Feedback The new Labor Code of Kyrgyzstan has retained restrictions on certain professions only for pregnant and lactating women. Kyrgyzstan was the last country in Central Asia where there were no changes in legislation on women’s right to work and where hundreds of occupational bans for all women were still in effect. Now many women will be able to find jobs in previously inaccessible areas.
On January 28, 2025, the new Labor Code of the Kyrgyz Republic entered into force. Article 139.4 of the new Code establishes a restriction in the form of a ban on work only for pregnant and breastfeeding women in heavy, harmful and (or) dangerous working conditions, underground work (except non-physical work or work on sanitary and household services), as well as work related to lifting and moving manually weights exceeding the maximum permissible limits for women. The list of industries, jobs, professions and positions with harmful and (or) dangerous working conditions in which the use of pregnant and breastfeeding women is prohibited, and the maximum permissible load standards for women and workers under 18 years of age when lifting and moving weights manually are approved in accordance with the procedure determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The previous Labor Code was adopted in 2004 and prohibited women’s employment in 446 heavy jobs and in jobs with harmful or dangerous working conditions.
We congratulate all women of Kyrgyzstan and the active civil society that has been fighting for the abolition of the list of prohibited professions in the region for many years. As part of the #AllJobs4AllWomen campaign for gender equality, ADC Memorial collaborated with a number of Kyrgyzstan organizations, first of all with Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan. Together with the Kyrgyz Family Planning Alliance, a report was submitted to the UN CEDAW, inter alia about the discrimination against women in employment. In 2021, the UN CEDAW issued recommendations to review the list of prohibited professions and amend the Labor Code. A year ago, on the eve of March 8, Kyrgyzstan ratified the ILO Convention No. 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. This year the new Labor Code removes professional prohibitions for women.