AKIPRESS.COM - Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Asia and Head of the UNRCCA, Natalia Gherman, co-hosted the annual meeting of the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC) on December 21.

The CAWLC was inaugurated in December 2020 with the support of UNRCCA and UNDP as a first-of-its-kind platform in the region committed to enhancing the political, economic and social participation of women in Central Asia.

The meeting focused on CAWLC’s activities and achievements during 2021 and outlined main directions of work for the next year.

Emphasizing the pertinence of the CAWLC, SRSG Natalia Gherman noted: “The platform was set up amid the pandemic and demonstrated the crucial importance of co-operation and solidarity. The Women Leaders’ Caucus is the telling example of solidarity and expression of political will to support all women of the region”.

Invited representatives from other regional women leaders networks shared their respective experiences from the Arab and African regions, including their lessons learnt and best practices throughout their years of activity.

Looking ahead, SRSG Natalia Gherman emphasized the vital importance of continuing and expanding the portfolio of priorities of the platform to topics of mutual interests for the region, ensuring a steady growth in awareness about its work as well as investing efforts in supporting its sustainability.

The annual meeting concluded with the adoption of the CAWLC’s address to the Heads of State of Central Asia reiterating their commitment to promotion of gender equality in the region and highlighting the importance of the continuous support of the Caucus by the political leadership of the countries.

With the conclusion of the event, the Presidency of the Caucus was unanimously passed on to Turkmenistan.