INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2025: WOMEN – “Women's leadership: breakthrough into a new era”

Speech of the Resident Coordinator a.i. in the Kyrgyz Republic

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2025: WOMEN – “Women's leadership: breakthrough into a new era”

Honorable First Lady of the Kyrgyz Republic, Aigul Japarova,
Excellency Ravshanbek Sabirov, Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Migration, 

Honorable Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh, Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu,
Dear Aibek Junushaliev, Mayor of Bishkek,
Partners, colleagues, and most importantly, women and girls of Kyrgyzstan,

On behalf of the UN family, it is my great honor to address you today. The Resident Coordinator asked me to convey her personal best wishes and heartfelt regrets for not being able to join us in person today.

This year’s International Women’s Day is a historic occasion, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the women and girls of Kyrgyzstan. The theme for International Women's Day 2025 is "For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment". The theme calls for action to ensure that all women and girls have equal rights, power, and opportunities. 

Today, we also celebrate 100 years of the women’s movement in Kyrgyzstan—a century of courage, resilience, and transformation. At the same time, we reflect on 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark global commitment to achieving gender equality.

Kyrgyzstan has a proud history of women’s leadership and activism, with pioneers who fought for education, political participation, and labor rights shaping the nation’s progress. Among them, Urkya Salieva, one of the first women to chair a collective farm, championed labor rights and unity in the early 20th century, while decades later Kuliypa Konduchalova, the "Iron Lady of the Tian Shan," played a key role in shaping Kyrgyz culture and diplomacy, leading the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs for over two decades. 

Today, their legacies, along with those of many other extraordinary figures in Kyrgyzstan’s women’s movement, endure. The women’s movement has ensured stronger legal protections against gender-based violence, gender quotas in Parliament and local councils, and strategic frameworks like the National Gender Equality Strategy until 2030 and its respective triennial National Action Plans on Gender Equality. The 2025–2027 Action Plan, currently being developed, will be a key blueprint for further advancing women’s rights and leadership across all sectors.

These are significant achievements, but challenges remain. One in three women in Kyrgyzstan faces domestic violence, with many lacking access to justice, shelters, and support services. Economic inequality persists, with women earning on average 25% less than men[1] and facing barriers to career growth. Young women remain underrepresented in the field of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, digital technologies, and entrepreneurship—fields critical for the future.

Deep-rooted gender stereotypes still hinder women’s leadership and decision-making. Despite gender quotas and State Programs on Women’s Leadership and Women’s Entrepreneurship, women remain underrepresented in high-level government and executive roles, restricting Kyrgyzstan’s full economic and sustainable development. Yet, as the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated in his address for this year’s International Women’s Day: "When the doors of equal opportunity are open for women and girls, everyone wins. Equal societies are more prosperous and peaceful – and the foundation of sustainable development."

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year also marks the 45th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a fundamental international commitment to protecting women's rights. In just a few days, the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will convene in New York, where global leaders will reflect on progress, address challenges, and advance new commitments to gender equality. I am pleased to note that Kyrgyzstan’s delegation will participate, bringing the country’s unique experiences and perspectives to the global stage. 

These international commitments need to be translated into national action. By 2030, under the Sustainable Development Goals, every woman and girl in Kyrgyzstan should have access to quality education, economic opportunities, leadership roles, and protection from gender-based violence. The United Nations Pact for the Future, and the Global Digital Compact, adopted by world leaders including President Japarov at the Summit of the Future in September 2024, offer blueprints to guide these actions, including:

1. Strengthening national policies that promote women’s empowerment and protect their rights, ensuring that gender equality is at the center of governance.
2. Investing in gender-responsive budgeting and social protection, recognizing that inclusive policies drive economic and social progress.
3. Enhancing women’s participation in climate resilience efforts, ensuring that women are at the forefront of environmental governance and disaster response.
4. Expanding economic opportunities, particularly for women entrepreneurs, by increasing access to finance, training, and digital innovation.
5. Ensuring the improvement and full implementation of laws and mechanisms to end violence against women and girls, with stronger enforcement, better survivor support systems, and sustained government-led public awareness campaigns.

I wish to reaffirm the UN’s full support to the Government and people of Kyrgyzstan in these efforts. Progress will require a whole of society approach, from the private sector, such as creating inclusive workplaces, to civil society, the women’s rights movement and their allies, including men and boys, that can monitor implementation of national policies, provide services and together hold institutions accountable. It will also require listening to the voices of women and girls who are striving for their rights.

Kyrgyzstan’s 100-year journey of the women’s movement is proof of what is possible. But progress is never guaranteed—it must be defended, expanded, and accelerated now and our joint work can make that happen.

With this, I would like to wish you all once again a very happy International Women’s Day.

Thank you. 

[1] “On average, women earn 25% less than men, as they are predominantly employed in low-paying sectors such as education, healthcare, and social services.” (Kyrgyzstan presents preliminary findings and recommendations of the Country Gender Equality Profile | UN Women – Europe and Central Asia, Article from Feb 2025)