Increasing gender inequality has become one of the main characteristics of the post-Soviet period in the Kyrgyz Republic. The issue is related to the deterioration of social infrastructure including, for instance, the closure of kindergartens and child-care facilities and the worsening of medical services, all of which have shifted the responsibility for the care of children and families to women. At the decision-making level there are four women among the 23 members of the Kyrgyz government. As a result of special measures meant to ensure gender equality, which were introduced into the Election Code in 2007, women constitute 25.5 percent of the Parliament.

Making gender equality a reality is a core commitment of UNDP globally. In the context of the UNDP Global Cooperation Framework, “gender” is no longer highlighted as a separate area of concentration, but as a cross-cutting theme that needs to be integrated, or mainstreamed, into all areas of UNDP's work. As a result, in 2003 UNDP Kyrgyzstan began applying a multifaceted approach to promoting gender equality in all areas of its development work, with the active participation of the government, civil society and local communities, including actors who have not been engaged in gender equality and mainstreaming activities before.

By applying two complementary approaches to achieving gender equality – ‘mainstreaming gender’ and ‘women's empowerment’ – UNDP, in close collaboration with other UN agencies such as UNIFEM, UNICEF and UNFPA, has played a significant role in creating an enabling environment for gender equality in Kyrgyzstan. It provides ongoing financial and technical support to the national institutional mechanisms on gender equality such as the National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Special Representative of the President on Gender Issues in the Parliament and civil society organizations. In addition, the UN system has played a key role in engendering national strategies and policies. The most recent example  -- UN advocacy for the introduction of the gender dimension into the Country Development Strategy 2007-2010 -- resulted from cooperation with a range of national partners.

UNDP Kyrgyzstan tackles gender equality through policy advice, capacity development of both national partners and internal UNDP staff, and advocacy. Since it is a cross-cutting issue, gender is an indispensable part of all UNDP activities in the country and is integrated in the work of the Poverty Reduction, Democratic Governance, HIV/AIDS, Environment and Peace and Development programmes. A few examples of UNDP’s portfolio on gender include its support for the development of the national action plans for gender development, gender mainstreaming in the national ministries and agencies, studies and on burning issues such as the feminization of poverty, gender analysis of the government’s personnel policy, and a wide range of capacity-development activities on gender equality for media, government officials and civil society organizations.