On 28- 29 October 2010, an EPF delegation attended the “Central Asia Parliamentarian Meeting on Gender and ICPD”. The meeting was organised by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) and hosted by the Parliament of Kazakhstan in Almaty.
 

The EPF Delegation comprised the following members: Hon. Birute Vesaite, MP (Lithuania) Hon. Abdurrahman Kurt, MP (Turkey), Hon. Saliya Murzabayeva, MP (Russian Federation), Hon. Yumabika Ilyasova, MP (Republic of Bashkortostan, federal subject of the Russian Federation), Hon. Slavica Loshkova Grkovska, MP (Macedonia-FYR), and Hon. Zaal Gamtsemlidze, MP (Georgia).

At the event EPF Members met their Central Asian counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and exchanged best practices in promoting women's rights, complying with the CEDAW provisions and advancing ICPD Programme of Action.

Hon. Loshkova Grkovska noted that after introducing quotas the number of female Parliamentarians has risen to 34% in the Macedonian (FYR) Parliament. Meanwhile Hon. Gamtsemlidze underlined that Georgia has developed a strategy to promote equality between women and men, and that in the Parliament of Georgia there is a Gender Council, which involves various stakeholders in elaborating further actions in this field.

Hon. Birute Vesaite, MP chaired the "Review of CEDAW Implementation in the Central Asian Region” session, where she stressed that religious opposition is also vocal in Europe and is trying to interfere with politics. Hon. Murzabayeva also delivered a keynote speech, in which she noted that thanks to timely governmental and parliamentary intervention with policies and funding, the maternal mortality rate in the Russian Federation has been declining steadily since the beginning of the 1990s.

Participants concluded the meeting by adopting a Statement of Commitment, underlining the importance of partnerships between governments, parliaments, private organisations, the UN and NGOs in advancing gender equality and ICPD. They also called on Central Asian States to increase the funding for projects promoting women's rights, the exchange of knowledge in population issues and de-facto implementation of gender legislation. They also emphasized the importance of universal access to information, services and supplies for reproductive health, especially for young people, and eliminating all forms of violence against women.