Today, nearly 60 representatives of various state agencies, municipalities, civil society and media participated in the “Women’s Leadership in Local Self-Governance” Conference. The conference was organized by the USAID-supported Women’s Participation Program in partnership with the State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs of Azerbaijan and with technical support from the National Association of City and District Municipalities.

This conference supported women’s active participation in local decision-making, increasing the role of women in the activities of municipal councils, strengthening cooperation between municipalities and civil society organizations and increasing women’s active participation in the forthcoming municipal elections.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Malahat Hasanova, a member of the Social Affairs Committee of the Parliament and chairperson of the Leader Women Public Union, applauded the efforts of USAID’s Women’s Participation Program in raising public awareness on women’s issues and women’s engagement in decision-making processes, including in local governance.

Stressing the importance of women’s participation in local governance, Ms. Sadaget Gahramanova, the deputy head of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Affairs, highlighted an increase of women’s representation from 4% to 27% during the last municipal elections in 2009.

“USAID strongly believes that maximizing the leadership potential of women will bring about more sustainable and equitable development,” said Brooke Isham, Mission Director of USAID/Azerbaijan.

Mr. Tahir Rzayev from the Parliament’s Regional Affairs Committee, Mr. Mehdi Salimzade, Head of the Center on Municipal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, and Mr. Humbat Huseynov, Chairperson of the National Association of City and District Municipalities, shared their thoughts on women’s representation in local self-governance.

During the conference, the participants broke into working groups to discuss and identify priorities for women’s participation in local governance. As a result of these discussions, the participants of the working groups identified the main priorities of women participation’s in local self-governance, which will be submitted to the Government of Azerbaijan.

The Women’s Participation Program, implemented by Counterpart International, is funded by USAID and improves the status of women in Azerbaijan by advancing public awareness of issues important to women, advancing women’s influence in decision-making processes, and partnering with civil society organizations and government institutions that work on women’s issues.