Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Speaker Says Women’s Empowerment Key to Strengthening Regional Cooperation
Baku, The Gulf Observer: An online conference titled “Women of Central Asia: Priority Tasks and Joint Action” was held on April 21, bringing together women leaders and senior officials from across Central Asia to discuss strategies for advancing gender equality and regional cooperation. The event was organized by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis.
Addressing the conference, Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova highlighted the importance of the initiative in strengthening the role of women in Central Asia and fostering closer regional collaboration. She noted that the Dialogue of Central Asian Women Leaders has rapidly emerged as an effective and relevant platform for engagement.
Gafarova emphasized that the dialogue enhances trust and inter-parliamentary cooperation, while encouraging coordinated efforts to expand women’s participation in all sectors of society. She reaffirmed the commitment of participating countries to continued collaboration and the development of joint solutions to shared challenges.
Underscoring that gender equality remains a key priority in Azerbaijan, the Speaker pointed to the active involvement of women in public life and leadership roles. She cited the contributions of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva as a prominent example of women’s role in national development through her extensive public and political initiatives.
The Azerbaijani Speaker further stressed the country’s commitment to regional cooperation on women’s empowerment, describing the Central Asian Women’s Dialogue as a platform for trust, exchange of experiences, and joint initiatives. She reiterated Azerbaijan’s readiness to actively support programs aimed at enhancing women’s leadership.
The conference also featured speakers and senior representatives from Uzbekistan, United Nations, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, who shared national experiences and presented proposals to strengthen women’s leadership and participation across the region.
