Uzbek Leader Congratulates Women Of Uzbekistan

Posted 03/08/2002 Uzbek TV - BBC Monitoring

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has congratulated Uzbek women on International Women's Day in a message read out on Uzbek TV's "Akhborot" bulletin on 7 March. Praising the qualities of Uzbek women, the president said: "In any society there is a single criterion, or figuratively speaking, a mirror that clearly reflects what state of moral perfection a nation and people have reached - the attitude that the government and society adopts towards women, their rights and protection of their vital interests. History has taught us that a nation that respects and reveres its women will never cease developing and will reach the peak of progress and prosperity." "I would like to emphasize that, as our country's economic potential and might become stronger and stronger and our standard of living higher, we will unconditionally have greater opportunities to pay still greater attention to you, respected women and our state will afford to provide more privileges so that your lives become even richer, both economically and morally," the message read. President Karimov said that men would do everything they could to have women play a more active role in social and other affairs: "In a word, we men, sons of this land, will spare no effort to make these opportunities present themselves and to further increase our women's role and standing in everyday life, family and society; to create all the conditions necessary to realize their talents, knowledge and abilities in full."