On June 22, 2022, Mrs. Bahar Muradova, the Chair of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs met with Mr. Hassan Mohtashami, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Turkey, Country Director for Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Welcoming the guests, Mrs. Bahar Muradova, Chair of the State Committee, noted the urgency of issues related to ensuring the rights of women, emphasizing the importance of post-pandemic and post-war periods. She praised the measures taken in cooperation with UNFPA for many years and noted that these projects were widely reported during the sixth periodic report on the CEDAW Convention at the 82nd session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

In her speech, Mrs. Bahar Muradova spoke about the importance of implementing projects to combat domestic violence, strengthen girls and women, increase their representation in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as the involvement of women in solving problems in innovative ways.

The Chair of the committee said that demining of the territories liberated during the peacekeeping operations, as well as the return of IDPs to their lands is a priority for Azerbaijan, and stressed the importance of cooperation in this area.

Mr. Hassan Mohtashami, the UNFPA Regional Director thanked her for the warm welcome and stressed that cooperation would continue to provide support to people affected by the war in the post-war occupied territories. He appreciated the work done in Azerbaijan to ensure women's rights and gender equality, noting that women's rights are respected in society. In conclusion, Mr. Mohtashami expressed hope that cooperation with the State Committee would continue successfully and on a long-term basis.

During the meeting, they discussed joint projects to be implemented in other important areas and discussed prospects for cooperation.

The meeting was attended by Farid Babayev, Head of the UNFPA Office in Azerbaijan, and Farid Adilov, Head of the Foreign Relations and Protocol Service of the State Committee.