As prepared for delivery

H.E. Mr. Ali Ahmadov, Deputy Prime Minister

Dear Prof. Hijran Huseynova, Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs

Dear Niyazi Safarov, Deputy Minister of Economy

Dear Mammad Musayev, Representative of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan Republic

Dear Sakina Babayeva, Chairperson of the Azerbaijan's Women Entrepreneurs Association

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

Salam!

I’m delighted to be here today at this forum to celebrate women entrepreneurs and their endeavors to change their lives and the lives of those around them for the better.

Women’s social and economic empowerment is an integral part of UNDP mandate worldwide. We know that investing in women and girls not only improve the lives of individual women, but also bring multiple dividends to families and societies. Keeping gender equality and women’s empowerment at the centre of development efforts is also one of the best ways to advance Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals for people and our planet.

UNDP Azerbaijan has made gender equality and socio-economic empowerment of women one of its top priorities. For several years now, we have partnered with the government’s State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs. With their crucial support, we have

institutionalized the concept of Women Resource Centre as a space for women to engage in their communities, to network, and most importantly receive support in establishing a business.

The flagship Women’s Resource Centres now operates in 9 regions across the country offering women free spaces to meet, network, exchange ideas, forge partnerships, attract capital, gain confidence and grow professionally.

Since their inception in 2011, the Women’s Resource Centres in Azerbaijan have provided more than 6,000 women with free training in a range of hard and soft skills, from accounting and financial literacy, computer science, fundraising methods, women’s human and economic rights to resumé writing, presentation skills and networking techniques. Targeted capacity building efforts have directly helped more than 150 women in rural Azerbaijan launch their own businesses with in-kind grant support.

Today, these women are not only becoming contributors and leaders in their communities, they also create new job opportunities for local people, go for mentoring others, and even present the fruits of their hard work at international events and conferences.

I can share with you the recent example of the Beijing+25 Regional Review Meeting in Geneva which I attended along with Prof. Huseynova. This event was attended by 2 women from Azerbaijan who are active members of Women Resource Centers.

The woman (NAME) from Sabirabad WRC is now the leader of a local NGO established within the project.

Elnara, the woman painter from Khazar region – established her own Art School with the support from the project only few months after the project was established.

These two women were key speakers at a side event hosted by Azerbaijan on rural women entrepreneurs as agents of change. They highlighted their personal journey speaking about how the Women’s Resource Centres had changed their lives. The event also featured an exhibition with crafts and food products from the WRCs, made by women entrepreneurs who received substantial business development support from these centres.

We also had recently the honour to host the President of the UN General Assembly and the President of the Swiss Senate at one of these WRC’s in Khazar. Our hosts were impressed by what they heard and saw to the point that they publicly acknowledged the impact of this project on transforming the lives of women and communities. We look forward to further expanding this successful programme.

Let me also briefly mention another of our projects jointly implemented with ABAD Public Legal Entity which provides much-needed support to small and micro businesses in Azerbaijan. In some of the most remote places in the Shaki-Zaqatala Economic Region, for example, ABAD together with UNDP has established 44 smallholder family businesses thanks to the financial support from the European Union. Overall up around 1,000 people benefitted from the project so far. Of the 44 startups so far initiated, 23 are led by women.

In yet another project we support with the EU and the Vocational Education Agency and the Ministry of Education, I witnessed first-hand in Jalilabad partly refurbished VET centre, the first class of girls and women’s students learning textile skills, while in Ganja women students have just joined VET classes with new curriculums in fashion-designing.

(This is all in partnerhip with the Government and partners in the wider international donor community such as EU, USAID, Swiss Development Cooperation, our sister UN agencies – UNFPA and UN Women).

Ladies and Gentlemen, starting from today, the world will be marking Global Entrepreneurship Week. In 2019, 10 million people in over 170 countries around the world will celebrate it through 35,000 different events. Being a part of this global event is especially thrilling, when we as UNDP together with the Government of Azerbaijan, and our partners and donors do our part in helping the transforming women entrepreneurship as a critical accelerator in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals SDG’s.

In support of Azerbaijan’s commitment towards Equal Future 2030, we have partnered in transformative programmes that work to empower women. In spite of the results we have had so far, there is still great potential for supporting women entrepreneurship. Together, by achieving women’s equality and the 2030 Agenda, we can ensure that no woman is left behind.

Thank you! CHOKH SAGH OLUN!