76 / 114
[
] 74
In 1998 the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, Heydar
Aliyev, signed an order on ‘Increasing women’s role in
Azerbaijan and strengthening their social protection’, followed
by the decree on ‘Implementing state policy regarding women
in the Republic of Azerbaijan’ in 2000. As a result, a govern-
mental body responsible for formulating and pursuing state
policy on all aspects of the promotion and protection of
women’s rights and their empowerment, the State Committee
on Women Affairs, was created in 1998. In February 2006,
the committee’s competences were broadened to include the
issues concerning family and children, and it was renamed to
the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs.
The establishment of 11 regional Family Support Centres
under the State Committee for Family, Women and Children
Affairs was a very important achievement in strengthening
the institutional framework to address the key gender issues
in rural areas, identify children and women in need of special
care in the community, and provide juridical consultations
and psychological aid to women and children from vulner-
able groups.
In order to solve the gender problems arising from financial
causes, the gender review of the state budget was prepared in
Azerbaijan. As a result of the development of the concept of
gender budgeting, the gender factor is being taken in consid-
eration during the distribution of financial resources.
The Government of Azerbaijan made significant progress
and achievements to improve the legislation on the advance-
ment of women and gender equality. Since the adoption of the
Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Guarantees of Gender
Equality (2006), important amendments have been made to
other legislation.
The law on ‘On Combating Domestic Violence’ (2010), ‘On
Social Service’ (2011), amendments to the Family Code on
equalization of the minimum age of marriage for women and
men to 18, amendments to the Criminal Code on prohibition
of early and forced marriages (2011), and free compulsory
medical check-ups before marriage (2014) were adopted to
ensure women’s rights. A number of state programmes includ-
ing the State Program on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable
Development for 2008-2015, the ‘National Action Plan for
increasing the efficiency of protection of human rights and
freedoms’ in 2011, the ‘State Program on implementation of
the Employment Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for
2011-2015’ the ‘State Program on improving mother and child
health’ and the ‘State Program on socio-economic develop-
ment of regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan’ contributed to
the provision of employment, increasing incomes and well-
being of the population and women significantly. The newly
adopted development concept ‘Azerbaijan 2020: look into the
future’ once again proved that gender problems remain the
centre of attention. Measures to prevent gender violence, crea-
tion of equal opportunities for women on the labour market,
promotion of women at workplaces and expanding their
opportunities to occupy leading positions are defined as the
main direction of the state policy. A number of special docu-
ments such as the ‘National Action Plan for Gender Equality’
and ‘Family Strategy of Azerbaijan’, and the creation of a
system to monitor evasion of education and early marriages,
are being worked out for implementation.
One of the components of women’s active participation in
political and public life is their economic independence. It
facilitates poverty reduction, ensures advances in women’s
economic and social performance and in many cases elimi-
nates gender-based discrimination in society. President Ilham
Aliyev pays significant attention to the activities of business
entities and the creation of favourable conditions for the devel-
opment of private enterprise. The loans provided by the state
and the work carried out by the National Fund on Assistance
for Entrepreneurship also provide extensive support to the
development of women’s businesses, especially in rural areas.
As a result of adopted measures, a decrease of the poverty
rate among women from 49 per cent to 5.9 per cent has been
achieved in the country. Today 69.2 per cent of working
women are involved in the private sector and 30.8 per cent of
them in the public sector. In 2015 the share of women entre-
preneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reached 28
per cent in Azerbaijan, while earlier their share in SMEs was
only 4 per cent.
Another example of support for rural women willing to
increase the level of their economic activity is the project
on Promoting Rural Women’s Participation in the Social
and Economic Life. This joint project of the United Nations
Development Programme and the State Committee for
Family, Women and Children Affairs strengthens the role of
rural women in community-based decision-making through
capacity development and network building in 2011-2016.
The Government also tries to strengthen women’s entrepre-
neurship by organizing business forums, conferences and
other events. In the framework of the United Nations Special
Program for the Economies of Central Asia, where Azerbaijan
has been chairing for six years, two international forums for
women entrepreneurs were held. This has given an additional
opportunity to strengthen networks among women entrepre-
neurs at national, regional and global levels.
Educate a girl, educate a nation: combating stereotypes starts at an early age
Image: State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
A B
etter
W
orld