27, May 2008
Honorable speakers, members of parliament, distinguish guests, ladies and gentlemen!

I am extremely honored to be invited to this event today.

Azerbaijan has long tradition of promoting women's rights. The first secular school for Muslim girls in the Islamic world was established in Baku in 1901 by oil baron Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. In creating the school Mr. Taghiyev explicitly advocated the education of women as the core human right and almost fifty years before the adoption of the international declaration, the international legal instrument on human rights - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The activities of benefactors and charity society in Azerbaijan and their progressive outlook created the social atmosphere for further advancement in the area of gender equality. This conference is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Azerbaijani women getting the right to vote. By the time of establishment of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic in 1918, public opinion was progressive to allow the parliament discuss equal right for men and women at its special session. Elections to the constituent Assembly of the Republic were considered by legislation, the election regulation of 1919 that established full equality for men and women in the right to vote and the right to be elected to the parliament.

Along with this strong historical background the United Nations welcomes the Government's commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Azerbaijan by 2015 including the third MDG promoting gender equality and empowering women. This commitment will require continuing political will to be implemented with developmental political will, the comprehensive legislative basis and gender equality mechanism. The United Nations agencies including the United Nations Population's Fund will continue to offer their assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan as may be required in this connection.

Indeed there is a long and positive cooperation between the UN and UNFPA, in particular, and governmental bodies in Azerbaijan on gender issues, in particular the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs. The project "21st century without violence against women" signed on 15th January between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs and UNFPA will make a valuable contribution in promoting the right of every woman, man and child in Azerbaijan to enjoy equal opportunity and to ensure that every girl and woman lives with dignity and respect every day in her life. Today we celebrate a proud episode in Azerbaijani history of protecting and promoting the rights of women and we look forward to continue in this progress in the future together.

Thank you very much.