Baku hosted an international conference jointly organized by the International Trade Unions Confederation and Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC).
Chairman of ATUC, MP Sattar Mohbaliyev, chairman of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Bahar Muradova, chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee on family, women and Children Affairs Hijran Huseynova, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of population Vusal Nasirli, vice-president of the National Confederation of entrepreneurs (employers) organizations of Azerbaijan Vugar Zeynalov, head of the Department, The UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreyeva, attended the event. The conference was also attended by representatives of Trade Unions of Albania, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia, as well as responsible persons of the Bhos and the Pan European Regional Council (PERC).
Welcoming the guests, ATUC chairman Sattar Mohbaliyev first spoke about the importance of the conference and the relevance of the topic, and spoke about the strategy and consistent reforms carried out under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev to protect women’s rights in our country. He said that the protection of human rights, achieving gender equality, especially increasing the activity of women and girls in society are the main issues facing ATUC: “the basis of the policy implemented by the organization in this direction is the analysis of socio-economic, legal, cultural and psychological aspects of statistical indicators. Long-term action programs based on the “Gender equality concept” adopted at ATUC are implemented, the Center for Gender and women’s problems, the School of Gender knowledge and technology operate. Statistical data from the State Statistics Committee and 27 field colleagues Union Center, which is a member of ATUC, are summarized and the influence of differences and experiences between the Sexes is studied. 10 commissions covering about 2463 thousand responsible persons appointed in the structures of sectoral trade unions are engaged in this work.”
According to him, ATUC considers the disclosure of the potential of female members to be one of the priorities: “Gender statistics show that in the total number of trade union members, men are 47.7 percent, while women are 52.3 percent. 18.9 percent of the members are young people. More than half of them, namely 9, 534 percent, are young women, and 6.18 percent of these women are represented in leadership positions of all levels. 32.7 percent of the chairmen are young women. In general, women in the elective bodies of trade unions are represented by 47.8 percent, and in leadership positions of all levels-by 42.5 percent.”
Sattar Mohbaliyev said with regret that despite such global development, women in the world are still subjected to violence in various forms: “women make up the majority of the informal economy. Equal wages and decent working conditions should apply to women in all cases. Employers should place the care economy at the center of their plans and budgets so that the concept of “unpaid work” disappears, and female workers are also represented in social contracts and collective agreements. We also urge our social partners to invest in the care economy and to adequately recognize the value of care work. This is also a fundamental factor for Sustainable Development.”
The chairman of ATUC added that women are the main founder and future of life, their rights mean human rights as a whole: “therefore, we must work hard within our competence to ensure that women can work effectively in equal rights and solidarity and get a decent job.”
Chairman of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Bahar Muradova spoke about the women’s policy of our state, measures taken to strengthen gender policy in our country, increase the role of women in society, women’s achievements in science and education, health and culture, as well as other fields. He said that Azerbaijani women are adequately represented in important state institutions, parliaments and municipalities, actively participate in socio-political, socio-economic, scientific and cultural processes, and make a great contribution to the development of the country’s sports.
Hijran Huseynova, the committee chairman of the MM, talked about the laws adopted to solve the issues related to women in our country, the signed decrees and orders, and the achievements achieved in the direction of realizing and guaranteeing women’s rights with the application of relevant international documents in our country.
Mrs. Paula Simonetti, head of the Equality Department of the BHIK, gave detailed information about the situation in the world regarding women’s rights, highlighted the duties of trade unions in this direction, and touched on the importance of creating equal opportunities for women in all fields, including working conditions.
At the event, the speeches of Deputy Minister Vusal Nasirli, Resident Coordinator of the UN in Azerbaijan Vladanka Andreyeva, Vice President of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan Vugar Zeynalov, Head of the Department of the Ombudsman Office Lamiya Zeynalova were heard.
Later, the head of the Department of ATUC Namig Huseynov spoke about the work done by the ATUC Commission on Gender issues, and the head of the Department of the Trade Union of Health Workers Elnara Muradova spoke about the activities of trade unions on women’s rights in the regions of Azerbaijan.
Comments and suggestions were also sounded at the event, and a broad exchange of views on the topic was held.