and low income, as well as unique national and cultural patterns.

98. As for bride theft, it occurs in the village and is seen to be growing there. Research done by the American University in Central Asia in 2004 indicated that the percentage of marriages involving abduction of the bride was greater than in 1999−2001.

99. The data of the Data Analysis Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Headquarters indicate that the number of criminal cases initiated under Article 155 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic grew to 27 in 2005 from 15 in 2002.

100. State agencies, bodies of local self-government, and civil society are sponsoring activities that condemn cases of bride theft.

101. A round table called "Women's Rights" was held in 2005 in the Suzaksk Rayon Library of Jalal-Abad Oblast, and a discussion there covered the topic "Bride Abduction¾A National Custom, or a Human Rights Violation?" The materials of that event found their way into articles published in the newspapers Fergana and Akyykat (Fairness). The discussion itself was broadcast on Jalal-Abad Oblast Television, which gave a much larger number of conversation participants the opportunity to ponder the roots of that "tradition" and the legal consequences of forming such family and marital relations. The problem being discussed struck a responsive chord in an environment in which stereotypes of woman as "objects" are strongest.

102. Work to eradicate stereotypes has also followed the path of strengthening positive images of women of the past who have always served as examples of women activists and public leaders who left their mark in Kyrgyzstan history. Thus, an Urkuya Saliyeva Museum exhibition was re-mounted in the aiyl okmotu (rural council) of Toolos Nookat Rayon of Osh Oblast; it was dedicated to the 95^th anniversary of the birth of U. Saliyeva, a woman revolutionary who died tragically not only for the revolution, but also because she was a woman who dared to become involved in the world of men. As a result of the vigorous work of women members of parliament and the Kurmanzhan Datka Foundation, a monument has been erected in the capital of the republic to the "Tsaritsa of Alay", Kurmanzhan Datka. An exhibition has been updated in the Alay Rayon Museum named for Kurmanzhan Datka, who played a key role in the history of modern Kyrgyzstan.

103. Matters involving traditional and religious customs and beliefs that hinder equal rights between the sexes are dealt with primarily by the State Commission under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic for Religious Affairs, which, in 2002–2003, along with UNFPA, conducted a number of family planning seminars in which the Islamic clergy of the southern and northern regions took part, including a seminar on gender problems for Islamic educational institutions (institutes and madrasahs).

104. A round table called "Islam and the Woman", which was held in 2004, raised questions regarding the family and women, the role of women in a democratic society, the responsibilities of the mother in the rearing of children, the creation of crisis centres for Muslim women, the organization of the Association of Religious Women's NGOs, and the training for women learning skills for occupations that are in demand.

105. A 16-day campaign against violence against women has been conducted in the republic for 10 years. In 2004, under the auspices of the Secretariat, a 16-day campaign against violence against women under the catchword "Bride theft¾It's not a tradition, it's a CRIME!" was held, as was the national forum titled "Improving the National Mechanism for Preventing Violence against Women". The Forum resulted in a large-scale civil action to illuminate the problem of bride theft, the production of posters and booklets, the publication of a series of articles on the impropriety of such a practice and the need to eliminate it, and the conduct of information campaigns and meetings with representatives of law-enforcement bodies, bodies of local authority, and communities, as well as with women leaders and youth. Hotlines were set up for girls who are victims of bride theft or arranged marriages.

106. Collaboration between the State Commission on Religious Affairs and religious women's NGOs made it possible to more effectively implement a policy for promoting gender equality on all levels and to create channels for realizing the social potential of Muslim women.

107. The NGO of Muslim women of the city of Naryn called Islam Taalimi (Lessons of Islam), the social fund called Zashchita prav zhenshchin Kyrgyzstana¾Ayday Rabiya [Protection of the rights of the women of Kyrgyzstan¾Ayday Rabiya] of the city of Tokmok, the charitable social fund Amina, the religious foundation Ummul Khayrat (Mother of Kindness), the charitable social fund Sharapat Nuru (Divine Light) and the religious organization for women Salyam-Tynchtyk (Peace) received support from the State Commission and are taking an active part in seminars and round tables at which the problems of gender equality are being discussed.

108. The NGO Progressive Movement of Muslim Women Mutakalim (Speaker) has taken a very active part in events organized by the State Commission on matters of HIV/AIDS, family planning, and bride theft.

109. The State Commission for Religious Affairs has generated draft proposals for a series of seminars to explain Kyrgyz Republic laws on the social and legal protection against violence in the family and on the bases for the State guarantees to safeguard gender equality.

110. Within the framework for the implementation of the NPA for Education for All (EFA), which was approved by Government resolution No. 504 of 30 July 2002, the Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic, in order to achieve the goals set by the Dakar Agreement of 2000, drafted measures to eliminate the gap between boys and girls in beginning and middle schools by 2005 and to achieve equality between men and women in terms of education by 2015, with a special focus on providing girls equal access to high-quality basic education and ensuring the completion of that education.

111. The group Dostupnost Obrazovaniya [Accessibility of Education] has done vigorous work with oblast and rayon educational entities to ensure that all children receive a formal education at the primary school level (basic education), with a special focus on children from disadvantaged segments of the population. The group has worked hard to achieve one of the immediate EFA goals¾to achieve by 2005 equality in terms of access to high-quality basic education for girls and boys. The EFA Week, with the slogan "All for Girls' Education", was held with the group's participation. Within the framework of the EFA Week, with the participation of the National Commission for UNESCO, a conference titled "Gender Aspects in Education" was held; also held were an EFA Week and UN Literacy Decade press conference at the KABAR Information Agency, a UNESCO Associated Schools round table at which questions were raised with regard to access to quality formal education for all and a seminar called "Gender Orientation in the Raising of Children of Preschool Age".

112. With the support of the UNESCO Cluster Office for Central Asia, in collaboration with partners like UNICEF, Kyrgyzstan has received assistance in drafting and implementing plans for educational gender-oriented programmes.

113. The Ministry of Education has developed expert requirements for new teaching aids that include a gender aspect. Being read in higher educational institutions within the framework of the cycle "General Humanitarian and Socioeconomic Disciplines" are "Gender Policy", "Gender Sociology", "Feminology", "Legal Anthropology", "Gender Policy in the Countries of Central Asia", "Sociology of Sex and Gender", "State Protection of Motherhood and Childhood" (in Kyrgyz: "Ene menen balalyktyn mamleket tarabynan korgolushu"), "Human Rights and Democracy", "Problems of Gender Relations", "Maintaining a Family", "Sociology of the Family" and "Man and Society".

114. In schools, 140−150 hours are devoted to the family and family life in the curriculum. Gender issues are included in virtually all the curricula in schools in the context of subjects such as "Law", "Man and Society", and, among others,

"Adep Sabagy" [Politeness Lesson]. They address stereotypes of the behavior of boys and girls, violence, and the rights of children, and, in senior classes, they include aspects of the interrelationships of the sexes in the family.

115. Taught in higher educational institutions are special courses and elective courses with a gender component, and the number of hours for them is set by the institution as high as 36. Specifically, the Talas State University has created a Coordinating Council for Gender Policy and has opened a gender policy training centre that is the site for the conduct of seminars and training sessions on the topics "The Woman, the Child, the Family", "The Role of the Woman in Today's Society", "The Woman and Traditional Foundations", "The Woman against Terrorism and Extremism", "The Role of the Woman in Strengthening the State System" and "The Woman and Politics". Every year, the university hosts the Women's Glory Week, during which solemn gatherings and meetings with women veterans of labour and mother-heroines are arranged. Such events are also held at other universities.

116. Over the period of 2004−2005, the State Inspectorate for Licensing and Certification in the Ministry of Education issued 135 licenses to organizations, centres, foundations, associations and institutes that are involved in adult education (particularly, of women)¾i.e., re-training, skill upgrades, specialist training and other educational services in various areas of activity¾and that provide education for adults through programmes of professional and semiprofessional training courses, as well as skill-development courses.

117. In Kyrgyzstan, 11 adult training centres are open in seven oblasts, including the cities of Bishkek and Osh, and they offer a broad range of opportunities for single mothers, retired persons, and unemployed women to become full-fledged members of society. The centres offer seminars on communication and personality development and on vocational education and continuing education, as well as courses of study for finishing one's basic education, upon the completion of which a certificate is issued. The centres help women to enter into full-fledged participation in the life of the society through education.

118. The Diamond Association has developed preventive programmes for youth and people of middle or old age and programmes for enhancing women's knowledge of the law. The Ministry of Education is working with such NGOs in a social partnership.

119. The Ministry of Education plans its activities on the basis of studies and assessments of the needs for obtaining the maximum effect from the programmes that are being conducted. During the implementation of a training programme for rural women, the social fund El Pikir (Public Opinion) identified fundamental problems, among which were the low level of social activity of rural women, a poor understanding of the fundamentals of entrepreneurial activities, the absence of the right among women to dispose of family property, and the very limited access of the rural population to credit lines.

120. A study and the training sessions that followed it resulted in recommendations for the creation of a permanent programme for training rural women on how the credit community works and for the creation of permanent education courses for vocational training of rural women in the specialties that are in demand in a given region. The Ministry of Education plans to take part in such initiatives.

121. Gender issues are being covered by socio-political and socio-economic programmes of the State Television and Radio Company. Regular broadcasts of "Kyrgyzstan Kyzdary" (Girls of Kyrgyzstan) and "Women of Kyrgyzstan" report on well-known political, social, and cultural women leaders. In the course of the continuing Constitutional reform, the question of the participation of women in the political life of the country has become the focus of the attention of such broadcasts as "Constitutional Reform", "Koz Karash" (View), "Studio 21" and "What will Kyrgyzstan be like?" At the behest of the journalists themselves, topics pertaining to gender policy have often been brought up.

122. Gender problems have been covered with the most success by the programme "Ak bosogo" (The Good Home), which raises questions of the equal-rights participation of women in all spheres of life. That broadcast, being educational in nature, devotes particular attention to the legal aspects of the gender problem, and women immediately gain an "authority" of sorts to expand their role in society.

123. To a large extent, the mission of the mass media to mobilize the population and influence public awareness in terms of gender initiatives is being carried out by the State Television and Radio Company with its talk show "Studio 21", which discusses political and socio-economic problems. Another programme, "Biznestegi Ayaldar" (Women in Business), illuminates the successful histories of women entrepreneurs. But the programme with the greatest popularity is "Ayaldar sayasaty" (Women in Politics), which focuses on the role of women in politics and on the achievements, the obstacles, and the problems associated with the advancement of women to positions of power. That is evidence of the communicative potential of the issue, which women and political parties can use in advancing candidates from their own ranks to the decision-making level.

124. The State Television and Radio Company is planning to continue the tradition of covering gender problems, which, despite all the efforts of some of the State-run mass media, are still in need of financial subsidies and the expert assistance of public relations and gender consultants.

125. A CIMERA study of the image of the woman in the mass media of Kyrgyzstan, conducted with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in 2002, showed that the journalists themselves acknowledge a shortage of materials covering gender problems. Identified among the reasons for this situation were the paucity of the activities of the organizations engaged in the promotion of equal rights of the sexes in terms of the use of the mass media to attract the public's attention; the absence of any sensationalism associated with gender problems and, consequently, the lack of interest in them; and the specific nature of the subject of the equal rights of the sexes, which requires in-depth and context-based study and presentation of the problems, which does not always attract journalists, who often work under short deadlines.

Article 6. Exploitation of Women

126. Definitive work was done over the reporting period to improve the law-enforcement practices with regard to the law on the social and legal protection against violence in the family, which was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of the Zhogorku Kenesh on 31 January 2003. In 2004, amendments were made to the Kyrgyz Republic Code of Administrative Liability in accordance with that law.

127. The law also extends to families that are based on a marriage that is not registered with the Civil Registry Office (in an actual marriage).

128. Held 23−24 November 2004 was the National Forum "Improving the National Mechanism for Preventing Violence against Women", in which members of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Supreme Court took part, as did deputies of parliament and representatives of ministries, departments, bodies of local self-government, and international and non-governmental organizations.

129. Family violence is segregated as a separate type of statistic, and samples of temporary protective orders, as well as instructions for putting them to use, have been developed and approved.

130. In 2005, a total of 211 temporary protective orders were issued (200 against men, and 11 against women).

131. Experience shows that victims of violence turn to crisis centres more often than to law-enforcement structures. In light of the situation, in order to improve the collection and analysis of all statistical data on hand in the country with regard to incidents of violence (including hotline data), standardized statistical report forms have been developed and introduced under the auspices of the Secretariat with regard to violence against women, which should result in a strengthening of the interaction between State statistical agencies and crisis centres and in a realistic picture of the problem of violence.

132. Thanks to the support of the Secretariat and other State administrative bodies and bodies of local self-government, as well as the Women's Programme of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation, the institutional stability of the crisis centres is being enhanced, the interaction between the operating crisis centres and bodies of local self-government, law-enforcement structures, and health-care and educational facilities is improving and steps are being taken to expand the network of crisis centres.

133. At the same time, the question of full State funding of the crisis centres remains unresolved because of the difficult economic situation the country finds itself in, and that includes access to assistance for women victims of violence in remote rural regions and for women who have been released from incarceration facilities. Society still relates negatively to women who turn for assistance to law-enforcement agencies and crisis centres.

134. In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 11,273 individuals who systematically committed domestic offences were placed on watch rolls, as were 33,291 individuals constituting a risk group for the commission of violent domestic offences.

135. Over the period of 2003−2005, juvenile affairs inspections identified and placed on record 1,288 troubled families; 129 documents were sent to the court for deprivation of parental rights, and 7,922 documents were sent to the juvenile affairs commission.

136. To improve the prevention and detection of violent crimes against women and children, the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has drafted and prepared for publication a teaching aid called "Prevention and Investigation of Crimes involving Violence against Women and Children".

137. According to the data of the National Statistics Committee, the number of persons who turned to crisis centres for help with regard to family violence was twofold higher in 2005 than in 2004 (4,651 as opposed to 2,236). The number of women who asked for help rose twofold, and the number of men, 11-fold.

138. For purposes of raising the level of awareness among staff members of law-enforcement agencies, the public, and women with regard to the provisions of the Convention and national laws covering family violence, numerous seminars, training sessions, round tables, and television broadcasts were conducted that drew representatives of State structures, law-enforcement agencies, crisis centres, medical and international organizations, and the mass media. Booklets and posters against violence were printed and disseminated.

139. For purposes of encouraging and intensifying social partnership in the area of State gender policy in the Kyrgyz Republic, the presidential decree No. 81 of 5 March 2004 established and awarded prizes amounting to 100 times the minimum wage for best coverage in the mass media of gender development in civil society.

140. Within the framework of the worldwide campaign of "16 days without violence", events on the prevention of violence against women and children are held in educational institutions from 25 November through 10 December every year: benefits, seminars, training sessions, parents' meetings on given topics, advisors' and extracurricular hours, competitions (illustration, writing, etc.), round tables, dialogues, etc., with mandatory submission of reports to the Ministry of Education. Administrative bodies of educational institutions and education management bodies are providing assistance in the creation of organizational and other conditions for NGOs, social funds, and international organizations participating in this campaign. Within its framework, national-television-channel talk shows have been conducted that have involved students from higher educational institutions of the republic, as well as a series of training sessions for pedagogic students geared to the problems of violence against women, including family violence and tolerant behavior.

141. The newspaper Kyrgyz Tuusu (Kyrgyzstan Word) has begun running articles on a regular basis on the problem of violence against women and has taken an active part in the information-based promotion of the UNIFEM programme "The Rights of Women to Land". In partnership with the NGO Pangea for Peace without Violence, the newspaper has run reports and articles on human trafficking, the overwhelming majority of which consisted of stories about the sale of girls for their sexual exploitation.

142. Teachers who have gone through training in the programme "Empowered Education" with the support of the Soros−Kyrgyzstan Foundation are incorporating ethics and the philosophy of non-violence into formal education. The programme trainers have developed special teaching aids for the development of non-violent tolerant behavior among adolescents.

143. In 2004, the Secretariat, together with the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), implemented the project "On the Pathway to Non-Violence", within the framework of which representatives of the mass media were taught the principles of gender equality and methods for advocating the struggle against violence against women.

144. The results of the study "Family Violence in Kyrgyzstan: Causes, Extent, and Effectiveness of Actions", which was commissioned by the Secretariat and conducted by the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion and Forecasting El Pikir (Public Opinion) within the framework of that project, showed that residents in cities are more acutely aware of the problem of family violence than are those in rural areas. Some 79 per cent of city dwellers regard violence as an actually existing problem in our country, whereas 62 per cent in rural areas feel that it is a much rarer phenomenon. In cities, only one out of 10 people thinks nothing of the problem of family violence; in the villages, one out of five takes it lightly.

145. At the behest of the Secretariat and with the financial support of the UN Development Fund for Women, a group of authors has developed a special course for higher educational institutions called "Gender violence: Causes, consequences, and ways to overcome it. Fundamentals of non-violent behavior" and an instructor's manual for it. A series of seminars and training sessions for students of higher educational institutions were held in order to evaluate it.

146. Improvements have resulted from the special information campaigns conducted¾the number of citizens contacting law-enforcement agencies and crisis centres about family violence has increased, and the awareness of international and domestic law in that area has been enhanced.

147. In 2004−2005, the Crisis Centre implemented the project called "Mobilization of the community to protect against violence", which created coordinated groups in communities responding to the violation of women's rights.

148. In 2002−2004, the financial support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany enabled the implementation of a UNIFEM project called "Eradication of violence against women in Central Asia", which is geared to enhancing the potential of civil society, State structures, and the mass media with regard to that issue.

149. Important results of the project were the improvement of the collection of data on the problem of violence against women by the national statistical committee and the creation of the Web portal www.nasilie.net as a resource and information base for the issue of violence against women.

150. Unfortunately, despite the actions taken, crimes against women are on the rise, which is due both to a worsening of the crime rate and to the increased detectability of that category of crime.

151. The dynamics of the number of recorded crimes against women (data of the Data Analysis Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Headquarters).

152. In 2005, predominant among recorded crimes against women were crimes such as crimes against property¾1,919 (robbery accounting for 918, theft accounting for 850); disorderly conduct¾824; and willful minor bodily harm¾300. The number of rapes in 2005 was 298.

153. Taking an active part in the prevention of domestic violence is the Soros−Kyrgyzstan Foundation Women's Network Programme, which has four programme components: "Prevention of violence against women", "Gender education", "Support of media initiatives in the coverage of gender issues", and "Access to participation in international conferences on the development of a global gender movement". Within the first component, seminars and conferences on the development of a strategy to prevent violence against women have been held in Issyk-Kul Oblast, the city of Bishkek, and in other parts of the country.

154. The Contest Commission of the Women's Programme has allocated grants to several crisis centres: the public organization Ene Nazari (Mothering), the public organization Sezim (Feelings) Psychological Crisis Centre for Women and Families, the social fund Omur Bulagi (Source of Life), the Resource Centre for the Elderly, and the public organization Altynay.

155. The Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic covers violent crimes of a sexual nature with articles 129 (Rape), 130 (Violent Acts of a Sexual Nature), 131 (Coercion to Commit Sexual Acts), and 133 (Sexual Abuse). Over the reporting period, against the backdrop of a general decline in the number of violent crimes of a sexual nature, their proportion in the overall structure of crimes is increasing.

156. The proportion accounted for by violent crimes of a sexual nature in the overall number of recorded crimes (data of the Data Analysis Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Headquarters)

157. According to the data of crisis centres, women who are victims of sexual harassment prefer to find a solution to the situation themselves or to come to terms with the phenomenon and not contact law-enforcement bodies for protection.

158. Under the National Programme "Human Rights for the Period of 2002−2010", plans call for a re-examination of the criminal liability of officials for sexual harassment against women subordinate to them.

159. Despite the fact that, under international agreements ratified by Kyrgyzstan, the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic stipulates punishment for coercing a woman to marry (Art. 155), the practice of forcible bride theft occurs in Kyrgyzstan.

160. Information on forcible bride theft and the measures being taken to prevent it is given in Article 5.

161. Analysis of criminal cases involving human trafficking shows that the victims of human trafficking are mainly:

– migrant workers whom various individuals and legal entities take mainly to Russia and Kazakhstan after deceiving them by promising them good working conditions and high wages;

– young women (particularly rural girls) who are taken to foreign countries for sexual exploitation or are placed in brothels within the republic;

– minors.

162. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, together with NGOs and the crisis centre for helping victims of the slave trade, has implemented a project for conducting joint activities to provide legal assistance and rehabilitation for victims of domestic violence and the slave trade. With the assistance of deputies, the capital city's mayor's office has allocated a building for creating a rehabilitation centre for victims of human trafficking. The Centre is meant to accommodate 70 persons, as well as medical personnel..

163. According to the data of the National Council reporting to the President on the suppression of the illegal export and trade in humans, women and children are being taken for purposes of sexual exploitation to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and China. Specialists of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also add South Korea and countries of Asia.

164. According to research data, along with the use of women in prostitution, the commercial sexual use of children takes place in Kyrgyzstan, as it does in many other countries.

165. The number of women who committed crimes in 2005 was 2,020, the largest number of whom committed crimes such as theft (20.6 per cent), disorderly conduct (15.4 per cent), and drug trafficking (9.8 per cent), and the number of convictions among them was 1,531.

166. Of the women convicted of murder, a large percentage of them were women who had killed their husband or domestic partner. As a rule, those women had long endured domestic violence.

167. The absence of a separate penal colony for minors and for women convicted for first offences resulted in minor girls being confined with adult women, in violation of the requirements of the provisions of Article 52 of the Criminal Correctional Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. The contingent of convicts in a women's penal colony is heterogenous in terms of both the nature of crimes committed and the extent of the social danger they represent.

168. On 9 December 2002, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic adopted resolution No. 833, which approved the Concept for the Reform of the Penitentiary System of the Kyrgyz Republic for the Period up to 2010. The Concept established the basic measures for the social adaptation and rehabilitation of convicts and individuals released from incarceration facilities, such as the creation of centres for social rehabilitation of convicts at certain facilities of the penitentiary system, specifically, in colony/settlements; the development and introduction of new forms and methods of organized cultural pursuits for convicts; maintenance of their physical and mental health; expansion of the system of club and hobby activities, etc.

169. Under the Concept, the convicts in a women's penal colony may, on a voluntary basis, take courses on the following specialties: seamstress and hairdresser. Some 60 women convicts were trained in those specialties in 2003; 56 were trained in 2004, and 56 in 2005. Arts and crafts training was introduced in 2006.

170. The legislative base for the suppression of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and for the legal protection of victims of violence is being improved, and the measures indicated below that were adopted by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic attest to that.

171. A 2 January 2002 presidential decree approved the National Programme "Human Rights for the Period of 2002−2010".

172. The presidential decree on the National Plan of Action for Achieving Gender Equality in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Period 2002−2006 was issued in March 2002.

173. For purposes of coordinating the activities of State administrative bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic in combating the illegal export of and trafficking in persons, as well as coordinating the implementation of a programme of measures for combating the illegal export of and trafficking in persons in the Kyrgyz Republic, the 21 April 2002 presidential decree No. 94 on measures for combating the illegal export of and trafficking in persons in the Kyrgyz Republic formed the National Council for Combating the Illegal Export of and Trafficking in Person under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, the members of which consisted of representatives of all branches of government and of international and non-governmental organizations. The presidential decree approved the Programme of Measures for Combating the Illegal Export of and Trafficking in Persons in the Kyrgyz Republic up to the Year 2005.

174. Adopted in June 2002 was the resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 395 on the approval of the set of measures for carrying out the National Plan of Action for Achieving Gender equality in the Kyrgyz Republic and a matrix of activities for its implementation.

175. The instructions for implementing the requirements of the Kyrgyz Republic law on the social and legal protection against violence in the family in the day-to-day activities of internal affairs bodies have been drafted and approved.

176. On 27 June 2003, the Zhogorku Kenesh passed the Kyrgyz Republic law on the incorporation of amendments and addenda into the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic in keeping with which Article 159 "Trafficking in children" was deleted, changes were made to the wording and name of Article 124 "Recruitment of persons for exploitation", which is now titled "Human trafficking", and liability for the commission of those crimes was increased. The insertion of those amendments and addenda into Kyrgyz Republic criminal law gave law-enforcement bodies a tool for the criminal investigation of persons engaged in human trafficking. Laws on internal and external migration were passed. In January 2005, the Kyrgyz Republic law on the prevention and suppression of human trafficking was passed. Kyrgyzstan has acceded to a block of international documents: in 2003, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the two protocols supplementing it.

177. A department to combat human trafficking and crimes involving foreign citizens was created in the General Directorate for Criminal Investigations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in May 2004.

178. Issued on 1 April 2004 was the Ministry of Internal Affairs order No. 38 on countering illegal migration and suppressing the recruitment of Kyrgyz Republic citizens for labour in the Republic of Kazakhstan pursuant to which a number of preventive operations were conducted and are being conducted.

179. A protocol on the incorporation of amendments and addenda into the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on labour activities and the social protection of migrant workers of 29 March 1996 was signed on 22 September 2003, and in the area of human trafficking, the Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the multilateral Agreement within the Framework of the CIS on Cooperation of States-Participants of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Combating Trafficking in Persons, Organs and Tissues of 25 November 2005.

180. Adopted in 2006 was the Children's Code, which prescribes criminal liability for the use of children for sexual purposes.

181. In 2002−2005, according to data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 71 criminal cases involving human trafficking were recorded, but only 50 of them were taken to court. Improving the legislative base and, in particular, relieving the victims of human trafficking from criminal liability helped to increase the detection of incidences of human trafficking to 34 in 2005 from 11 in 2002.

182. The activities of State agencies are geared to identifying organized networks and holding them criminally liable; cooperating internationally in suppressing all forms of trafficking in women and children, including for purposes of sexual exploitation, pornography, prostitution, and sex tourism; returning victims of slave trade to the country; training system staff; preparing procedural formulations on the subject, etc.

183. The recently created State Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic on Migration and Employment is actively handling matters involving the illegal export of and trafficking in persons.

184. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared for publication the manual "Human trafficking as one form of evidence of organized crime" and the analytical reference "Crimes involving violence against women."

185. The passport and visa services of the internal affairs transportation offices are canvassing the tourism firm directors and passengers with respect to service assistance. Internal affairs air-transportation office "hotlines" are installed in passenger arrival and departure areas.

186. For purposes of preventing trafficking in children, the passport subdivisions of the republic's Departments of Internal Affairs, when processing international passports and issuing reports on the nationality of Kyrgyz Republic citizens who are minors, make it mandatory that the notarized consent of the parents be submitted, and enhanced monitoring has been introduced for children exiting the republic.

187. NGOs are operating along with relevant State structures to provide protection, assistance, rehabilitation, and shelter and to enhance knowledge of the law among trafficking victims and commercial sex workers, as well as to prevent HIV/AIDS and conduct training sessions.

188. A positive development consists in the creation of networks of non-governmental organizations that combine their efforts in combating human trafficking and prostitution:

• The "Partner Network" association of programmes for reducing injury (31 NGOs)

• The "Anti-AIDS" association of NGOs (18 NGOs)

• The network of ECPAT International NGOs in Kyrgyzstan (10 NGOs)

• The network of non-commercial organizations for the protection of children's rights and advancement of their interests (3 NGOs)

• NGO Pozitiv HELP

Article 7. Political and social life

189. The Constitutional and legislative guarantees that ensure the equality of men and women in the political and social life of the country and that are addressed in this CEDAW article were covered in the initial and second periodic reports. Over the reporting period, there have been no appreciable changes in the representation of women in decision-making positions.

190. There were seven women among the 105 deputies in the Parliament that served in 2000−2005.

191. The experience of past Kyrgyz Republic Zhogorku Kenesh (Parliament) elections indicated that the introduction in the 2000 elections of a proportional system of elections (by party list) contributed to an increase in the number of women in the representative branch at the highest level. Thus, three women were elected from political parties to the Zhogorku Kenesh, which constituted nearly half the number of those elected to both houses of the Zhogorku Kenesh.

192. In connection with the political mainstreaming of women (they constitute 52 per cent of the electorate), some parties made gender-based adjustments to the party platforms and the lists of candidates for deputies in the run-up to those elections.

193. With the adoption of the revised version of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic in the 18 February 2003 referendum, the election of deputies to the Zhogorku Kenesh based on the proportional system was removed from the law.

194. As a result, one of the real possibilities for boosting the participation of women in elections and for electing them to the Zhogorku Kenesh disappeared in the 2005 elections. There is not one woman in the parliament elected in February 2005, which is not an incentive for significant advancement of women in terms of participation in the political life of the country.

195. The growth of the representation of women at the highest levels of State authority is smaller than in previous years. The personnel policy in the highest bodies of State authority is in need of reform.

196. There is a gender imbalance in the administrative bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic. Women make up 27.7 per cent of the heads of governmental bodies and administrative bodies of all levels, including the heads of institutions, organizations, and enterprises. Women account for 61.1 per cent of high-level specialists and 66.8 per cent of mid-level specialists. Thus, there is a gender imbalance in the administrative bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic.

197. At the same time, the representation of women in the system of social management (2005) is higher than in the system of customs and tax authorities.

198. In banking, where women have traditionally worked, their numbers have dwindled. Here the total number of men accounts for 50 per cent, and that of male managers has risen to 60.4 per cent.

199. The Decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on further improvement of the personnel policy for recruiting women leaders for State Administration of the Kyrgyz Republic State (2002) provides a mechanism for advancing women to decision-making levels. Its provisions are implemented at the level of deputies of oblast and rayon State administrative bodies.

200. An important stage in the legislative development of the country's gender policy was the passage of the Kyrgyz Republic law on the bases of State guarantees to safeguard gender equality. However, there are no standards in this law that regulate the powers of the President and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic or that ensure their observance of gender parity in personnel matters.

201. In the executive branch formed after the presidential elections of 2005, women head the Social Fund, the State Committee on Migration and Employment, and the Financial Intelligence Service. Four women recommended for office in the Government by the President and the Prime Minister, however, were not approved by Parliament. All four had ample work experience in the Parliament and in the Government.

202. In October 2004, the number of women elected to rural keneshes account for 16 per cent of the persons elected at that level; at the district and municipal kenesh levels, 13 per cent; and at the oblast kenesh level, 12 per cent. About 10 per cent of the elected women head bodies of local self-government, i.e., 21 of the 455 aiyl-okmotu heads are women.

203. In judicial bodies, women are represented considerably more broadly. Recent years have seen a definite growth in their numbers in the judicial system. One must note that candidates (women) for judgeships sit for the qualifying examination as prescribed by law on equal terms with men.

204. The Constitutional Court has been headed by a woman since 1993. Among the judges of the Supreme Court, more than half¾53.3 per cent¾are women. As for the regular courts, 307 judges sit in local courts, and 81 of them (27 per cent) are women. .

205. Such a state of affairs is due to the adoption of new rules for the selection of judges that enable women to compete with men on an equal basis, as a result of which women judges now account for a substantial segment of judicial authorities.

206. The information on women's participation in the activities of political parties and trade unions that was provided in the initial and second reports remains the same.

207. The party system of Kyrgyzstan is in the stage of being formed. Under the provisions of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the State is not entitled to interfere in the activities of political parties. Political parties are separate, independent bodies whose activities are regulated by the Kyrgyz Republic law on political parties.

208. A total of 90 political parties are registered with the Ministry of Justice. In 2005, women served as directors of five political parties. Women are in governing bodies in roughly half of the parties, and they account for 1.2−7 per cent of the personnel in those bodies.

209. Distribution of number of employees in bodies of State authority and State administrative bodies, by sex (as a percentage)

210. On the eve of the parliamentary elections in March 2005, two women were in senior management positions in the most influential political associations taking part in those elections.

211. Legislative initiatives proposing that the proportion of women on the list of candidates of a political party must be at least 25 per cent have been introduced in the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic since the spring of 2005.

212. After the parliamentary elections (March 2005), which involved unprecedented violations of the law and falsifications of voting results, power changed hands in Kyrgyzstan.

213. The Kyrgyzstan people, through their active participation, asserted their right to choose an alternative not only to a totalitarian and authoritarian past, but also to a totalitarian and authoritarian present. Women played the most active role in those processes.

214. Created in the reporting period was the post-revolution Constitutional Council, which drafted and introduced for public discussion several variations of a new version of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic.

215. In all three variations of the draft, along with the notion that "all persons in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be equal before the law and the court, no one may be subjected to discrimination, and rights and freedoms of persons shall not be abridged on account of origin, gender, race, nationality, language, creed, political or religious convictions or on any other account of personal or public nature," the Constitutional Council proposed constitutionally consolidating a new provision to the effect that "in the Kyrgyz Republic, men and women have equal rights and freedoms and equal opportunities to exercise them." As of this moment, the new version of the Constitution has been adopted by the Zhogorku Kenesh.

216. Thus, Kyrgyzstan is maintaining consistency in the process of implementing the provisions of the Convention in its own Basic Law and in the subsequent use of those provisions in the country's practice of law as standards of gender equality for accelerating the advancement of women.

Article 8. International representation and involvement

217. As noted in the initial report, Kyrgyz law does not impose any limitations on the appointment of women to the diplomatic service. Women enjoy the same rights as men in terms of filling vacant diplomatic posts.

218. In the republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24 women work abroad at present, which constitutes 10 per cent of the total number of staff employees. One woman holds the post of consul general; four are counsellors; four are first secretaries; one is a second secretary; and four are attachés. Ten women serve in technical posts.

219. In terms of ethnic makeup, the women include Kyrgyz, Russians, and Dungans. The professions represented include specialists in the field of international relations, doctors, lawyers, economists, and teachers.

220. In the UN missions located in Kyrgyzstan:

(a) UNFPA consists of nine staff members, six of whom are women, among whom two are managers, two are secretaries, and one is an accountant;

(b) UNICEF consists of 15 staff members, eight of whom are women, among whom four are administrators, three are programme assistants, and one is a secretary;

(c) UNDP consists of 56 staff members, 31 of whom are women, among whom two are administrators and 27 are mid-level executives (coordinators, assistants, secretaries, etc.).

221. Of the 48 staff members of the representative office of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation, 22 are women, among whom two are administrators, 18 are mid-level executives (coordinators, assistants), and two are technical workers.

Article 9. Nationality

222. In keeping with the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, the Ministry of Justice developed a draft law on the insertion of amendments in the law on Kyrgyz Republic citizenship. The draft called for amending articles 14 and 19, which were discriminatory against women. For example, under the current wording of article 14 of the Kyrgyz Republic law on citizenship, a child born in the Kyrgyz Republic is a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic if his father is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, regardless of the nationality of the mother; he is also a citizen if he was born outside the Kyrgyz Republic if his father, a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, had permanent residence in the Kyrgyz Republic. The draft law also allows decision of that question by the written agreement of the parents. The specific status of the father is excluded in that case.

Article 10. Education

223. The law of the Kyrgyz Republic on education was adopted on 30 April 2003. The law forbids discrimination on the basis of sex (Art. 3). Article 52 of that law recognizes the precedence taken by the standards of international agreements ratified by the Zhogorku Kenesh (Parliament).

224. Work has been under way in Kyrgyzstan since 2002 to introduce a uniform system for the final, nationwide testing of graduating students. One of the objectives of this programme is to provide support for students (both girls and boys) graduating from rural schools. In testing, girls demonstrate a higher degree of participation, and their test results are much better than those of boys. For example, according to the data of the Centre for the Evaluation of Education and Teaching Methods, girls in 2005 accounted for 60.4 per cent of those who took part in republic-wide testing, whereas boys accounted for only 39.6 per cent. Girls, on average, scored 113.8, as opposed to 111.1 for boys.

225. As of the beginning of the 2005/2006 school year, girls accounted for 48.4 per cent of primary school students and 53 per cent of secondary school students. Girls represented 35.3 per cent of students in vocational-technical schools and 62.6 per cent of students in secondary vocational educational institutions.

226. Distribution of students of higher vocational educational institutions (as of the beginning of the 2005/2006 school year):

Girls account for 55.6 per cent of students in higher vocational educational institutions. Most girls in higher educational institutions choose a profession in education, business and management, or the humanities (36.1 per cent, 17.8 per cent, and 12.1 per cent, respectively).

227. Graduation of students (as of beginning of school year, in persons):

228. As of the beginning of the 2004/2005 school year, women constituted 78.7 per cent of secondary school teachers and 53.4 per cent of higher educational institution instructors.

229. In science, there is a gap between the number of women doctoral students and the number of women graduate students [master's candidates]. The number of women graduate students is considerably larger. In 2005, a total of 59.7 per cent of the total number of students at the postgraduate level were women. Most of the women graduate students specialized in philological, juridical and economic sciences.

230. Women doctoral students in 2005 accounted for 28.6 per cent of doctoral students, and the largest number of women doctoral students were in the same sectors as women graduate students.

231. Efforts to introduce gender perspectives in the system of education and training have resulted from the updated gender considerations in education.

232. An important contribution to attracting attention to gender issues and considerations was made by the presidential decree of 5 March 2004 on the establishment of Kyrgyz Republic presidential prizes in the field of gender development in Kyrgyzstan, including prizes for journalists working in that area.

233. With the support of the Kyrgyz Republic Government, cycles of special broadcasts are being run in addition to certain information programmes and materials on gender issues. For example, the programme "Ak Bosogo", which is dedicated to addressing problems of gender equality, is broadcast on the nationwide television channel.

234. Broadcasts that cover gender problems appear regularly, specifically the radio broadcast "Gender Policy/Genderik sayasaty", in the Kyrgyz and Russian languages; the radio programme "To be a woman" is broadcast regularly in Russian. A site devoted to issues of gender education in the Kyrgyz Republic, www.edugender.org.kg, has been opened; it was developed and is supported by the Women's Network Programme of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation. The UNDP site in the Kyrgyz Republic ¾ www.undp.kg ¾ also contains information on gender issues.

235. With the assistance of the UN Children's Fund, the social fund Education for Social Development prepared a survey of gender problems in education. A series of gender-oriented teaching aids for children and adolescents have been prepared with the support of UNDP.

236. Two projects of the Ministry of Education, which were carried out within the framework of the National Plan of Action of EFA (Education for All), have been implemented in the Kyrgyz Republic with the financial support of UNESCO: "The Inclusion of Gender Perspectives in Family Education via Information and Communication Technologies" and "Upgrading the National Potential in the Creation of Gender-Sensitive Plans of EFA".

237. Within the framework of the projects, seminars have been conducted that involve representatives of the pedagogical community of various levels: school administrators, employees of research institutes, and representatives of the republic's universities who are training specialists in the teaching professions. The seminars have resulted in the preparation of gender lenses (check lists) for the developers of education standards, curricula and academic programmes, as well as lenses for the gender-sensitive teacher and for school administrators.

238. Under implementation within the framework of the "Gender Education" component of the Women's Network Programme of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation are the subprojects "Development of Academic Gender Education in the Kyrgyz Republic", the "Empowering Education" programme, the "Oral Histories" project and the "Development of Gender Research in the CIS", and small grants have been awarded for gender studies in higher educational institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Article 11. Employment

239. Work is continuing in the Kyrgyz Republic to upgrade the regulatory and legal base in the area of labour and employment.

240. The law of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 107 of 4 August 2004 put into effect the new Labour Code, which was developed on the basis of the experience garnered by other CIS countries and the comments and suggestions of investors, trade unions and employers. Underlying the Code is the principle of the compromise of the interests of labour relations participants, and real guarantees of the labour rights of employees are provided for, for example, the right of certain categories of employees to take leave at a time suitable to them (women who have two or more children under the age of 14 or a disabled child under the age of 18; pregnant women; single mothers with a child under the age of 14; those requesting leave without pay to care for a child until the child reaches the age of a year and a half, which leave is counted toward time in employment).

241. The chapter "Labour of Women" in the new Labour Code was changed to a chapter titled "Features of the Regulation of the Labour of Women and Other Individuals with Family Responsibilities". It provides guarantees both for working women and for both their parents. A number of Kyrgyz Republic Government resolutions were adopted to implement the Labour Code (Annex 2a).

242. Issues involving gender equality in the area of labour and equal opportunities on the labour market are covered in the Concept for Wage Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2003−2010. It was approved by the 14 December 2002 presidential decree No. 375 and is meant to eliminate discrimination against employees on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, or creed with regard to wages, which are determined in accordance with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. The document specifies additional guarantees for labour remuneration for certain categories of employees, including for minors, women with young children, and disabled persons.

243. The Concept for the State Policy for Employment in the Kyrgyz Republic up to 2010 was developed, and it was approved by the Government resolution of 15 March 2004. Its purpose is to define the basic directions and terms of long-range Kyrgyz Republic national employment policy. It regards as necessary the creation of mechanisms for implementing an employment policy that precludes any possibility of discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as rule-making by State bodies through gender analysis. To meet the objectives posed, a new national programme is being developed to implement the National Employment Policy. The programme has a section for the implementation of State gender policy that involves an integrated gender perspective in all areas of the provision of employment.

244. The Kyrgyz Republic law No. 167 of 1 August 2003 on labour protection was adopted, and a revised version was prepared of the law No. 113 of 27 July 1998 on promoting employment; both provide for a fuller consideration of gender aspects in the legislative regulation of employment. The main purpose of the laws is the legal regulation of employment assistance and the provision of social support for the unemployed and for persons seeking work through State employment service offices.

245. Among the most significant regulatory and legal acts of those adopted in the indicated period are the Kyrgyz Republic law No. 13 of 27 January 2006 on the wage calculation index; the 20 September 2004 Government resolution No. 700 on the reform of the system of beginning vocational education up to the year 2010; and the Social Passport for the Poor Family, which was put into effect by the Government resolution No. 216 of 19 April 2000. In addition, 19 Kyrgyz Republic laws were adopted on separating the minimum wage from non-core payments (Annex 2b).

246. In 2002−2004, the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic performed a sampling of households with regard to employment problems, as well as an integrated sampling of households. The results indicate an overall reduction in the percentage of women in the economically active segment of the population.

247. Women in economically active segment of population of the Kyrgyz Republic.

248. According to the data of a survey of the workforce conducted in 2004 by the National Statistical Committee, the economically active segment of the population consisted of 2,177,000 persons, 937,500 of whom were women and 1,239,500 of whom were men (Annex 2c).

249. The level of economic activity among women in 2003 was 53.5 per cent, and among men, 74.4 per cent. The level of employment reached 48.6 per cent for women and 68.4 per cent for men, and unemployment for the groups was 9.3 per cent and 8.0 per cent, respectively (Annex 2d).

250. The proportion of women among the employed segment of the population by type of economic activity dropped to 42.7 per cent in 2004 from 43.2 per cent in 2002. A decline in the proportion of women is seen in employment areas that are not traditional for women: construction (to 5.5 per cent in 2004 from 6.9 per cent in 2002), transportation and communications (to 15.2 per cent from 17.1 per cent), operations involving real estate, leasing, and consumer services (to 34.7 per cent in the indicated period from 36.7 per cent).

251. One should note the increase, sometimes substantial, in the percentage of women in such types of economic activity as mining (to 10.4 per cent in 2004 from 8.6 per cent in 2002); manufacturing (to 48.5 per cent from 38.8 per cent); production and distribution of electrical power, gas, and water; sales, etc. (Annex 2e).

252. In all age groups, the level of employment among men is higher than the level of employment among women, but the largest gap is seen in the age groups 25−29 and 30−34. During those years, women more often than not leave their job to give birth to a child. But in the age group 35−39, the levels of employment of men and women are seen to draw closer to each other. Women in that age group, as a rule, have children who are grown and return to work.

253. The average number of hours worked per week is 10 per cent higher among men than among women. Women predominate in types of activity in which the law prescribes a reduced work week (health care, education).

254. Distribution of employed persons by actual number of hours worked per week at main job.

(from data of survey of workforce in 2004, as a percentage of total)

255. Women's employment is predominant in the group of white-collar workers engaged in the preparation of information, the processing of documents, recordkeeping, domestic services (75 per cent); high-level specialists (58 per cent) and mid-level specialists (56 per cent); workers in the service industry, the housing-and-municipal services sector, and sales (57 per cent). The proportion represented by women among managers of all levels is small, at a little more than 25 per cent. The largest percentage of women managers are employed in education, health care, communications, and financial services, where they account for 44−51 per cent.

256. A sociological study conducted in 2002 by the NGO Diamond Association and the Kyrgyz Mining and Metallurgy Institute within the framework of the "Development of Institutional, Technical, and Human Resources in Kyrgyzstan" project showed that women working in any industry underrate their own high educational potential and do not see opportunities for professional growth.

257. Women on the labour market are more willing to retrain for new professions that are in demand on the labour market. The proportion of individuals who have been placed in jobs after training is 80 per cent for the republic as a whole; that figure is lower in rural areas, at 40 per cent.

258. Number of women who have been placed in jobs in the field in which they received training or retraining as unemployed individuals.

(persons)

259. Number of women who have been placed in paying jobs in a program for publicly funded work.

(persons)

260. With the support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, job placement for youths (aged 16−25) has gotten under way in the "Cheque for a Job" project. A condition for its implementation is that at least 50 per cent of those being placed be young women.

261. Number of women who were placed in jobs under the "Cheque for a Job" project.

(persons)

262. Over the period of 2002−2005, in terms of professional training and retraining for the unemployed, with the market needs with regard to the workforce for certain professions taken into account and for purposes of enhancing the competitiveness of the unemployed, the State Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic on Migration and Employment trained or retrained upwards of 15,000 unemployed individuals.

263. Number of women who completed courses of professional training or retraining for the unemployed.

(persons)

264. The State Labour Inspectorate under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has regularly performed planned and unplanned inspections in organizations, and no violations against women with regard to hiring or equal pay for work of equal value were identified.

265. With vertical segregation remaining and a substantial portion of working women concentrated in positions of lower status, the average wage of women in 2002 was 64.9 per cent of the average wage of men; in 2003, it was 64.1 per cent (Annex 2f).

266. Among women working at enterprises and institutions, 58 per cent were in education or health care, where wages are not high. At the same time, in all types of activities, the proportion of men is higher among managers, whereas the proportion of women is higher among junior service personnel.

267. In light of the current situation, the State is using the means at its disposal to reduce the existing gap. The implementation of wage reform has involved the adoption of the 27 January 2006 Kyrgyz Republic law No. 13 on the wage calculation index, which will make it possible to raise the minimum wage and provide social welfare the least skilled workers.

268. Pursuant to Government resolutions, the wages of workers of feminized sectors have been raised seven times, in each case by 15−50 per cent. Among such workers are workers in education (except for higher educational institutions) and health care and workers in the social sphere, including workers at homes for the disabled and the elderly, in-home social workers, and workers at centres for social payments. Pursuant to the 7 December 2005 Government resolution, in keeping with presidential decrees Nos. 130−133 of 20 March 2006, the wages for workers employed in social welfare, science, higher educational institutions, and culture have been raised by 15−50 per cent.

269. The results of a sampling of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the UN Development Programme to reduce poverty in the Naryn, Talas, Osh, and Jalal-Abad oblasts, which was conducted by the SotsEkonik Centre for Social and Economic Research, showed that time outlays are one of the traditional indicators characterizing the place and significance of various types of activity in the life of an individual. A study of the budgeted time of the survey respondents indicated substantial differences in how those of different sexes spend their weekdays and days off, with involvement in all types of household activities within the family heavily predominant for women (Annex 2h).

270. Similar results were demonstrated by a study of the structure of time spent managing the household, which was conducted by the National Statistical Committee in 2005. Housework is, to a considerable extent, women's work, since women devote an average of 4.3 hours to the household daily, spending 18 per cent of their day in doing so. With men, those outlays are no more than 5 per cent, amounting to a little more than an hour.

271. Nor is the structure of the types of housework done by working women and men the same. Men engage more willingly in the repair of appliances, furniture, and the dwelling (34 per cent of the time spent on housework) and in buying food (18 per cent); they devote 8 per cent of their time to children and grandchildren. With women, the structure of their housework is more varied and depends on the place of residence, makeup of the family, and the woman's employment.

272. In Kyrgyzstan, since 1 January 1999, the minimum pension age has been rising in four-month stages to 58 from 55 for women and to 63 from 60 for men. This measure is an integral part of the country's pension system reform. The decision to raise the pension age was taken as the chief measure to mitigate the difficult demographic situation in 2007−2015 that is associated with the dramatic increase in the number of persons retiring and to provide the pension system with financial stability during that period. Seven stages have already been effected in the process of solving the problem. In 2006, the generally established pension age will be 57 years 8 months for women and 62 years 8 months for men. Beginning in January 2007, the pension age will be 63 for men and 58 for women. There are no plans to raise the pension age for women to the point of being equal to that of men.

273. The period of 2002−2005 saw a growth in the number of women pensioners. In 2002−2004, women accounted for some 63 per cent of the total number of pensions in the Kyrgyz Republic, a figure that rose to 64.1 per cent in 2005. That happened because the total number of pensioners dropped, as well as because the number of male pensioners declined and the number of women pensioners rose. Accordingly, during that period, the proportion represented by the average monthly pension amount for women rose to 93 per cent from 81 per cent by comparison with men's pensions. However, given that a considerable number of working women are concentrated in positions of lower status, women of all ages have wages that, on average, are 25−45 per cent lower than those of men. For that reason, the average pension amount for women is 20−25 per cent smaller than that for men.

274. The Concept for Further Reform of the Pension System in the Kyrgyz Republic has been developed. It was approved by the 19 February 2003 presidential decree No. 56 and provides for introducing cumulative elements into the current pension system.

275. Under pension law, the women of Kyrgyzstan enjoy certain privileges. They may retire five years earlier than men, and, accordingly, five fewer years of insurance contributions are required of them. Kyrgyz Republic law takes into account gender differences associated with the performance by women of the social function of giving birth to and rearing children. For example, women who live and work in high altitudes and who have given birth to three or more children and have raised them to the age of 8 may, if they have paid insurance for 15 years, retire 10 years before the generally established age. Twelve of the 15 years of insurance contributions must have been spent at high altitudes. At present, the country has more than 9,000 such pensioners, and the State annually pays them pensions totalling more than 60 million som.

276. Normally, for mothers who have given birth to five or more children and have raised them to the age of 8, a total 15 years of pension contributions are required, and the mothers may retire five years early. There are also concessions for mothers of disabled children; specifically, the pension age for them is lowered by five years.

Article 12. Equal access to medical services

277. Under implementation in the Kyrgyz Republic is the Manas Taalimi National Programme for the Reform of Health Care for the Period of 2006−2010, which is a logical extension of the Manas National Programme for the Reform of Health Care of the Kyrgyz Republic for the Period 1996−2006.

278. The Manas Taalimi programme, on the basis of a broad-sector approach, makes it possible to implement measures for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the improvement of public health, including the health of mothers and children, and to expand the accessibility of health care services and reduce the financial burden for the most vulnerable segments of the population.

279. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic has approved the National Strategy for Protecting Reproductive Health up to the 2015, which was initiated in the context of the implementation of the National Plan of Action for Achieving Gender Equality in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Period of 2002−2006. Representatives and experts of NGOs took an active part in the development of the Strategy. Its implementation is based on domestic law, human rights priorities, and the principles of gender equality and the development of partnership in accordance with the international commitments of the Kyrgyz Republic.

280. Statistical data for 2005 indicate that 1,031 obstetrician-gynaecologists and family-planning and social-welfare service employees work in the health care system, as do more than 989 paediatricians. The level of pay for medical personnel is one of the lowest in the budget sphere. In connection with that, twice over the last two years the wages of health care workers have been increased.

281. For the republic overall, of the total number of physicians (12,920), 64 per cent (8,288) are women; of the 29,818 mid-level medical workers, most are women, who account for 28,336 (or 95 per cent).

282. In order to improve women's access to health care services, under the Programme of State Guarantees for 2006 the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic decided to exempt from co-payment (i.e., provide free medical services for) children under 5 years of age and women registered as pregnant, as well as women during labour and in the postpartum period for eight weeks, and retirees 75 or older. The types of medical services available for free on an outpatient basis are considerably expanded for those segments of the population.

283. To reduce the difference in the funding of regions per capita (urban/rural) and bring it up to the republic average, the process of equalizing the funding of regions got under way in 2006, and 50 million som have been directed to that purpose from the budget. In addition, standards for funding health care institutions operating in the Single Payer system were introduced in 2006 for the application of a rural multiplier to meet minimum standards of budget funding.

284. An increase in the birth rate has been noted in Kyrgyzstan since 2001. The increase is due to the increase observed in recent years in the number of women of prime child-bearing age (20−29), which age group accounts for more than 60 per cent of the children born in a year. The fertility rate of women (the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive period) rose to 2.6 children in 2005 from 2.4 in 2000.

285. Pursuant to the 3 December 2003 Government resolution No. 748 on incorporating amendments to National Statistics as a result of the transition to the new live birth criteria recommended by WHO, the transition was made in January 2004 to WHO's new live birth criteria. The main purpose of the transition is to upgrade the system for recording births and deaths and to make the national indices for birth rate and perinatal and infant mortality meet the standards of international data. In addition, obtaining reliable indices will make it possible to realistically assess the effectiveness of the interventions being employed to lower perinatal and infant mortality on all levels (pre-, intra-, and postnatal), as well as to develop specific steps to prevent such deaths.

286. In 2004, Kyrgyzstan effected its transition to the international criteria for live births and infant mortality, and, accordingly, the Civil Registry Office began recording the deaths of newborns with low body weight (500−1000 g).

287. With the transition to the new criteria, neonatal mortality was 20.9 per 1000 births in 2003, 25.7 in 2004, and 29.7 in 2005.

288. In 2005, some 3,300 children under the age of 1 year died. The main causes of infant mortality are diseases and conditions arising in the perinatal (postnatal) period (61 per cent of the infants who died), respiratory illnesses (18 per cent) and birth defects (11 per cent).

289. The health of pregnant women and, accordingly, the course of the delivery against the backdrop of various complications remains a serious problem for health care. Normal deliveries occur in a total of 43.5 per cent of deliveries in 2005 (the figure was 48 per cent in 2003 and 2004).

290. The levels of maternal and infant mortality are the most sensitive indicators in the assessment of both the quality of medical care rendered and the socio-economic development of the country. Maternal mortality was 49.3 per 100,000 live births in 2003 and 60.1 in 2005.

291. Gestosis, sepsis, abortions, and haemorrhaging are the main causes of maternal mortality. Another group of causes consists of precocious pregnancy, high birth rate, and short interval between births.

292. Indices for the health of women of reproductive age have grown worse than they were in the previous period. Genitourinary disorders are noted in 13.5 per cent of women, and gestosis in 5.7 per cent.

293. In the area of safe maternal health, regulations, as well as clinical protocols, have been developed for setting up obstetric care; programmes have been introduced for such things as reproductive health and family planning and for promoting effective perinatal care; and clinical protocols based on WHO recommendations have been introduced for obstetric and neonatal care.

294. The "Zhan-Enye" programme is being implemented in the republic, and the programme "Promoting the Enhancement of the Effectiveness of Perinatal Care" of the Ensuring Safe Pregnancy/Promoting Enhancement of Effective Perinatal Care initiative is being implemented in maternity wards in the Chuy and Issyk-Kul oblasts, in pilot rayons of the Jalal-Abad and Osh oblasts, and in the city of Bishkek.

295. To maintain and promote a systematic, coordinated approach to emergency obstetric care, the Ministry of Health approved a plan of preparatory measures for the development of a national policy and strategy to lower maternal mortality, the first step of which was to assess the condition of emergency obstetric care in the Kyrgyz Republic.

296. Meeting minimum family needs for food staples remains a problem, particularly in rural areas (which account for up to 60 per cent of the population). In 2004, some 6.7 per cent of children between the ages of 1 and 6 years suffered from malnutrition.

297. On average for the country, some 60 per cent of pregnant women have anaemia. In light of that, flour is being enriched with iron. At present, 10 production lines are in operation in the Kyrgyz Republic to enrich flour with iron-containing premix, but that is enabling the product to reach just 10 per cent of the population. In addition, iron preparations are on the list of vital medicinal preparations, and they can be obtained at a reduced rate, depending on the social status of the patient, through the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund.

298. Informational and educational events are being held: in 2003−2004, a theatre group toured the country with a performance in Kyrgyz on anaemia in pregnant women (with the support of UNICEF). The Hematology Science Centre and the National Centre for Paediatrics and Children's Surgery of the Ministry of Health regularly hold training seminars on how to prevent and treat anaemia.

299. As a result of health care reform, services for providing care to adolescents and specialized gynecological care to girls were abolished, i.e., the family doctor became the treating physician for adolescents.

300. In the Kyrgyz Republic, young people of the age group 11−24, broken down according to sex, consist of 823,743 females and 833,861 males.

301. The age of entry into sexual relations is trending down among young people, whereas precocious maternity (annually, 0.7−0.9 of the total number of deliveries) is increasing, as is termination of pregnancy for social reasons.

302. Remaining a high priority is improvement of the regulatory and legal base for protecting reproductive health and setting up medical and social care for adolescents (both for girls and boys) and the provision of access to modern informational and educational technologies for the protection of reproductive health, safe reproductive behavior, and a healthy lifestyle for children and adolescents. In connection with that, a 2006 presidential decree approved a national strategy for protecting the reproductive health of the population of the republic.

303. Within the age structure for women who use contraceptives, the percentage of adolescent girls has increased (by 1.7-fold to 2.6 per cent in 2005 from 1.5 per cent in 1999); among 12− to 14−year-olds, the increase was 1.1 per cent: to 0.1 per cent in 2005 from 0.09 in 1999). [sic]

304. Despite the availability of modern contraceptives and prophylactic measures for preventing an unwanted pregnancy, adolescents, unfortunately, continue to resort to abortions. Annually, some 800 births are recorded among adolescent girls under the age of 18, which constitutes 0.7−0.9 per cent of the total number of births. In 2005, there were 863 such births, which accounted for 0.9 per cent of the total number of births.

305. Annually, some 800 abortions are performed on adolescent girls, with 25 per cent of them being repeat abortions. For the republic as a whole, the figure for the frequency of abortions among adolescents has dropped by 50.8 per cent since 1999 (to 0.9 per 1000 adolescent girls in 2005 from 1.8 in 1999).

306. The Republic Health Promotion Centre developed a teacher's manual and lessons for the "Culture of Health" programme for students of grades 9−11 in the country's general education schools. The manual includes issues related to the protection of reproductive and sexual health.

307. A procedural manual called "Methods for Work to Prevent Disease and Promote Safe Behavior among Youth" was developed for instructors of beginning vocational education, as well as a 20-hour study program for students. The manual and the study program include materials on reproductive and sexual health.

308. In the State programme for the prevention of HIV/AIDS/STI, which was in place in 2001−2005, the high-priority areas of intervention were:

– Reducing the vulnerability of youth;

– Reducing the vulnerability of intravenous drug users;

– Reducing the vulnerability of sex workers;

– Providing medical care for sexually transmitted infections (STI);

– Preventing intrauterine transmission of HIV.

309. As of the end of 2005, the official number of people in the Kyrgyz Republic living with HIV/AIDS was 937, of which 18.5 per cent (156) were women. The percentage of women in the overall number of HIV-infected persons in 2005 increased to 30 per cent. Some 52 per cent of those identified with HIV infection are youths between the ages of 15 and 29.

310. Despite the fact that the primary route for the transmission of the HIV infection remains parenteral, accounting for 78 per cent, transmission through sex is growing. There are dangerous forms of sexual behavior that have resulted in 76 women being infected with HIV by their permanent sex partner (husband), which accounts for 67 per cent of all cases of HIV infection among women.

311. In 2005, a new law on HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic was adopted, as was the Third State Programme on HIV/AIDS and on Overcoming the Socio-Economic Consequences of the Epidemic in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2006−2010. Issues relating to stopping the spread of HIV are also covered in the Manas Taalimi Programme for the Reform of Health Care and in the National Program for Information and Education Policy.

312. The components of these programmes included strategies for working with groups of the population in which the risk of the spread of HIV infection is greatest: they are youths, organized and unorganized; intravenous drug users; and commercial sex workers. The strategies placed special emphasis on partnership with NGOs.

313. Created in 2004 and currently operating are three clinics and offices offering youth-friendly and risk-group-friendly medical services for young people and representatives of various risk groups (sex workers, more than 70 per cent of whom are women; men who have sexual contact with other men; and drug abusers). The number of vulnerable youth who were provided youth-friendly venereal-disease services increased 2.5-fold over that of 2003.

314. The programme called "Culture of Health" was developed and is being introduced in certain pilot schools and vocational schools; also developed was a program that promotes a healthy lifestyle and has a HIV/AIDS-prevention component, for students of secondary and higher educational institutions, as well as military personnel. Street children have been brought into programmes countering HIV/AIDS through NGOs.

315. On the basis of WHO recommendations, new clinical protocols were developed for the HIV infection and were approved by order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic in 2005. Also developed were new clinical protocols for the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and protocols for preventing mother-to-child transmission of the HIV infection. At present, 48 HIV patients are being treated, and three of them are women. Over the period since the HAART therapy began to be used, since March 2005, eight women have received the therapy, three of whom stopped treatment and two of whom died. With monies from GFATM (the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), eight preparations in varying dosages have been acquired, and the preparations are moving regularly into the Kyrgyz Republic.

316. One of the top-priority strategies was to prevent intrauterine transmission of HIV.

317. The new State programme raises the question of the voluntary testing of pregnant women under the Kyrgyz Republic law on HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic. Widespread testing for the HIV infection, however, requires considerable material outlays for acquiring test systems. The main problem for now remains the late diagnosis of the HIV infection in some pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the absence of timely prevention with ART (antiretroviral) drugs that substantially reduce the risk of vertical transmission of the virus to newborns, the abandonment of breast feeding, poor access to psycho-social counselling, and the poor coverage by voluntary testing in regions with adverse epidemiological conditions.

318. In the State Programme for HIV/AIDS for 2006−2010, one of the strategies identifies the reduction of the vulnerability of sex workers and their clients. The program defines its priorities as the promotion of safe sexual behavior, access to and proper use of condoms, widespread enlistment of NGOs in preventive work among sex workers, among whom Tais Plus, Babylon and others are working.

319. In connection with the rise in early 2000 of tuberculosis morbidity and mortality, integrated measures were taken in the Kyrgyz Republic within the framework of the National Programme Tuberculosis-I for 1996−2000 (1996) and the National Programme Tuberculosis-II for 2000−2005. The programmes involved integrating the tuberculosis services with primary health care and training Family Doctor Group physicians in the DOTS and DOTS-plus programmes. As a result of the measures taken, tuberculosis morbidity was stabilized in 2001−2002, which resulted in a reduction in mortality from tuberculosis in 2003−2004.

320. Tuberculosis morbidity and mortality (per 100,000 population).

321. In March 2005, the Ministry of Health approved a programme and plan of action for preventing, and mitigating the consequences of, the consumption of alcohol in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2005−2007.

322. Despite the measures taken, the number of women with alcohol or narcotic dependence is increasing annually.

323. Over 2005, for the city of Bishkek, 178 women (14.1 per cent) were identified with alcohol dependence and 21 (8.7 per cent) were identified with narcotic dependence. Twenty-six minors, five of whom were girls, were registered over the reporting period.

Article 13. Social and economic benefits

324. The system of social security in the Kyrgyz Republic consists of five basic areas: social insurance; social assistance in the form of State benefits; social payments for individuals who are physically unable to work; targeted subsidies for paying for municipal services; and payments for electricity used by State budget organizations.

325. Various kinds of social welfare are made available, particularly to poor women who have children or women who live alone and have an aggregate income per family member that is below the guaranteed minimum level of consumption. The main type of social support is the payment of the following State benefits:

• lump-sum payment for the birth of a child;

• benefit paid to mothers for the care of a child until that child reaches the age of 18 months;

• benefit paid to mothers who have given birth to twins until the twins reach the age of 3 years;

• increased benefits paid to mothers who have given birth to triplets or offspring in higher multiple births until the children reach the age of 16 years;

• benefit paid to mothers for children until the children reach the age of 16 years, if the mothers continue their education and complete it in a general education institution.

Social benefits are paid to citizens who are not entitled to a pension¾to persons disabled since childhood, persons disabled as a result of general illness, mother-heroines, and elderly citizens.

326. Most of the concessions are allotted on the basis of category, without regard for need. More than 30 categories of the population are entitled to concessions, accounting for a total of more than 600,000 persons. Permanent measures are in place that are geared to strengthening social welfare and developing its targeting through, for example, the social passport system for poor families.

327. In 2005, some 11.1 per cent of the population were categorized as living in extreme poverty, and 43.1 per cent, in poverty. One out of 10 citizens receives State benefits, and one out of three families avails itself of them or of other concessions. In all, various types of social support encompass more than one million people, more than 50 per cent of whom are women. State benefits are received by about 11 per cent of the population, or more than 500,000 people, more than 53 per cent of whom are women; 600,000 families, or one out of two families, avail themselves of those or other types of concessions. Upwards of 2,000 persons are in 13 institutional boarding homes, and another 10,000 or so receive in-home social services.

328. The 5 March 1998 law No. 15 on State benefits in the Kyrgyz Republic provides for the allotment and payment of benefits for the birth of a child and for children up to the age of 18 months. The funding is effected with republic budget funds.

329. The calculation and payment of benefits for temporary disability and for pregnancy and childbirth are covered by the Regulation on Rules for Providing Benefits under Social Insurance, which was approved by the 8 February 1995 Government resolution No. 34. Under the regulation, the computation of the benefits for temporary disability involved the use of the same standards for men as for women.

330. Kyrgyz Republic law provides for "parental" benefits for child care, but, in real life, fathers, as a rule, do not take leave for child care. Benefits paid for the care of a sick child until the child reaches the age of 14 are paid to the parent who is caring for the child. The State agencies that formulate social policy are faced with the task of developing new mechanisms for gender-oriented social policy and a more uniform distribution of family obligations, mechanisms that provide for the payment of a larger benefit if the father uses some period of parental leave.

331. Since 1 July 2005, 1 per cent of the social insurance fund has been excluded from the rates for insurance contributions to State social insurance. Questions pertaining to the allotment and payment of benefits for temporary disability and for pregnancy and childbirth are within the competence of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the main priority area of whose work is the provision of social guarantees and rights and the mitigation of the poverty of socially vulnerable segments of the populace.

332. In 2003, adjustments that took into account indicators based on sex were made to the poor family's social passport.

333. List of basic social indicators for the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of the Kyrgyz Republic

334. One robust measure of social support is to actively involve disadvantaged segments of the populace in economic activities. To do that, an experiment got under way in 2002 that issued 25 disadvantaged families an annual sum based on a lump-sum monthly allowance. By 2005, the number of families had already risen to 9,300. The one-time payment of the annual sum based on the lump-sum monthly allowance served as seed capital invested in the development of business or agricultural operations. The monies were invested in animal husbandry, clothing manufacture, crop farming, and other types of activities.

335. Based on the figures for 2004, the number of recipients of State benefits was 534,000, of whom 280,000 were women (or 53.3 per cent of the total number). The figures for 2005 put the number of recipients at 553,800, with women accounting for 293,500 (or 53 per cent of the total number). Information on the number of disadvantaged families and citizens who were recipients of the lump-sum monthly allowance (benefits for children) over the period 2002−2005 is shown in more detail in the annexes.

336. A similar situation exists for recipients of social benefits. In 2004−2005, some 52 per cent of recipients were women.

337. The Kyrgyz Republic Government intends to raise the amounts for social guarantees. The principal task assigned by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic for the near future in the area of social policy is to increase the level of funding for the social sphere and raise wage, pension, and benefit levels substantially, bringing them up to the level of the minimum consumer budget in stages.

338. The 31 January 2003 presidential decree UP No. 44 on raising the amounts for monthly social benefits elevated those amounts by 20 per cent on 1 April 2003.

339. In 2005, the minimum standards for the consumption of food products were revised for socio-demographic groups of the populace of the Kyrgyz Republic, as was the structure of the minimum consumer budget. Payments of social benefits to children were extended to 18 years of age from 16, as well as to 18 months for children born of mothers with the HIV infection. Employees of the Main Penal Corrections Department of the Ministry of Justice were added to the list of concessional categories of citizens; the amounts for social benefits paid to members of families who died or were victims in the Aksyysk events of March 2002 were tripled. The amounts for concessions for individuals who were in Leningrad during the blockade and for prisoners of the fascist concentration camps who were minors were made equal to the concessions paid to participants in the war; anniversary payments were made to veterans of the Great Patriotic War and to the workers of the rear.

340. Work has been under way since 2003 to monetize concessions. Concessions for medications and for coal have been converted to cash payments. Preparations are being made in 2006 to convert concessions for housing-and-utilities services and energy to cash compensation. The monetization of concessions for riding on passenger transport is being analyzed.

341. To implement additional measures for the social welfare of the populace in the context of rising energy rates, the 15 March 2002 presidential decree UP No. 60 on additional measures for the social welfare of the populace in the context of rising energy rates elevated the threshold level of income to 350 som per month per person for the category of citizens who are entitled to social welfare rates for energy.

342. To raise the standard of living of pensioners in the context of rising electricity rates, the 5 May 2002 presidential decree UP No. 105 on compensatory payments to pensioners in connection with the rise in electricity rates established differentiated compensatory payments for pensions beginning 1 June 2002, from 25 to 90 som, depending on the size of the pension being received. For more than 60 per cent of the pensioners, the compensatory payments amounted to 40 som or more, which, based on the established norm of consumption, not only covered the increase in expenses associated with the rise in electricity rates, but also made it possible to improve somewhat the material status of the pensioners.

343. The 28 January 2003 presidential decree No. 41 on increasing pension increments increased the size of the increments by 300 som, retroactive to 1 January 2003.

344. The 9 October 2004 presidential decree UP No. 333 оn increasing the minimum size of the pension for military personnel established the minimum pension for military personnel at the level of 300 som, retroactive to 1 April 2004.

345. For working pensioners, pensions are re-computed annually on the basis of the insurance contributions accumulated in personal insurance accounts after retirement. In 2002, an average of 44 som were added to the pensions of 18,000 pensioners. Overall, the average size of pensions for women are 18 per cent smaller than those of men, which is due to lower wages and fewer years worked. Among pensioners who have retired, 65 per cent are women, and 35 per cent, men.

346. Beginning 1 January 2006, pursuant to the 25 July 2005 Government resolution No. 311 on increasing the size of the guaranteed minimum level of consumption, the size of benefits to disadvantaged families and citizens rose by an average of 28 per cent as a result of the elevation of the guaranteed minimum level of consumption (GMLC), to 175 som from 140.

347. In the sphere of social welfare, progress from the standpoint of the quality of gender-based equal rights is seen in forms such as aid to children, disabled persons, and disadvantaged families and social security for elderly people. Specific measures have been undertaken to protect those population groups; for example, the function of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare includes implementation of measures to provide State support for women who have children. More than 150,000 women from disadvantaged families receive State benefits for minor children. To improve the provision of services in that area, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare is conducting a reform of the system of concessions and is switching from category-based distribution to a targeted approach that takes into account the income and the degree of need of the family.

348. Within the framework of the State programme "New Generation" and the "Code on Children", a Family and Children's Support Service is being created that has as its objective the identification, monitoring and turnaround of "risk group" families. The need for such a structure stems from the low level of employment among the populace and the limited access of children to education and health care services. Families with problems are categorized into three main groups: socially promising, not socially promising and socially dangerous. Depending on the group, the work with the families is structured as follows: turnaround, targeted support of family members unable to work or neutralization of the negative effects of the family.

349. The Social Fund of the Kyrgyz Republic, with monies from the Social Insurance Fund, annually effects certain expenditures to pay pregnancy or childbirth benefits:

350. In 2002−2003, a total of 22,311,500 som were allocated from the republic budget for lump-sum childbirth benefits, and 126,471,000 som were allocated for benefits paid to mothers until the child reaches the age of 18 months.

351. Benefits paid from Social Fund monies, by type and category of recipient in the republic:

352. Microcredit is an established tool for effectively fighting poverty and unemployment. The National Statistical Committee estimates that some 80 per cent of the recipients of microcredits are women. That indicates that they are using the opportunities of existing microcredit programmes more so than are men.

353. Number of recipients of microcredits, by region of the republic.

(persons)

354. In the Kyrgyz Republic, microcredit has two main sources:

– the State (Kyrgyz Agricultural Finance Corporation, or KAFC; the Fund for Small and Medium Business; the State Committee on Migration and Employment; the closed JSC international commercial company Business Development Fund, etc.), which allocates funds from the State budget or through investment projects;

– non-State (international organizations and foundations), where the main recipients of credits are non-governmental organizations or individuals who have submitted business plans.

355. Microcredits are issued on a short-term basis, and there is considerable variation in the sizes of the credits themselves and in the annual percentage rates, which indicates the variety of microcredit arrangements in the republic.

356. The lending organizations finance virtually any type of activity the credit recipients (including women) prefer to develop, so long as it helps them to set up on their own or create a communal group and, on a collective basis, set up miniproduction for the manufacture of any type of product or develop a sphere of services.

357. Most microcredit funds are used in agriculture. The leader here is the KAFC, whose line of credit is marketed together with international organizations primarily on a non-pledge basis. Over 2002−2003, that organization approved 1,227 projects for a total of 90.1 million som, and 543 of those projects were for businesswomen for a total of 53.5 million som.

358. The Committee for Migration and Employment, together with the aiyl okmotu (rural council), is doing work at the regional level to effect measures geared to curbing the internal migration of the republic's populace, via active policy measures. Among them are the issuance of microcredits and the continuation of the implementation of the "Support Centres" projects, which are geared to supporting business initiatives and developing small and medium business in the republic.

359. A total of 1,755 unemployed persons received microcredits in 2005. Of that number, 992 were women (56.5 per cent), and 763, men. Unfortunately, the number of unemployed who received microcredits was 56 fewer than in 2004, and the number of women, 0.2 per cent less. The largest number of microcredits were issued in 2002, when 3,300 persons received loans, 1,746 of them women and 1,554, men. The number of women who received microcredits, however, constituted 52.9 per cent. In 2003, the number of unemployed who received microcredits was only 2,377. Of that number, 1,339 were women (56.3 per cent), and 1,038, men.

360. Positive changes in the dynamics of lending have been possible because of the simplified system created for issuing credits. To expand microcrediting and microfinancing, prevailing law is constantly improving the mechanisms for providing the disadvantaged segments of the population with access to credit.

361. Since January 2003, income equivalent to not four, but 6.5 minimum monthly wage amounts has been subject to deductions. A patent tax system has been introduced that exempts private businesspersons from submitting reports and calculations and yearly aggregate annual income returns to tax authorities.

Article 14. Rural women

362. The rural population accounts for two-thirds of the population of Kyrgyzstan. According to the census, the percentage of women working in agriculture has dropped considerably in recent years by comparison with other types of economic activity. Based on information from the National Statistical Committee, some 42.4 per cent of women were engaged in that sector in 2004, as opposed to 64 per cent in 1999.

363. The data of an integrated survey of households (for 2004) show the total number of unemployed women to be 86,900 (46.8 per cent of the total number of unemployed), of which 52 per cent live in rural areas.

364. Based on the results of phase I of the agricultural census, the total number of peasant (farm) holdings and farms of individual entrepreneurs in the republic was 246,901. As of the 2002 census, women accounted for 12.4 per cent of owners of peasant (farm) holdings and about 1 per cent of individual entrepreneurs engaged in farming. Analysis of the data on the makeup of the heads of peasant (farm) holdings and individual entrepreneurs by sex indicates that the overwhelming majority of them were men (87.6 per cent).

365. Distribution of heads of households (2004).

366. By age, upwards of 50 per cent of the male heads of farms are in the age group of 30−49 inclusive, whereas 36 per cent of women heads of farms are in that age group. Farms headed by women aged 65 or older account for 34 per cent, whereas farms headed by men of that age group account for 16 per cent of the total number of farms (Table 2).

367. Distribution of heads of peasant (farm) holdings and farms of individual entrepreneurs by age (based on data of 2002 agricultural census).

368. As of the 2002 agricultural census, the total area of arable land of the peasant (farm) holdings and farms of individual entrepreneurs amounted to 804,326 hectares. Of that total, farms headed by women accounted for 9 per cent of the arable land, whereas farms headed by men accounted for 91 per cent. Farms headed by women having 100−1000 hectares of arable land numbered 13, with a total of 2,027 hectares of arable land. Farms of the same size headed by men numbered 225, with a total of 35,316 hectares of arable land.

369. Distribution of area of arable land among heads of peasant (farm) holdings and farms of individual entrepreneurs (from the data of the 2002 agricultural census)

* Number of farms having arable land.

** Not counting area of arable land used under a short-term lease.

370. Analysis of the results of the agricultural census showed that peasant (farm) holdings and farms of individual entrepreneurs headed by men contained 80−94 per cent of the livestock and domestic fowl by types, and farms headed by women accounted for only 5−19 per cent of the livestock and fowl populations.

371. Farms headed by women had 6 per cent of the track-type and wheeled tractors, and those headed by men, 94 per cent.

372. The implementation of the project to create the Registry of Agricultural Entities from the results of the agricultural census represents a unique opportunity to obtain a full set of reliable statistical and other representative information on the exercise of women's economic rights in the country. The census questionnaire, prepared by the National Statistical Committee, included a gender component for a number of key economic indices. Work is being done in that project to incorporate an indicator for gender-disaggregated statistics in the initial reports on agriculture beginning in 2007 as a tool for updating the Registry of Agricultural Entities as it changes.

373. The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic is devoting special attention to supporting rural regions, expanding the real sector in them, and forming a social infrastructure. Attesting to that are the multiple national and State programmes adopted and implemented in 2002−2005 and geared to improving the system of local self-government; strengthening the role of communities; developing rural entrepreneurship, industry and tourism, the sphere of informational and communication services, culture and the arts, rural schools, housing construction, the reproductive health of rural residents, etc. (Annex 3a).

374. Ministries and departments of the republic, by implementing various programmes and projects in the village, play an important role in improving the plight of rural residents, including women.

375. Since agrarian and land reform got under way, the Centre for Agrarian Land Reform in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industry has engaged in raising public awareness of national law. To accomplish that, its specialists prepared and published 2,000 copies each of informational materials on 25 topics covering land and agrarian reform, as well as of books and brochures.

376. Over the period of 2002−2005, a total of 832 training seminars on legal aspects of agrarian land reform were organized for rural residents, including women. The seminars were attended by 39,891 people. Information was also broadcast on radio and television and appeared in republic and trade newspapers.

377. The republic Centre for Agrarian Land Reform and the Women Entrepreneurs' Support Association of Kyrgyzstan (WESA) signed an agreement on collaboration organizing and conducting training courses, disseminating information and materials on laws on agrarian land reform, and studying the situation and problems of persons engaged in agricultural, including rural women. Representatives of those structures worked together at the republic, oblast, rayon and local levels to teach the public, including women, how to exercise and protect their rights to land and property assets.

378. Projects and lending organizations working in the area of agriculture and the processing industry are holding seminars on topics such as land laws, property rights, and the access of women and the poor to credit resources. In addition, women are being taught how to grow special plants, along with techniques and methods for processing them at home, and how to develop associated manufacturing (mainly, the fabrication of souvenirs and artifacts out of felt, etc.).

379. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industry, together with the German GTZ project "Commodity−Services Cooperatives Development" and local self-government authorities, is doing work to create various types of cooperatives in the Chuy, Jalal-Abad and Naryn oblasts, which were selected as pilot oblasts. Created and now functioning are 353 technical services, 23 agrochemical services, and 603 private veterinary services. For purposes of combining small peasant holdings and farms into large entities and, on that basis, creating associations and cooperatives, work is under way to improve tax assessment in the agrarian sector.

380. In support of rural commodity producers, a program is in place for agricultural production lending, which is done through the Kyrgyz Agricultural Finance Corporation, credit unions, the Bay-Tushum Financial Fund, CIRITAS (Switzerland), MercyCorps in Kyrgyzstan and the Farmer−Farmer microcredit centres. Commodity lending to rural commodity producers is being done by the State Fund for Economic Development in the Ministry of Finance.

381. In order to create for entrepreneurs in rural areas conditions favorable to engaging in economic activities and to save them time, assigned to each body of local self-government (aiyl okmotu) are regional tax authority employees who, on the spot, issue patents to entrepreneurs and accept payment for the patents on forms whose use is strictly controlled (No. 04 receipts). Similar work is being done by tax authorities in urban areas. Tax inspectors who check to see that entrepreneurs have documents authorizing the right to perform activities and who are responsible for the issuance of patents are assigned to specific sectors.

382. Also making their contribution to the achievement of gender equality in the economy are international organizations such as UNIFEM, UNFPA, the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation and UNDP, within the framework of whose projects new perspectives are being developed and introduced to solve existing problems. Among those perspectives one should note the mainstreaming of the activities of local women's councils; the expansion of the economic rights of women, including those pertaining to landholding, lending, inheritance and ownership; gender aspects of the system of early warning with regard to conflicts; identification of sexual-behavioural factors and social and cultural stereotypes that promote the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS, etc.

Article 15. Equality before the law and civil law

383. The Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, civil law and civil procedure law provide for the equality of men and women before the law the courts, as well as equal access to legal assistance.

384. The Family Code fixes the equal personal and property rights of men and women in family relations (Family Code, Article 3). New to the Code is the institution of the marital contract, which is taken to mean an agreement between the individuals that defines the property rights and obligations of the spouses in the marriage and/or in the event of its dissolution.

385. The marital contract may be adjudged by a court to be wholly or partially invalid on grounds specified in the Civil Code of the Kyrgyz Republic for the invalidity of transactions (Civil Code, articles 183−199).

386. In keeping with the final comments of the committee with regard to the second periodic report of the Kyrgyz Republic, amendments were made to the 11 April 2001 Kyrgyz Republic law on the management of farm lands that eliminate provisions that discriminated against women. The law on the incorporation of amendments and addenda into the 25 July 2006 Kyrgyz Republic law on the management of farm lands No. 129 made substantial changes to articles 14, 15, 28 and 29 of the law.

387. Under Article 15 of that law, an entire plot of land may be sold, or part of it sectioned into an independent parcel. Giving land parcels and plots as gifts is legal, but the size of the parcel or plot that serves as a gift may not be smaller than the average commercial size of a land plot established in the appropriate rural council (aiyl okmotu) when the agrarian land reform is put in place. That provision is geared to preventing inordinate division of land and is not discriminatory (Article 29). A land parcel may be exchanged for a parcel located anywhere in the Kyrgyz Republic (Article 14), and several persons may be the heirs to a land parcel (Article 28).

388. Under Article 32 of the Family Code, each spouse is free to choose his or her line of work, job, workplace and place of residence. A woman's being married does not restrict her right to choose her place of residence.

389. Adopted on 13 January 2006 was the Kyrgyz Republic law on external labour migration. Under Article 9 of the law, a migrant worker has the right to invite family members to live with him if he has housing that meets the requirements for living accommodations established under the law of the State in which the job exists and he has the means to support the members of his family. A migrant worker is taken to mean a person who has a regulated status and who is engaged in work in a State of which he is not a national, i.e., no distinction is made between male and female migrant workers.

390. That law establishes the principle of the equality of the rights of migrant workers and the nationals of the State in which the job exists as prescribed under the law of the State in which the job exists. Migrant workers may not be hired to work under conditions that abase human dignity, are harmful to the workers' health, or threaten their lives.

Article 16. Equality in marriage and family law

391. The Family Code of the Kyrgyz Republic of 30 August 2003 affords men and women equal rights to enter into marriage. Family relations are governed by the principles of the voluntary nature of the marital union of a man and a woman, the equality of the rights of the spouses in the family, the resolution of issues in the family by mutual agreement, the priority afforded to the family's raising of the children, the responsibility for their well-being and development, and the proper protection of the rights and interests of family members who are minors or are disabled.

392. The Code prohibits any form of restriction of the rights of citizens upon entry into marriage or in family relations on the grounds of social, racial, ethnic, language or religious affiliation. The Code provides for the gender equality of the spouses in family relations, which is protected by society and the State (Family Code, Article 3).

393. Spouses are free to choose their line of work, job, workplace and place of residence. Issues of family life are resolved jointly by the spouses on the basis of the equality of the spouses, mutual respect and cooperation, and the elimination of discrimination. Spouses bear equal responsibility with regard to work in the home (Family Code, Article 32).

394. The marriageable age both for men and for women is 18. If there are legitimate reasons, executive-administrative bodies of local self-government for the place of residence of the individuals wishing to marry are, at the request of those individuals, entitled to allow those individuals to marry even if the female has only reached the age of 16. Normally, legitimate reasons consist of the girl's being pregnant or already having a baby.

395. The number of recorded marriages has been on the rise since 2001. For 2005, the average age at which a woman entered into her first marriage was 23.2 years; comparing that against the year 2000, when the average age was 22.3, one can see a trend toward later entry into marriage.

396. The medical examination for individuals entering into marriage, as well as counselling on medical and genetic issues and family planning issues, is performed by health care institutions for their place of residence for free and only with the consent of the individuals entering into marriage. The results of the examination of an individual are confidential, and only with the consent of the examinee may the results be reported to the person whom the examinee intends to marry. But if one of the individuals entering into the marriage has hidden from the other the presence of venereal disease or HIV infection, the latter individual is entitled to turn to the courts and ask that the marriage be annulled (Family Code, Article 16).

397. As for the legislative base in the area of social and legal protection against violence in the family, that issue is covered in Article 6 of this report.

398. Created for purposes of providing emergency services to victims of violence is a network of crisis centres, which is discussed in detail in Article 6 of this report.

399. Information on the measures undertaken to prevent violence against women and on projects and programmes implemented in that area is set forth in detail in Article 6.

Annexes

1. To Article 6

Statistical data of the Data Analysis Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Headquarters

2. To Article 11

(a) Resolutions of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic adopted in 2005 in the context of the implementation of the revised Labour Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.

1. Resolution No. 239 of 17 June 2005 on incorporating amendments and addenda into certain regulatory and legal acts of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic introduced amendments and addenda into the following Kyrgyz Republic Government resolutions:

1.1. On the rules for calculating the average wage, No. 642, of 25 November 1999;

1.2. On the list of industries, jobs, professions and positions that have harmful and/or hazardous working conditions and in which employing the labor of women is prohibited, No. 158, of 24 March 2000;

1.3. On the list of industries, professions and jobs that have difficult and harmful working conditions and in which the employment of individuals under the age of 18 is prohibited, No. 314, of 2 July 2001;

1.4. On the approval of the Regulation on Service and on Organizing Labour Safety Operations and the Regulation on the Procedures for Teaching Labour Safety and Testing Organization Employees for Knowledge of Labour Safety Requirements, No. 225, of 5 April 2004.

2. Resolution No. 272 of 30 June 2005 on incorporating amendments and addenda into the Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 154 of 18 March 1999 on guarantees and compensation in connection with the special nature of work.

3. Resolution No. 388 of 19 August 2005 on incorporating amendments and addenda into certain regulatory and legal acts of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic introduced amendments and addenda into the following Kyrgyz Republic Government resolutions:

3.1. On the approval of the Regulation on the Terms for the Wages of the Enterprise Director and Employees Who Perform General Managerial Functions at State Enterprises, No. 407, of 26 July 1999;

3.2. On incorporating amendments and addenda into the Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution on the approval of the list of timber industry and forest management employees for whom privileges are in place in terms of work/rest schedule, No. 504, of 20 September 1999;

3.3. On establishing norms for travel expenses and the rules for their reimbursement, No. 635, of 12 October 2001;

3.4. On medical and social expert review in the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 915, of 31 December 2002.

4. Resolution No. 372 of 16 August 2005 on the list of State organizations in which relatives are permitted to be co-workers.

5. Resolution No. 548 of 2 December 2005 on the approval of the maximum allowable weight women, as well as employees under 18, can lift and carry.

6. Resolution No. 606 of 22 December 2005 on the rules for providing leave to employees who have adopted a child.

(b) Laws of the Kyrgyz Republic that were adopted in 2006 and that provide for separating the minimum wage from payments unrelated to it.

(c) Distribution of economically active populace, employed and unemployed.

(based on data of labour force survey in 2004, thous. persons)

(d) Level of economic activity, employment and unemployment, by region of the republic.

(based on data of labour force survey in 2004, as a percentage)

(e) Proportion of women and men among employed population, by type of economic activity (as a percentage).

(f) Ratio of average wage of women to average wage of men (percentages).

(g) Average wages of women and men, by types of economic activity for 2005.

(h) Structure of daily use of time by individuals 12 years of age or older, by sex and place of residence, for 2005.

(based on data of cross-sectional study of time budget use in 2005)

3. To article 14.

(a) List of national and State programmes adopted and implemented in the Kyrgyz Republic in the period 2002−2006:

Law of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 36 on zhamaats (communities) and their associations, of 21 February 2005;

National Strategy for the Decentralization of State Administration and Development of Local Self-Government in the Kyrgyz Republic up to the year 2010, approved by Kyrgyz Republic presidential decree No. 381 of 17 December 2002;

Integrated programme "Aiyl mektebi" (rural school), approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 534 of 20 August 2003 ;

"State Programme for the Development of Business in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2004 and 2005", approved by the Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 43 of 28 January 2004;

"State Programme for Countering Religious Extremism in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2004−2005, approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 226 of 5 April 2004;

Programme for the Development of Industry, Retail Trade and Commercial Manufacturing, and Consumer Services in Rural Areas of the Kyrgyz Republic up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 922 of 14 December 2004;

State programme "Development of Informational and Communication Services in Rural Areas of the Kyrgyz Republic up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 954 of 24 December 2004 (within the framework of the implementation of the National Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic "Integrated Development of the Village up to the Year 2010") ;

"Programme for the Development of Culture and the Arts in Rural Areas of the Kyrgyz Republic up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 4 of 11 January 2005;

"Programme for the Development of Residential Construction in Rural Areas of the Kyrgyz Republic up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 26 of 20 January 2005;

State programme "Development of Systems for Heat Supply and Gas Service in Rural Areas up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 47 of 1 February 2005;

State programme of the Kyrgyz Republic "Development of the Land and Real Estate Market in Rural Areas up to the Year 2010" (developed in the framework of the National Program of the Kyrgyz Republic "Integrated Development of the Village up to the Year 2010"), approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 76 of 11 February 2005;

State programme of the Kyrgyz Republic "Development of Tourism in Rural Areas up to the Year 2010", approved by Kyrgyz Republic Government resolution No. 112 of 26 February 2005;

National Strategy for the Protection of the Reproductive Health of the Population of the Kyrgyz Republic up to 2015, approved by Kyrgyz Republic presidential decree No. 387 of 15 July 2006.