Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
Trend:
The United States, via the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), supported a conference in Baku entitled “The Establishment of an Effective Response Mechanism for Combating Domestic Violence in Azerbaijan” organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the State Committee for Family, Women and Children’s Affairs.
The conference marked a milestone in the “Combating Gender Based Violence in Azerbaijan” (GBV) program funded by USAID and implemented by UNFPA. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission William Gill, Ms. Hijran Huseynova of the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children Affairs, and Mr. Gulam Isaqzai, UN Resident Coordinator attended the event.
Representatives of government agencies, the diplomatic corps, and civil society also participated in the conference and affirmed their commitment to continued cooperation to combat Gender Based Violence.
The program aims to support development of an inter-agency coordination mechanism on Gender Based Violence prevention and response in Azerbaijan. Toward this end, Ms. Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sexual Violence and Conflict, in providing expert advice to the Government regarding an inter-agency coordination mechanism and a national legal framework for GBV prevention and response.
In her opening speech, Hijran Huseynova underlined the importance of gender-sensitive policy by the Government.
Ghulam Ishaczai, for his part, noted the essence of legislation improvement. “It is commendable that the Azerbaijani Government is determined to ensure that women enjoy full protection from all forms of violence. The adoption of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence in 2010 reinforces that cases of domestic violence will no longer be tolerated as matters of internal family affairs. It is important that legal reforms are accompanied by an effective prevention and referral mechanism to ensure that the survivors of violence are helped. The draft National Action Plan and the guidelines for inter-agency cooperation on GBV prevention and response were developed to reinforce cooperation and coordination between all agencies concerned," he said.
William Gill said violence against women is a grave violation of human rights.
"Worldwide, 1 in 3 women will experience Gender-Based Violence in their lifetimes. Governments must ensure Gender-Based Violence is addressed at individual, institutional, and structural levels. A holistic approach is needed to ensure protection efforts include legislative reforms and policy initiatives in addition to response and prevention. I want to applaud the Government of Azerbaijan for its efforts to address this issue. The adoption of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence is a significant achievement. I hope that through our continued joint efforts to address this issue, an effective national referral mechanism for the prevention of, and response to, gender-based violence will be established.”
During the conference, representatives of various government agencies and NGOs discussed the adverse effects of Gender Based Violence on society.
Earlier this month, the GBV program also launched an online database that systematically collects data from different regions, enabling evidence-based intervention strategies to combat Gender Based Violence.
