On 1–3 June, Anita Bhatia, Assistant Secretary-General and UN Women Deputy Executive Director, visited Kazakhstan to participate in the ECOJER international congress at the invitation of the Government of Kazakhstan and held meetings with representatives of the civMs. Bhatia launched her mission by meeting with UN Women’s country team to provide a briefing on corporate strategic priorities in the context of COVID-19 recovery and the geo-political situation in the region. Active in Kazakhstan since 1999, UN Women has worked in partnership with the government, civil society and other institutions to ensure equality of rights and opportunities for women and girls. With UN Women’s assistance, the list of prohibited professions for women was abolished last year, and the country announced its commitments to combating gender-based violence and ensuring economic justice and rights, joining the global Generation Equality Forum’s two Action Coalitions. Kazakhstan also adopted the first National Action Plan 1325 to implement the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. il and financial sectors in Almaty.The Deputy Executive Director also met with Kazakhstan's Commissioner for Human Rights, Elvira Azimova; Member of Parliament, Head of International Affairs, Defence and Security Committee Aigul Kuspan; and Deputy Head of the National Commission for Women Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan Lazzat Ramazanova to discuss strategic partnership priorities and strengthening cooperation on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Gender equality and women’s empowerment were also raised during the meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Akan Rahmetullin. Ms. Bhatia thanked Kazakhstan’s government for its regional leadership in implementing the best international practices in the field of advancing gender equality as well as combating gender-based violence. Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the gender agenda in the context of the country's commitments to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The country aims to improve the mechanisms for promoting women’s rights and women’s empowerment, which Ms. Bhatia mentioned and thanked the government for funding. Currently, Kazakhstan’s government is the only country in the region contributing funds towards the programmatic work of UN Women and the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan. As part of the second international ECOJER congress, Ms. Bhatia participated in an expert dialogue platform on ecological issues and sustainable development where she emphasized the unequal labour force participation that persists for women across Europe and Central Asia. Over 15 per cent of women have lost their jobs and another 40 per cent have had to reduce their working hours due to COVID-19 outcomes.