In her speech at the 2nd Forum of Women Political Leaders of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) of the Association of South East Asian Nations in the city of Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, Speaker of the Milli Majlis presented extensive information about the experience and achievements of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan and the gender policy-related achievements secured in our country. She declared Azerbaijan’s utter commitment to the protection of women’s rights and ensuring women’s active engagement in decision-making.
The Speaker recalled that Azerbaijan had given women the suffrage back in 1918 – earlier than the majority of European states. And, following the election held in September 2024, women won 26 out of the 125 seats in Parliament, a growth from the preceding period.
Women MPs are represented in the majority of parliamentary committees today, which ensures that their opinions are taken into account when all the matters that the Parliament regulates are discussed.
In her address, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova also broached the gender-related initiatives and endeavours of Azerbaijan in international parliamentary organisations. She said that the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, which is closely involved with the work done by inter-parliamentary organisations, tables initiatives to enrich the pertaining agenda and provides a powerful backing to international co-operation across women-related matters. It was mentioned as well that the Group of Women Parliamentarians of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States had been incepted at the Ninth Plenary Session of the Assembly, held in Baku in 2019. As the incumbent Chair of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Milli Majlis has motioned the establishment of the Assembly’s Committee for Women’s Affairs – this motion is being considered by the Member Parliaments. Furthermore, our women MPs take an active part in the work of the number of other parliamentary organisations as well as of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Gender Partnership Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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