Kyrgyzstan

In 2025, UN Women Kyrgyzstan contributed to strengthened women’s leadership and influence in local peacebuilding and climate-resilient governance in the conflict-affected Batken region of Kyrgyzstan. Through targeted support to women’s civil society organizations, women became recognized actors in addressing resource-related tensions and shaping inclusive local development priorities.
As a result of UN Women’s technical assistance, convening role, and partnerships with local authorities and OSCE, 18 women-led organizations successfully led community initiatives that were translated into gender-responsive actions in nine local development plans, strengthening social cohesion and climate-resilient livelihoods. These institutional shifts enabled women to move from adhoc community-level engagement to sustained participation in formal decision-making spaces.
Women’s representation in local councils increased from 37 per cent to 42 per cent following the November 2024 local council elections, while representation in Parliament rose from 21 per cent to 33 per cent as a result of the November 2025 parliamentary elections. These gains exceed the statutory quota and reflect growing acceptance of women’s leadership in governance and peace processes. Through the Women Lead Peace Forum and Yntymak/Peace Week dialogues, women leaders, youth, and state actors built trust and jointly advanced recommendations that directly informed national priorities for the Fifth National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (2026–2028) and the Youth, Peace and Security agenda.
This outcome contributed to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) by strengthening women’s leadership and influence in peace and climate decision-making, to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) by promoting inclusive and participatory local governance, and to SDG 13 (Climate Action) by embedding gender-responsive priorities in local climate resilience planning.
Links to supportign documents/posts/news:Link_women representation in local councils_Nov2024MPs_KR_Dec2025 WSCO experts_IMWG on Nap 1325_Jul2025 PeaceWeek_Osh_Sep2025PeaceWeek_Bishkek_Sep2025

A transformative milestone was achieved with the coordination of the adoption and implementation of the first-ever State Programme of the Kyrgyz Republic to support Women’s Leadership until 2030 and the Action Plan for the Implementation of the State Programme of the Kyrgyz Republic to Support Women’s Leadership for 2024-2027. This pioneering initiative institutionalizes gender-responsive governance by advancing women’s political, economic, and social participation. It ensures equal opportunities, fosters leadership skills, and increases women’s representation in public administration and decision-making roles. By embedding systemic change, this programme paves the way for long-term gender equality and inclusive governance at national and local levels.
National level data reveals that women now represent 42% of local council seats, having secured 2,248 out of 5,391 seats during the 2024 elections. This significant increase from 9% before 2021 elections highlights the impact of the 30% gender quota introduced in 2019. The State Programme on Women’s Leadership is a strategic framework that builds on the progress achieved through gender quotas and ensures sustained growth in women’s representation in decision-making roles.
A landmark study on violence against women in politics (VAWP) further reinforced national advocacy, exposing systemic barriers and shaping policy responses to create safer, more inclusive political environments. These efforts mark a decisive step toward dismantling obstacles to women’s leadership.
UN Women CO played a pivotal role in embedding gender equality within national policymaking by forging strategic partnerships with Parliament, the Council on Gender Equality, the Cabinet of Ministers, and key ministries. Collaborations with UN agencies, civil society, and women’s rights activists translated commitments into action, integrating gender-responsive policies into governance and electoral systems.
On the regional stage, the Central Asian Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC)—chaired by the Kyrgyz Republic Parliament in 2024—emerged as a force for legislative reform and cross-border cooperation. High-level dialogues, facilitated by UN Women, drove tangible policy commitments, culminating in landmark events like the Forum on Women, Peace, and Security, which tackled critical challenges in resource management and women’s role in peacebuilding.

In 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic has approved in principle the "State Programme on Promotion of Women to Leadership Positions 2030". UN Women provided expert support to the development of the State Programme in response to the Letter of Request from the Cabinet of Ministers to UN Women Country Office for technical assistance.
This State programme is an expression of the political will of the State to address the problem of the low representation of women in senior positions in the executive branch, aligned with SDG 5.5 and the UNSDCF Outcome 4 for Kyrgyzstan. Currently, in the civil service, men prevail - 59.3%, women - 40.7% with higher prevalence of men in political and specially appointed positions - 75.7% of men and 24.3% of women. The highest gender gap is in political municipal positions with 96.7% of men and 3.3% of women. In the security sector men prevail: Ministry of Justice - 100%; Prosecutor General's Office - 80%.
There are persisting stereotypes and discriminatory societal perceptions of women leaders and their role and place in decision-making processes at various levels. Under the pressure of public opinion, women often have low self-esteem and limit themselves from applying for leadership positions. Women leaders have to overcome barriers to leadership positions by proving their competence and professionalism, while men's competences are not questioned or challenged in any way. The programme and its Action Plan and budget envisage special measures to appoint women to leadership positions in the executive branch by creating a Pool (databank) of Women Leaders, establishing a system and procedures for appointing women to leadership positions. It underlines the state's responsibility to create an inclusive leadership environment by introducing effective strategies for women leadership in public administration, career development, and embracing diverse experiences and perspectives.
UN Women, in partnership with USAID and UNODC, provided expert support to the Interdepartmental Working Group on the development of the State Programme, including on analysis, regulatory and legal framework for promoting women to leadership positions in the civil service, and the special measures (quotas). UN Women also facilitated a series of dialogues during which a diverse group of partners affirmed the timeliness of the State Programme to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, highlighting that women leaders bring important competencies, skills, attributes and perspectives to the governance process, enabling the creation of governance systems that are more stable and transparent and more trusted by society. It has been emphasized that increasing the number of women in leadership and political positions in the public service will bridge political divides, identify and respond to the concerns of different social groups, promote a consultative and participatory approach to policy development, and ensure government accountability.

The Kyrgyz Republic Cabinet of Ministers approved the National Gender Equality Strategy (GES) covering the period 2022-2030 and its first National Action Plan (NAP) 2022-2024 in September 2022. It is the second national Gender Equality Strategy superseding the previous Strategy for 2012-2020. The GES has 5 strategic priorities: economic empowerment of women, cultural policy and functional education, strengthening protection against gender discrimination and fair justice, promotion of gender parity in decision-making and development of women's political participation, regulatory policy. The GES also has 13 goals, 42 objectives, and 197 measures.
Moreover, the Cabinet of Ministers issued two important decrees following the GES adoption: 1) appointing 49 focal points in line ministries and agencies responsible for the implementation of GES, and 2) requiring immediate execution of the Strategy by the respective line ministries, agencies and regional/local administrations. As part of the GES Decree, the Government decided localize the GES to the oblast level, the first of this kind approach adopted for the National Strategies in the Kyrgyz Republic. Further, the many types of stakeholders engaged in the Osh oblast plan localization. Representatives of Plenipotentiary Representation of the President in Osh, district and local self-governments, and regional/grassroots CSOs jointly reviewed GES and NAP and developed an initial plan outline.
Both GES and NAP were developed in line with Sustainable Development Goals, BPFA, CSW key conclusions, Generation Equality, as well as key recommendations from CEDAW, UPR, CRC and other Treaty Body instruments.
UN Women contributed significantly to GES and NAP elaboration, by adopting innovative tools and techniques. For example Oxford Scenario Planning helped the partners to strategize in three different scenarios so that they have potentially more solutions to identified problems, design thinking tool allowed participants to place humans in the center of discussions which helped to identify concrete human needs across five thematic areas: economic empowerment, political participation, gender-based violence, social norms and regulatory policy. Application of new tools allowed a new and wider engagement of experts and partners, as well sharpening the strategy and action plan focus. UN Women worked closely with the Inter-Ministerial working group comprised of 18 Ministries and Government agencies and ensured engagement of wide range of actors. UN Women also provided expert and technical support to the Plenipotentiary Representation of the President in Osh Province in the localization of the GES and NAP in response to the Cabinet of Ministries order to implement NAP on GE in all districts.