Statement at the Third Committee of the eightieth session of the United Nations General Assembly under agenda item 26: “Advancement of Women” (General statements on all items)

Delivered by Mr. Shahriyar Hajiyev, First Secretary

13 October 2025

Madam Chair,

As 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, reaffirming our commitment to its objectives is more vital than ever. The world continues to confront conflicts, poverty, hunger, discrimination, inequalities, displacement, and climate change that disproportionately affect women and girls.

We would like to emphasise that Azerbaijan consistently undertakes measures to ensure steady progress in fully realising women's human rights as an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The specific legislative act on gender equality, alongside national policy programs adopted regularly, provides a solid foundation for ongoing improvements.

Madam Chair,

Expanding educational and economic opportunities for women remains a national priority. Through the “Support for Girls’ Education” initiative implemented by the Government, thousands of young women, in particular those living in rural areas, have already benefited from the scholarship programs. At the same time, 17 Women’s Resource Centres operate in rural areas of the country. These Centres are established to support the empowerment of women by providing various opportunities, such as skills development, consultancy, mentorship and networking.

Moreover, the National Action Plan on Combating Domestic Violence addresses existing challenges, and preparatory work is underway to renew the program for the upcoming term.

It is also important to note that women’s participation in decision-making processes has increased in recent years. Currently, women hold 20.8% of the seats in Azerbaijan’s national parliament.

Madam Chair,

Azerbaijan has launched large-scale rehabilitation and reconstruction in the post-conflict period since 2020, to enable the hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced persons, including women, to exercise their right to safe and dignified return to their places of origin. Despite this progress on the realisation of human rights for forcibly displaced women, the fate and whereabouts of 284 women who went missing in connection with the conflict remain a pressing humanitarian concern for Azerbaijan in the post-conflict period.  

Reiterating our belief in the importance of the advancement of women and creating an equal opportunity for achieving a more just and fairer world, we would like to stress that the potential of the UN mechanisms on women’s human rights should be effectively utilised in the identification of fate and whereabouts of missing women in relation to armed conflicts.

Thank you.