The project “Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan” is a joint action under the European Union and Council of Europe’s programme Partnership for Good Governance II (PGG II). It was implemented by the Council of Europe and run from 1 July 2020 to 28 February 2023.

This project aimed to raise awareness on the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan, in order to strengthen domestic legislation and policies to align them with European standards. The Istanbul Convention is widely recognised as one of the main legal standards and the most comprehensive international treaty to tackle violence against women and domestic violence (VAW/DV), which is a serious violation of the human rights of women. In this line, the project also aimed to provide support to the Azerbaijani authorities in their path towards signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

To achieve that, the project has co-operated with the Azerbaijani authorities through three main fields of action: legislative and policy framework, awareness-raising activities and capacity-building of government officials.

Main activities

To achieve the objectives the project has carried out the following activities:

• a gap analysis with recommendations of the current legislative and policy framework of Azerbaijan in line with Council of Europe gender equality standards, including the Istanbul Convention;
• a roundtable with relevant public officials to present the report and its recommendations, and discuss the follow-up;
• capacity-building sessions of legal professionals and state authorities on VAW/DV, through the CoE HELP Programme (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals);
• development and piloting of a twinning methodology for public officials in the field of VAW/DV;
• specialised training for public officials through the twinning methodology on the topic of VAW/DV ;
• peer-exchanges for state authorities’ representatives to promote the transfer of knowledge and experience on policies to combat VAW/DV and multi-agency co-operation;
• a study on protection orders and its presentation in a roundtable discussion;
• the creation of a working group on multi-agency co-operation in the field of VAW/DV and capacity-building activities for its members;
• meetings with parliamentarians on VAW/DV and the Istanbul Convention;
• a series of webinars on specific articles of the Istanbul Convention;
• capacity-building sessions for state authorities and CSO representatives to develop a nation-wide campaign on VAW/DV ;
• delivery of a national campaign under the umbrella of the 16 Days of Activism to stop VAW/DV, in line with the Istanbul Convention and other CoE standards;
• production of visibility materials to raise awareness on VAW/DV and gender equality standards in Azerbaijan.

  1 July 2020 – 28 February 2023

 The European Union and the Council of Europe

 State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs

 Ministry of Justice

 Ombudsperson Office

 Academy of Justice 

 Faculty of Law, Baku State University

This video is available in English and in Azerbaijani.

The project was implemented by:

the Capacity Building and Co-operation Projects Unit at the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Division:

 Marta BECERRA, Head of Unit

 Jenna LOGEAIS, Project Manager

together with the Council of Europe Office in Baku:

 Parvana BAYRAMOVA, Senior Project Officer

 Nargiz RASULOVA, Project Assistant

 Enhanced understanding on the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan;

 Increased capacity of national authorities to develop national legislation and policies in line with CoE standards on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, including the Istanbul Convention;

 Application of knowledge and skills on the Istanbul Convention and CoE standards on gender equality by legal professionals and civil servants when dealing with cases of violence against women and domestic violence.

• Publications

 Gap analysis of the legislative and policy framework in the field of violence against women and domestic violence in Azerbaijan - ENG / AZE

 How to do twinning projects (peer exchanges) in the field of violence against women and domestic violence -  ENG / AZE

 The Istanbul Convention: 10 years of action - ENG / AZE

• Translations into Azerbaijani

 General leaflet on the Istanbul Convention – AZE

 Leaflet on the monitoring mechanism of the Istanbul Convention – AZE

 Infographics on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention – AZE

 Brochure on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention – AZE

 Brochure on preventing and combating sexism - ENG / AZE

 Brochure on Children’s rights under the Istanbul Convention – ENG / AZE

 Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. Council of Europe Standards – ENG / AZE

 Ensuring data collection and research on violence against women and domestic violence: Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

 Preventing Violence against Women: Article 12 of the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

 Raising awareness of violence against women: Article 13 of the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

 Domestic and sexual violence perpetrator programmes: Article 16 of the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

 Emergency barring orders in situations of domestic violence: Article 52 of the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

 Handbook for parliamentarians on the Istanbul Convention - ENG / AZE

  Testimonials to the webinars on the Istanbul Convention

with subtitles in azerbaijani 

with subtitles in azerbaijani