Today, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs (SCFWCA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized Azerbaijan’s first-ever National Conference of Gender-Based Violence Responders.

This Conference was organized as part of the '16 days of activism against gender-based violence' and brought together over 100 representatives from state agencies, international organizations, NGOs and the private sector. They discussed challenges and shared best practices in building efficient systems across all sectors to help address violence against women and girls.

“Azerbaijan has adopted a number of normative and legal documents which paved the way towards comprehensive solutions for women’s issues and progress has been made in protecting and promoting women's rights. The level of women economic empowerment affects the level of violence against women. An economically independent woman is a self-confident woman,” – said BaharMuradova, Chairperson of SCFWCA.

“The U.S. Government values our partnership with the Government of Azerbaijan to address gender-based violence.  Our joint efforts demonstrate our shared commitment to work and protect the rights of women so that women can live free from violence, ” US Ambassador Litzenberger said.

“In Azerbaijan, we have joined forces with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs and the US Agency for International Development to help address gender-based violence and improve women’s access to legal and social support in the country. Each and every one of us can and must do more to end gender-based violence against women and girls and keep our promise to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” – said UNDP Resident Representative a.i. Charu Bist.

At the conference, 12 data specialists from several regions of Azerbaijan who have successfully completed a “Gender disaggregated data collection and analysis” course organized by UNDP were awarded certificates. Over the next few months, these specialists will help build an online platform of Community Data Specialists across the regions and connect them with local and international organizations to ensure better cooperation and coordination.

The conference was organized as part of the “Addressing gender-based violence through comprehensive community effort” component of the "Economic Empowerment for Entrepreneurship and Employment (E4)" project funded by USAID and implemented by UNDP and SCFWCA. The component aims to help tackle violence against women and girls and support their economic empowerment.