As prepared for delivery

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Ms Sadagat Gahramanova, Deputy Chairwoman of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs,

Dear Members of Parliament,

Dear Ms Simona Gatti, Minister Counsellor, Head of Cooperation,

Distinguished guests!

In April this year, we launched the project on Promoting Gender-Inclusive Municipalities for Implementation of the SDGs. This is implemented by the Women for Development of Municipalities Public Union as part of the larger Project on Promoting the Role of Civil Society in Gender-Sensitive Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, funded by the European Union, co-funded and implemented by the UNDP. Throughout this period, the project has been implementing a series of capacity-building and awareness raising events seeking to increase leadership skills of potential women candidates for upcoming municipal elections and encourage more women in provincial municipality councils by increasing their influence in decision-making processes. These events have been implemented in Binagadi district of Baku and and 8 other Rayons of Azerbaijan.

Today, we have reached the landmark of launching a Gender-based Municipal Academy as part of this project. This will aim to serve as a non-formal capacity-building and learning opportunity for potential women candidates wishing to run for municipal elections, as well as women election observers intending to act as domestic election observers during the municipal elections in December. Through this non-formal education platform, women will increase their knowledge and skills on local governance, leadership and election observation.

Women’s full participation and leadership at all levels of decision-making is essential to unlocking the transformational change. Women’s representation in governance structures are growing. Example: Women’s representation in national parliaments worldwide in 2019 was 24% , an increase from 11% in 1995. On UNDP’s Global portfolio, in 2014-2017, UNDP support led to registration of 166 million electors and participation of 304,400 women candidates in national elections.

At UNDP, we believe that under-representation of women at any level of governance and decision-making can result in governance challenges, which could usually be true when it comes to represent the interests of citizens at the local level. In many cases, while influencing policies addressing social, economic and political sectors, local governance bodies make critical decisions, which affect the lives of women and men. Equal participation of women in local decision-making processes is critical for prioritising women’s practical needs and issues in local governments’ agendas and for localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, gender-balanced local councils, such as municipalities may be a vital step in ensuring gender balance at the national levels, especially in countries like Azerbaijan, where women could benefit from greater participatory involvement in senior decision-making roles.

This important project that has brought us together to discuss its achievements and endorse the further steps supports the UNDP’s values and principles in addressing gender equality and women’s participation in decision-making processes and is likely to produce an impact as its activities directly address Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and specifically its Target “Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”. It is also in line with the Conclusions of the Council of the European Union “Towards an ever more sustainable Union by 2030”, which “underlines the central importance of sustainable development for the European Union and stresses that it is in the EU’s interest to continue to play a leading role in implementing the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs”.

In this regard, I would like to specifically acknowledge the support provided by the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs – one of UNDP’s closest and most valuable partners in Azerbaijan and particularly thank Ms Hijran Huseynova, Chairwoman of the Committee, for her continued support to the implementation of the project. We have a long-standing partnership with the State Committee across a broad array of projects and initiatives supporting the economic empowerment of rural women and promotion of their participation in the community and social life. We believe that the Committee’s close partnership in this project role will particularly be crucial in strengthening women’s participation in local governance and political decision-making.

I’d like to thank our strategic funding partner, the European Union for financially supporting this project and thereby contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals by helping engage civil society organisations with authorities at local levels. The financial support and strategic partnership with the European Union have always been a contributing factor for UNDP on the ground while engaging with beneficiaries and target groups to address their needs.

As the UN Development Programme, we heavily rely on support of relevant government authorities, as well as the civil society to achieve high-level results through the project activities in Azerbaijan.

In concluding, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Members of Parliament who joined us at this launching ceremony today, for their participation in the conference, which is a sign of continuous support at the legislative level to actions aiming to encourage women’s participation in social, economic and political lives, and increase women’s impact on national development processes.

Last but not least, I take this opportunity to also express high appreciation of the work of the “Women for Development of Municipalities” Public Union and its chairperson Ms Lyudmila Khalilova for coming up with such a useful project and wish them success in their future endeavours with such an important mission.