Secretary of State: Necessary to join efforts to achieve fair representation of women in decision-making

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Secretary of State, Gulshara Abdykalikova and Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Berik Imashev, co-chaired a joint meeting of the National Commission for Women, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan that was held in the National Academic Library on Friday, Kazinform correspondent reports.

Speaking at the meeting, Gulshara Abdykalikova noted that the 2016 Presidential Decree on a new Concept of Family and Gender Policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030 specifies women should occupy 30% of seats in executive, representative, judicial, state, quasi-governmental and corporate sectors.

She stressed that in 2017 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum Kazakhstan ranks 54th of 144 countries. According to her, the respective bodies in the country now need to consolidate their efforts in order to achieve the fair representation of women in the decision-making positions. Gulshara Abdykalikova noted that, in her opinion, involving more women in the decision-making processes will positively affect the political, economic and social development of the state.

According to the CEC Chair as of early 2017, the share of women among political civil servants was 10 percent, among the MPs their share was 22 percent. There were 739 women elected as deputies, which is 22.2 percent of the number of nominated women candidates.

The agenda of the meeting includes two issues: the gender aspects of women's participation in electoral processes and the issues helping women in taking the decision-making positions in the civil service.