A group of Azerbaijani women lawyers from the Women’s Bar Association (WBA) met with US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer on July 4th, 2010 as part of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Azerbaijan. WBA’s current president as well as its founder, other board members, and USAID Azerbaijan staff attended the meeting.

Discussion during the meeting focused on difficult circumstances Azeri women face related to domestic violence, early marriage, human trafficking, and gender inequality. Inadequate legislation and corruption among border control, law-enforcement, and the courts continue to make Azerbaijani women’s lives vulnerable to the problems mentioned above. 

Through work supported by USAID’s Rule of Law Program, WBA members have traveled to regions of Azerbaijan to teach women how to overcome and prevent these problems. The women of the WBA also act as lawyers and advisors when it comes to consulting and commenting on draft legislation. Ambassador Verveer expressed how impressed she was with the work done by the WBA and said that she will use examples of what she learned in Azerbaijan during her testimony before Congress in the coming weeks. At the end of the meeting the group came out and briefly talked with Secretary of State Clinton who was on her way to other meetings.