Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

particularly for women.
65
the criteria and norms for streetlighting are not uniform nationwide 
and are focused mainly on larger urban areas.
66
the 2014 CGa expressed concern about electricity rates for home-based businesses.
67
despite 
the impossibility of separating domestic and business consumption, such rates are 25%–30% 
higher than the tariffs on home consumption.
68
to increase women’s engagement, the 
government should support a review of the mechanism for estimating tariffs on home-based 
businesses.
2. Government Commitments
Recently, the government intensified its focus on the energy sector. In January–June 2017, four 
key presidential decrees were adopted to produce reforms and further develop hydropower in 
63 
according to field surveys conducted by adB in 2017 in the regions of tashkent, andijan, Namangan, [note comma] 
and Kashkadarya, in preparation for the CGa update.
64 
Information obtained during adB’s socioeconomic and gender survey of households in the regions of Samarkand, 
Bukhara, and Jizzakh under the advanced electricity Metering project.
65 
Y. Lambrou and G. piana. 2006. 
Energy and Gender in Rural Sustainable Development.
Rome: Food and agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations.
66 
Currently, “the entities responsible for streetlighting are the provincial and district local governments
 (hokimiyats), 
the State Committee on architecture and Construction, the state unitary enterprise toshshaharnur [note: no quotes 
around the name, and the capital city (tashkent). 
67 
adB. 2014. 
Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment
. Manila. p. 48.
68 
according to the decree of the Ministry of energy, home businesses qualify for category 7 (item 8.3) tariffs: “the 
straight-line rate requires payment for kilowatt-hours of active power supplied to the consumer.” No increment is 
indicated for small businesses run from home.

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Mainstreaming Gender in ADB Operations, by Sector
19
2017–2021 with Uzbekgidroenergo, a joint-stock company (JSC), as the executive and liable 
entity. planned interventions involve building 42 hydropower plants and upgrading 32 plants, 
thus increasing by 1.7% the national capacity for environmentally friendly hydropower by 2025.
Uzbekenergo JSC is a key electric power authority that provides electricity nationwide and 
supplies heat to industrial and household consumers in several cities.
69
It supervises 65 
enterprises, including 54 power projects with over 72,000 employees. It also operates seven 
thermal power plants, six hydropower plants, and three thermal power centers.
70
3. Gender Issues
Unsustainable power supply affects women’s efficiency while performing traditional social roles 
and creates barriers for working women. Because women typically perform most household and 
family obligations, they are key consumers of electricity. Unsustainable supply of energy means 
that women cannot take advantage of labor-saving appliances like washing machines or electric 
cooking stoves.
Unreliable energy supply also affects women who work at formal jobs. they must manage 
their job responsibilities when the power is available and also cope with the needs of their 
household and family. However, providing quality and sustainable electricity supply will not 
automatically reduce the time women spend on household work unless such interventions 
include awareness-raising activities on energy-efficient and labor-saving devices, as well as time 
use and redistribution of labor within the family.
at the institutional level, women are underrepresented in the energy sector staff, accounting for 
only about 17% of all Uzbekenergo employees. Given that most of them do not work at higher-
grade jobs (e.g., management, engineering, and science), women have not reached the critical 
mass that would allow them to influence important policy decisions. table 3 shows the gender 
breakdown of Uzbekenergo JSC staff in 2014–2016.
Table 3: Sex-Disaggregation of Uzbekenergo JSC Staff
(%)
year
Total
Management
Technical staff
Maintenance
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
2014
17.2
82.8
23.1
76.9
44.8
55.2
14.7
85.3
2015
16.9
83.1
21.9
78.1
51.3
48.7
14.5
85.5
2016
17
83
20.2
79.8
46.5
53.5
15
85
2017
(Jan–June)
23.3
76.7
12.9
87.1
Source: Ministry of employment and Labor Relations. 2017. Uzbekenergo JSC data. tashkent. 
69 
Uzbekenergo portal. http://www.Uzbekenergo.uz/ru/about/Uzbekenergo/.
70 
Ministry of employment and Labor Relations. 2017. Uzbekenergo JSC data. tashkent.

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20
Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
possible reasons for women’s lower representation might be the lack of necessary education, 
lack of awareness of potential and available employment options, limited opportunities for skills 
development, and prevailing stereotypes that regard the energy sector as as high-risk profession 
not suitable for women.
each entity of Uzbekenergo JSC has its own trade union linked to the Republican Council of 
trade Union of energy Workers. the trade unions are responsible for for ensuring the general 
well-being and benefits of employees, and for redressing grievances. Unions also monitor work 
schedules and service regularity, and organize capacity development workshops.
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each unit 
union has a includes a Commission on Women’s Issues, which ensures that the rights of female 
employees are respected.
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4. ADB Interventions
adB’s work in the energy sector is intended to improve access for consumers and the quality 
of supply; increase efficiency and modernize utilities; strengthen technical and institutional 
capacity of the generation, transmission, and distribution network; and promote regional 
cooperation.
73
adB also supports the development of Uzbekenergo’s capacity for corporate and 
financial management, operations, and maintenance.
these ongoing adB projects have gender-focused activities: the talimarjan power plant 
project, categorized under some gender elements (SGe); the takhiatash power plant efficiency 
Improvement project, under effective gender mainstreaming (eGM); and the advanced 
electricity Metering project also under eGM. the power Generation efficiency Improvement 
project, approved recently, is in the SGe category.
In 2016, adB initiated a gender policy for the energy sector to support its efforts to mainstream 
gender in four strategic directions: (i) integrating gender into the sector’s normative–legal 
framework; (ii) raising gender awareness among Uzbekenergo personnel and developing 
women’s leadership; (iii) reforming the energy-related education system; and (iv) boosting the 
image of female employees and increasing women’s potential. the draft policy comprises 10 key 
interventions, including a 30% quota for women in sector management and a 40% quota for 
female employees. However, the corporate gender policy has not been widely discussed.
5. Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Gender Mainstreaming
energy–related projects present positive examples of how more accessible, higher-quality, and 
more efficient power supply, as well as modernized utility networks, can benefit both women 
and men.
energy project-related gender action plans (Gaps) ensure that women benefit equally from all 
project interventions. Gaps address the key gender issues identified during the project design 
stage and include measures to increase women’s participation in the sector.
71 
Nazar Business and technology LLC in association with development experts LLC. 2015. assessment Report: Consulting 
Services to Uzbekenegro for Safeguards (environmental, Social and Gender Capacity development). tashkent. 
72 
privileges include the relaxation of work schedules for women rearing children up to the age of 14 (16 in the case of invalid 
children) or for women with two or more children, as well as parental benefits accrue to all employees, irrespective of gender.
73 
adB. 2017.