Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) to observe the early presidential elections in Uzbekistan, summing up the preliminary results of its work, gave a positive assessment of the gender policy pursued by the government of the country.

It is noted that since 2016, reforms aimed at the active participation of women in the socio-political life of the country have intensified in the country, Dunyo news agency reports.

The mission recorded that the proportion of women in the current parliament had risen to almost 30%. They hold 47 out of 150 seats in the Legislative Chamber and 21 out of 100 seats in the Senate of the Oliy Majlis. The Speaker of the Senate and the Vice Speaker of the lower house of Parliament are also women.

ODIHR observed that women were also well represented in the electoral administration. Although the gender issue, as observers specify, was not a priority, however, a woman was represented among the presidential candidates.

As another positive change, ODIHR experts noted the legal requirement introduced in 2021 for political parties that have nominated a candidate to submit interim and final reports on campaign expenses to the CEC. As a result, all four parties submitted their interim financial statements within the legal deadlines. At the same time, two parties stand out in a positive way, which published reports on their websites.