The project will hold two training entitled "Gender Awareness for medical and social workers" to improve skills and knowledge of medical and social workers on implementation and promotion of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), its norms and ideas in their professional activities.

The CEDAW Convention adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is an international document on the rights of women. Uzbekistan was the first Central Asian country to ratify the convention in 1995 and has reported twice to the CEDAW Committee on its implementation. The country will present its next report in August 2008.

During the trainings, about 40 medical and social workers from all regions of Uzbekistan discussed such issues as women’s rights, gender equality, violence and gender discrimination, as well as the role of women in the society. The trainings will be held at Grand Orzu Hotel in Tashkent on 7-8 May and 12-13 May.

Khilola Badriddinova, Education and training specialist of the project "Legislative and Institutional Capacity Development for Women’s Empowerment in Uzbekistan", said: "We hope that the training will help to improve knowledge of medical and social workers on the CEDAW convention and they will use their knowledge in their work with clients and youth."

The goals of the project "Legislative and Institutional Capacity Development for Women’s Empowerment in Uzbekistan" are to support and build the capacity of the government, civil society and mass media in reducing the gender gaps via raising awareness of and implementing the recommendations of the UN CEDAW Committee to Uzbekistan. The trainings were organized in the frameworks of implementation of the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee on raising awareness of various layers of population on the CEDAW.