Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan

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).

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 is implemented by the Council of Europe and runs from 1 July 2020 to 31 August 2022.
This project aims 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 aims to provide support to the Azerbaijani authorities in their path towards signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
To achieve that, the project will co-operate 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 foresees 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


The project is 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
- 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

This video is available in English and in Azerbaijani.

Testimonials to the webinars on the Istanbul Convention
with subtitles in azerbaijani
with subtitles in azerbaijani

- Co-operation projects
- HELP online course on violence against women and domestic violence
- Co-operation Newsroom
- Co-operation with the EEA and Norway Grants
- PGG: Strengthening access to justice for women victims of violence (2015-2018)
- PGG II: Women's Access to Justice (2019-2022)
- Preventing and Combating Violence against Women in Armenia (2018)
- The Path towards Armenia's Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
- Raising Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutional capacity to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence (2019)
- Preventing and Combating Violence against Women in Georgia (2018-2019)
- Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo* (Phase II), 2019 -2021
- Co-operation on the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women 2017–2022 (2019-2020)
- The Istanbul Convention: a tool to advance in fighting violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine (2018-2020)
- Co-operation with Southern Mediterranean countries
- Promoting an Integrated Approach to End Violence against Women and Enhancing Gender Equality in Georgia (2020-2022)
- Awareness-raising Activities on the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova (2020-2021)
- Fostering a comprehensive institutional response to violence against women and domestic violence in Turkey
- Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan
- Combating Violence Against Women in Ukraine (COVAW)
- Contact us -coop projects
- Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo* (phase III)
- Cooperation for the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women: applying best practices
- Fostering women’s access to justice in Türkiye
- Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova
- Ending violence against women: multi-country programme
- Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention: methodology and toolkit for civil society organisations