DUSHANBE, November 13, 2014, Asia-Plus – Female deputies of Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament), Bibidavlat Afzalshoyeva, Makhsouda Samadova, and Nodira Turdimatova, today left for Almaty, Kazakhstan to participate in a Central Asian forum of parliamentarians on population, reproductive health and gender problems, Muhammadato Sultonov, a spokesman for Majlisi Namoyandagon, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, parliamentary delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as representatives from the countries of Eastern Asia and Asia-Pacific region are participating in the conference that will run through November 15.  

The event is being held within the framework of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Sultonov said.

The Majlisi Namoyandagon Committee on Social, Family and Healthcare Issues became a member of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) in 2001 as a result of the joint effort between the AFPPD and the members of the Parliament of Tajikistan.

The parliamentarians from Tajikistan since then have actively participated in a majority of events organized by the AFPPD and achieved experiences which are useful to fulfilling the issues of population and development in the Parliament.  Moreover, many parliamentary staff members of Tajikistan’s Parliament have participated in the workshops and training programs organized by the AFPPD.  Tajikistan’s parliamentarians paid special attention to the series of Asia-Pacific Women Parliamentarians’ and Ministers’ Conferences and the issues of women’s empowerment. Mutual cooperation between the AFPPD and Parliament of Tajikistan has been highly appreciated by both sides.