Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Human Development Report 2007 GENDER ATTITUDES IN AZERBAIJAN: TRENDS AND CHALLENGES This year's Azerbaijan Human Development Report focuses on gender trends and challenges in the country by presenting findings of the first national independent survey of gender attitudes ever conducted in Azerbaijan or any other CIS country. The Report aims to identify gender attitudes and analyse their impact on gender equality in the country, thereby stimulating public debate and encouraging national policy action for ensuring greater gender equality. This Report has been produced by the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children's Issues of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with financial support from the Government of Norway. Pages 104, tables 9, figures 35, boxes 2 State Committee for Family, Government of Norway Women and Children's Issues The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women. Azerbaijan Copyright © UNDP Azerbaijan 2007. All rights reserved. The analysis and policy recommendations of this Report do not necessarily reflect the views of UNDP. The Report is an independent publication commissioned by UNDP. It is the product of a collective effort by a team of international and national consultants in gender and development. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report presents findings of a gender attitudes survey conducted in November 2005. This survey was conducted in the whole country undertaken by a national research centre with the findings analysed by a team of national gender specialists and with the assistance of an international expert in gender and development. This is the first national independent survey of gender attitudes ever conducted in Azerbaijan and, we are led to believe, in the CIS. The main purpose was to identify gender attitudes and analyse their impact on gender equality in the country and develop policy recommendations. It is hoped that the, survey results will be stimulating for conducting a public debate and encouraging policy action for ensuring greater gender equality in the country. Equal rights for women and men are guaranteed under the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and national legislation based on it and coordinated with the international legal regulations. However, in many cases the legislation does not work or there is a lack of consistency in the implementation. As a result, the presence of gender disparities remains widespread in the country. Women, in particular IDP women, remain one of the most vulnerable groups-with higher unemployment and greater marginalization in economic activities due to lack of access to economic resources, (including credit, and land ownership), and their low participation in decision-making processes. The gap between de jure and de facto gender equality is one of the major problems that Azerbaijan will have to address, particularly since this is as much a problem of social attitudes as it is a problem of good governance, specifically in the implementation of laws designed to protect the rights of women as human rights. We wish to thank the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children's Issues of the Republic of Azerbaijan for their support as the principal government counterpart for the report. We are also very grateful to the Government of the Kingdom of Norway for their encouragement and financial support provided via the Royal Norwegian Embassy. We would like to acknowledge with special thanks the contribution of Prof. Ay_e Güne_-Ayata, International Gender Expert, whose profound guidance and vision helped this report come to fruition. Her keen analytical insights, thoughtful critique, and sustained support were invaluable. We would also like to show our appreciation for the efforts of Ms. Ayça Ergun, Associate Professor of Sociology, in helping to finalize the draft report. We are deeply indebted to Ms Rena Ibrahimbeyova, National Consultant, for her dedication and contributions to shaping and refining this report to bring it to its current state, given a tight timeline to complete the report. Special thanks go to SIGMA Research Centre for Development and International Collaboration (Baku) and the team of national researchers who worked tirelessly to prepare the publication. We also want to acknowledge the comments and constructive reviews of colleagues from UNFPA and UNIFEM. Their efforts are appreciated. We would like to single out for special thanks the editors of this report: Mr. Kerry A. Cosby (English), Mr. Dilsuz Mustafayev (Azerbaijani), and Ms. Aysel Vazirova (Russian). Team for the preparation of Azerbaijan Human Development Report 2007 National Project Coordinator International Consultant Dr. Mominat Omarova, Associate Professor of Dr. Ay¯e Güne¯-Ayata, Professor of Political Science, Philology, Baku State University Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey UNDP National Consultant Irada Ahmedova, Development Adviser, Dr. Rena Ibrahimbeyova, Associate Professor of Yashar Azimov, Project Manager Psychology, Baku State University Principal Contributors Chief Editors Dr. Ali Abbasov, Professor of Philosophy, Institute of Kerry A. Cosby, English editor Philosophy and Political Law Research, Azerbaijan Dilsuz Mustafayev, Azerbaijani editor National Academy of Sciences Aysel Vazirova, Russian editor Dr. Rena Mirza-zadeh, Institute of Philosophy and Political-Law Research, Azerbaijan National Survey Academy of Sciences Dr. Rasim Ramazanov, SIGMA Research Centre for Dr. Yelena Kasumova, Azerbaijan Gender Development and International Collaboration, Baku Information Centre Dr. Aysel Vazirova, Researcher FOREWORD The world is rapidly changing. We too are changing. This “we” includes all of Azerbaijan and each of us as a part of its soul. The “we” is our past and future as well as our challenging present. It is our fate that for centuries the destiny of Azerbaijan has been determined by geopolitical coordinates. This land is not only a crossroads of cultures, political ideas and religions, and adjacent ethnicities. This is also a place where they peacefully co-exist, generating unique cultural diversity which is semantically polymorphous, and forming a society with its own distinct culture and behavioural standards as well as inward and outward attitudes. Tolerance and humanism, faith in people and in love, individual quests for the truth and desire for unity take priority in national value system of Azerbaijan. What are the relationships of men and women in our society? Which social attitudes and injunctions influence them? What are the historical evidence and the future prospects of these relationships? How can stereotypical perceptions of femininity and masculinity, ingrained traditions, set social norms that prescribe standard male and female behaviour, be adjusted to the pace of social changes? What shall we take with us into the future, and what is best left behind in the past? Finding constructive answers to these questions is essential, because gender equality, recognising the individual-regardless of sex-as the central figure of societal progress, can precisely set the nation on a long and thorny path to democratisation and determine the trajectory of the nation's sustainable development. The present National Human Development Report pursues only one goal: presenting a gender panorama and gender discourse of contemporary Azerbaijan without intentionally covering up or obscuring any germane issues. This discourse reflects cultural capital of the Azerbaijani people which has accumulated over the millennia, challenges of the past decades, economic and political changes and hardships of a continued military aggression and the occupation of 1/5 of the country's territory, with having an effect of varied form and magnitude influence on women and men. In the age of expanding globalization, erasing borders, interacting civilizations and traditions, we shall endeavour to safeguard all the positive elements of gender relationships maintained by successive generations of the Azerbaijani people. We shall be able to preserve these time-tested ethical values and norms and integrate in the changing realities of the world. We support the conception of human development which identifies human potential as the keystone of development and views economic growth as a means and not the end of progress. However the effective realization of this vision depends on the success in establishing gender equality-i.e. implementing gender-balanced government policies and developing gender-sensitive civil society, transforming gender equality into social reality. Only then will we have created favourable conditions for addressing the needs and developing the intellectual and personal capacities of every citizen, and only then will we be able to deliver a free 21st Century individual. We will put forth our best efforts to achieve that. Mehriban Aliyeva President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Member of the Milli Mejlis (National Parliament) 4 Azerbaijan Human Development Report 2007