International Conference of Women Parliamentarians titled “Role of Turkic World Women in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals” took place in Baku on 14 June 2019. The Conference was co-organized by TURKPA and Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Parliamentary delegations of TURKPA member countries, ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic corps of the member countries, as well as Turkmenistan and Hungary accredited in Baku, representatives of international organizations, state bodies of Azerbaijan and NGOs took part in the Conference.

The opening ceremony was addressed by Ms. Bahar Muradova, Vice-Speaker of Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Altynbek Mamaiusupov, TURKPA Secretary General, Ms. Hijran Huseynova, Chair of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children’s Issues of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ms. Gulzhana Karagussova, member of Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ms. Ainuru Altybayeva, member of Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ms. Nurhayat Altaca Kayışoğlu, member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and TURKPA Commission on Legal Affairs and International Relations, Ms. Gunay Afandiyeva, President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation and Mr. Ghulam M. Isaczai, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan.

Welcoming the participants, Ms. Bahar Muradova noted the significant role could be played by women parliamentarians of the TURKPA member countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Vice-Speaker emphasized the importance of the conference in terms of covering the discussion of both international and regional problems.

In his speech, Secretary General Mr. Altynbek Mamaiusupov stressed the significant role of women in Turkic-speaking countries and touched upon the similarities in family values of turkic peoples. Emphasizing the continuing relevance of the gender equality on the world’s agenda, Mr. Mamaiusupov assessed the conference as a platform to discuss gender issues and possibilities of approximation of national legislation of the member countries in this sphere and expressed readiness to cooperate with other organizations functioning in gender field.

Ms. Hijran Huseynova noted that there is a favourable legal and regulatory framework in Azerbaijan for achieving gender equality and highlighted the special role of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva in this sphere.

Following the opening ceremony, the Conference continued its work with two panel sessions titled “Creating More Opportunities for the Gender Equality in Turkic Speaking Countries: Steps toward Sustainable Development” and “TURKPA as a Platform for Strengthening Dialogue between Turkic World Women: Vision for the Future”. The panel sessions were moderated by Ms. Roza Aknazarova, public figure of the Kyrgyz Republic and Ms. Sevinj Huseynova, member of Milli Majlis and TURKPA Commission on Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs, respectively. During the sessions, the participants delivered speeches and exchanged views on the subject.

The Conference was concluded with adoption of Baku Declaration – the final document of the Conference.