Ghulam Isaczai, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, said Azerbaijan pays special attention to gender equality.
He noted that Azerbaijani women are more active in social areas.
“In many countries, women are represented in parliament and other state bodies. Unfortunately, there are still some countries where women face discrimination. In Azerbaijan, however, gender equality is developing and women are becoming more actively involved in social life. In 1918, Azerbaijan became the first country in the east to grant women suffrage,” the resident coordinator added.
Isaczai mentioned that Khadija, the first wife of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), was a successful businesswoman. “In this respect, there are many examples of Muslim women’s activity in public life,” he said.
He stressed that Azerbaijan has joined a number of conventions on gender equality.
“We see women are well represented in the country’s leadership. We must continue to work with Azerbaijan in this field. Sustainable Development Goals attaches special importance to gender equality. We need to make sure that the components of Sustainable Development Goals relating to gender equality are successfully implemented. If had disregarded women’s role in economic life, we would have stopped the country from developing,” Isaczai added.
Chairperson of the State Committee of Azerbaijan for Family, Women and Children Affairs Hijran Huseynova said that if the proportion of women among entrepreneurs was 17% in Azerbaijan in 2012, this figure reached 21% in early 2017.
“The proportion of women in the Azerbaijani parliament is 188%. Deputy heads in 71 executive powers out of the 78 are female. Azerbaijan is consistently working to prevent trafficking of women and violence against children,” she said.
Huseynova stressed that the Azerbaijani government pays special attention to education of children and women.
“The main task is to increase activity in this regard. There are some shortcomings in women’s access to economic resources and information and we need to improve awareness in this field. A subject of gender equality is being taught at Baku State University and Khazar University. It would be appropriate to include the Sustainable Development Goals into the educational programs”, she added.
Azerbaijani Parliament Vice-Speaker Bahar Muradova underscored the importance of educating the public in order to achieve sustainable development.
She said that in Azerbaijani there are no problems with gender equality from the point of view of the legislative base and traditions.
Deputy Minister of Economy Sevinj Hasanova and Director of the Center for Strategic Studies Gulshan Pashayeva spoke about the work done in Azerbaijan in the field of gender equality.
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