VZCZCXRO5678
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHKB #0024/01 0121303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121303Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2245
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1549
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3761

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000024 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, DRL, EUR/PGI- Jim Kuykendall 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KDEM KWMN AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES 
 
REF: 09 STATE 124579 
 
BAKU 00000024  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) This cable answers reftel questions on USG engagement on 
women's issues in Azerbaijan. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Provide details on current women's issues programs which 
highlight Post's work with civil society, NGOs, local governments, 
international or regional organizations, and other relevant 
interlocutors. 
 
Women's political participation 
------------------------------- 
Under USAID's sponsorship, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) 
has partnered with the Organization for the Protection of Women's 
Rights (OPWR), Azerbaijan's leading independent women's civic group, 
and a recent recipient of NDI's Bren Simon award, a grant in 
recognition of OPWR's contribution to enhancing women's 
participation in politics.  With the award, OPWR will be initiating 
a leadership program for women activists in the regions.  NDI has 
worked with OPWR on programs to educate women about their political 
rights, including encouraging them to vote, work on campaigns, and 
become candidates themselves.  More recently, NDI has worked with 
women's departments of political parties on surveying and targeting 
women voters.  NDI has helped parties to use low-profile activities, 
such as door-to-door surveys or promoting charitable activities, to 
reach previously apolitical women in a non-threatening way.  Over 
the course of NDI's programming, the Institute has worked with 
hundreds of women activists in the regions and in Baku. 
 
The Embassy's Democracy Commission has also supported projects aimed 
at women candidates.  In 2009 the Commission provided $14,887 to 
"Solidarity Among Women" in support of an NGO's efforts to encourage 
more women to run for municipal council positions. 
 
Development of Women Lawyers 
---------------------------- 
Azerbaijan has one of the lowest rates of female legal professionals 
in the NIS, and support to women lawyers is greatly needed.  USAID 
and the American Bar Association (ABA) conceived a gender-specific 
bar association to help create solutions that are unique to the 
professional challenges and barriers facing women, and to provide a 
forum for women to lobby for their rights.  On May 14, 2007, the 
Women's Bar Association (WBA) was officially launched.  Currently, 
the WBA has 270 members with an ever-increasing amount of interest. 
 
 
In March 2009, the Women's Bar Association was awarded a $96,000 
grant through the USAID - Department of State jointly sponsored One 
Woman Initiative (OWI).  In Azerbaijan, the OWI grant will fund 
WBA's "Woman to Woman" program which provides women with access to 
legal advice and training on issues related to domestic violence, 
trafficking of women, early marriage, and gender equality.  The 
one-year project specifically targets four regions of Azerbaijan - 
Balaken, Guba, Lankaran, and Mingachevir.  The grant funds a 
training program for approximately 400 women to gain greater 
awareness on women's rights.  By the end of the project, 12 
community leaders will be identified and trained to act as WBA 
liaisons in targeted regions and a number of educational materials 
on women's issues will be produced and distributed. 
 
As early marriage has become an issue of concern, especially in 
rural Azerbaijan, the Embassy's Democracy Commission in 2008 
provided support to the Legal Help Public Union's "Let's Unite 
Against Early Marriages!" project, which included seminars for 
school children and community discussions in the Southern Azerbaijan 
region. 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
---------------------- 
This key issue was addressed via the American Bar Association's 
series of focused trainings on the subject under the INL/DOJ Office 
of Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) 
program.  In total 161 members of the judicial sector were trained 
in trafficking issues during the 2009 fiscal year.  The ABA also 
published and distributed informational materials regarding 
Trafficking in Persons to vulnerable target populations, including 
children and young women.  In addition, TIP was addressed via 
INL/DOJ's funding and partnering with IOM on a $100,000 project to 
enhance national capacity building on shelter and hotline management 
for TIP victims.  This project supported a series of trainings 
shelter staff, the project held a regional seminar on models for 
support and social reintegration. 
 
Women's Health 
-------------- 
USG activities also aim to increase gender equity through the USAID 
Family Planning and Reproductive Health programs.  In FY09 health 
 
BAKU 00000024  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
care providers, male and female, trained with USG funds acquired 
knowledge and skills in family planning counseling for women, men 
and couples.  This activity also ensures increased equal access to 
modern family planning methods by working with pharmaceutical 
companies and pharmacies.  The Primary Health Care-centered model 
inherently targets women and children, who account for the majority 
of users in Azerbaijan.  USG supports activities aimed to improve 
women's access to quality health care.  This activity contributed to 
the development of clinical protocols that target women's health. 
The large gender gap in life expectancy and early male mortality, 
however, has prompted USG to also focus on gender equity by 
including non-communicable diseases as a priority to address a 
leading cause of early male mortality. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Provide a list of best practices and success stories on 
these issues, identified through both current and past programs. 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
---------------------- 
The IOM shelter and hotline advisor, funded by the USG, discovered 
in her training work that NGOs were doing impressive work on 
anti-trafficking issues, but that there was need for coordination 
among these various organizations.  Therefore, in addition to her 
training work, the advisor organized dozens of these NGOs into an 
anti-trafficking network and helped them develop methods of 
cooperation.  The network now has its own website and works together 
on activities.  This experience shows the importance of training and 
coordinating NGOs in Azerbaijan, especially in areas where work with 
the government is difficult. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Identify areas where additional U.S. action and/or 
cooperation on women's issues could be useful. 
 
-- Awareness raising on domestic violence and funding for an NGO-run 
shelter for battered women, as one does not exist in Azerbaijan at 
the moment. 
-- High-level diplomatic advocacy for passage of a law on domestic 
violence, which is currently in the draft stage at parliament. 
-- Further awareness raising on the dangers of human trafficking, 
particularly in the rural areas of Azerbaijan. 
--Further training of women political candidates in advance of the 
November 2010 parliamentary elections.