Turkmen women are widely represented in all branches of government and make up 40% of the country's employed population. This was stated by Dunyagozel Gulmanova, Chairperson of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, during the forum "Interparliamentary Dialogue on Strengthening the Legislative Framework to Ensure Progress in Gender Equality and the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence."

"Turkmen women are well represented in government bodies—legislative, executive, and judicial—and hold senior leadership positions. Moreover, 40% of citizens working in various sectors of our country are women," she said.

Gulmanova also noted that, under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the country has consistently implemented policies to protect women's rights and interests and enhance their role in public and political life. Turkmenistan is a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and is actively working to achieve the fifth UN Sustainable Development Goal: gender equality.

According to her, the country is successfully implementing state programs to protect mothers and children, and the legal framework for gender equality is based on the republic's constitution. The adopted laws are consistent with the spiritual and cultural values of the people and the traditions of a multiethnic society, the parliament speaker emphasized.

The forum "Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue on Strengthening Legislative Frameworks to Ensure Progress on Gender Equality and the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence" is taking place in Ashgabat on March 26-27. Fifty representatives from Central Asian and Eastern European countries are participating. The forum is organized by the Mejlis of Turkmenistan jointly with the Asian Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (APFPD) with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Japan Trust Fund (JTF).