Protection and promotion of family values, protection of women's and children's rights, ensuring gender equality have been identified as priority areas of state policy in Azerbaijan. Raising women's issues to the state level in our country is connected with the name of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. The decrees and orders signed to increase the representation and prestige of women in various fields were important steps in the implementation of women's rights.

The establishment of the State Committee for Women's Issues in 1998 marked the beginning of the next phase in women's policy. The State Committee on Family, Women and Children's Affairs was established on February 6, 2006 by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to comprehensively address family and children's issues related to women's issues. The Committee has been working for 15 years to ensure the development of family, women and children's policy in the country, and has been closely involved in the formation of a unified state policy in the relevant areas in the areas defined by law.

With the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Guarantees of Gender Equality” adopted in 2006, all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex were prohibited in Azerbaijan and for the first time in the country's legal practice the concept of discrimination was applied. . For the first time in 2020, according to Article 20 of the Law, a report on the activities of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs in 2019 was presented to Parliament.

It should be noted that the State Committee submits a country report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women every four years. In 2018, Azerbaijan was elected a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for the first time.

The "Azerbaijan Family" film festival has been held jointly with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the UN Population Fund since 2009. 386 films by 345 directors have been submitted to the competition for 11 years. The presentation of 42 films by foreign directors gives reason to say that the festival has been met with international interest. Since 2014, a photo contest "From life to picture" has been successfully held within the festival.

Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, large-scale measures aimed at protecting the rights of children, providing them with all services, increasing children's participation and the work done in this direction are being strengthened. At the initiative of the First Vice-President of the Republic, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, important projects are being implemented to ensure the comprehensive development of children, especially children from vulnerable groups.

The draft law "On protection of children from harmful information" was prepared and entered into force in 2020. Also, in accordance with the Development Concept "Azerbaijan 2020: vision for the future", the State Committee prepared the "Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for Children 2020-2030" and "Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for Children 2020-2025" and the country Approved by Presidential Orders.

In 2020, with the support of the State Committee and the initiative of the Assembly of Children's Ambassadors, an international online conference on "Children's Rights: Children Join the Debate" was held on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The conference was attended by a total of 25 children from 14 countries.

The “National Action Plan to Combat Domestic Violence in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2020-2023” was prepared and approved by the Presidential Decree dated November 27, 2020. In order to raise awareness at the local, national, regional and international levels to promote gender-based violence as a human right, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Action Campaign regularly organizes events on “Say NO to Violence Against Women”. In addition, in cooperation with the State Committee and the United Nations Population Fund, a new 860 hotline on gender-based violence has been established in Azerbaijan since December 1, 2020.

11 Child and Family Support Centers operating under the State Committee (Zagatala, Gabala, Ismayilli, Goygol, Aghdam, Hajigabul, Saatli, Sabirabad, Zardab) provide assistance to women, children and families at risk, especially low-income, martyr and incomplete families. Appropriate support was provided to more than 130,000 people, including single women, refugees and IDPs, women and children who have been abused, children deprived of parental care, children with disabilities and their families, children in children's institutions and their families. The activities of the centers mainly include active therapy, communication therapy, psychological counseling, developmental classes, speech therapy classes, Denver II and Portec child development tests, various courses and the organization of learning circles.

It should be noted that the State Committee visited the families of the victims of the 44-day war, conducted psychosocial work to identify their needs and visited the frontline regions. In cooperation with the State Committee, the Easy Volunteers youth organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) project "Child Protection in Emergencies" conducted psychosocial assessments of 800 war-affected families in Goranboy and Aghdam regions, and provided psychological assistance to 1,700 children.

Thousands of informative programs were prepared on radio and television to promote a culture of gender equality, the elimination of gender stereotypes, and articles were published in newspapers and magazines in Azerbaijani, Russian and English. Propaganda materials on this topic were broadcast on the committee's social network accounts, and videos were shown.

Today, as the people of Azerbaijan, we are experiencing the joy of Victory Day. Thanks to the heroism of our victorious army under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, our glorious victory in the 44-day Patriotic War sets new goals, strategic directions and important tasks. Like all institutions, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, we will contribute to this work by fulfilling our responsibilities in the large-scale reconstruction work carried out in our liberated lands.