INTERVIEWS
Women are the driving force of the Azerbaijani society
Q: Women are playing a growing role in the socio-political life of Azerbaijan. Of course, the role of the New Azerbaijan Party in the country`s socio-political life is inevitable too. We would like you to highlight the factors conditioning the activity of women…
A: The growing role of women in Azerbaijan`s socio-political life is one of the most remarkable achievements of our national statehood history. This success is based on rich traditions of the activity of women in politics in Azerbaijan on the one hand, and women policy priorities of the Azerbaijani government on the other.
The Azerbaijani woman has made a historic path to become the active citizen of the country. Azerbaijan was the first country in the Muslim East to grant women suffrage.
So women in Azerbaijan are playing an active role in the country`s socio-political life. And they are inspired by the fact that first lady, deputy chairperson of the New Azerbaijan Party Mehriban Aliyeva is a member of the YAP Women`s Council. The first lady`s noble activity is a model to follow not only for Azerbaijani women, but also for world women.
On September 27 we held a gathering of chairs of the YAP Women`s Council. The meeting saw the participants define our further priorities and discuss ways of increasing the activity of women in the country`s socio-political life. We also decided to establish four working groups within the council that will deal with socio-economic issues, women`s and family affairs, science and education, humanitarian problems, culture, international relations, and self-governance matters.
Q: What is done to increase the percentage of women`s representation in municipalities ahead of the upcoming elections?
A: Speakers at the conference noted that the percentage of women`s representation in municipalities has increased 10-fold in the last municipal elections. This growth is a strong signal of women`s activity in the country`s socio-political life. This is why increasing the activity of women is our number one priority. The most important point is that we must pay much attention to quality. We need to ensure that intelligent women with high organizational skills and leadership abilities make it to municipalities.We must also pay attention to housewives and women working in different organizations. They should be active too. We discussed this issue at our conference, we hear some proposals and decided to organize several events in the country`s regions. Members of the YAP Women`s Council will participate in these events, and municipal elections will definitely be high on the agenda.
Q: And promotion is very critical in this context…
A: We plan to organize these events in the regions during this month. And what stimulates us is the country`s successes and the growing role of women in the socio-political life. Protection of women`s rights, their public activity had always been in center of attention of national leader Heydar Aliyev. If we look at the time when Heydar Aliyev came to power in 1969 we can see that women were promoted in public field. The State Committee for Women`s Problems established in accordance with national leader Heydar Aliyev`s order in 1998 reflected the attitude of the state to the gender equality. National leader signed the order on increasing the attention to women`s policy and this field.
And today we witness the government`s high attention to women and their problems. And the Women`s Council too pays special attention to promoting women with organizational and leadership skills.
As a result of wise and well-considered policy, women in Azerbaijan enjoy activity in all spheres of life. Women are represented in government and decision-making bodies. The special weight of women in public service has grown in Azerbaijan. The number of women in the parliament is also growing. The number of women elected to municipalities increased. Women are actively working in different areas of science, literature and art.
Q: You also head Azerbaijan State Pedagogical College. We would like you to highlight the activities of YAP Women`s Council in this educational institution…
A: The New Azerbaijan Party enjoys support of all bodies and agencies in the country. And we have a branch of YAP at State Pedagogical College. Almost all our teachers are members of the New Azerbaijan Party. There are 218 teachers at our college, and most of them are young teachers. There is a big flow of youth to the party. Some 400 of our students are members of the New Azerbaijan Party. Some 9,870 of 17,772 people who have recently joined the party are women. This is what makes us very happy and proud. In our college women maintain active cooperation with youth organizations.
Today Azerbaijani women take an active part in all the spheres of socio-political life, hold equal position with men and do not fall behind them at all. Our women have special services in the development of Azerbaijan statehood, economy, science, culture, the preservation of national and moral values.