A plenary meeting of the Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was held in Paris. Konul Nurullayeva, a member of Azerbaijan's PACE delegation, participated in the session held on September 16 and voiced her opinions on a number of important topics. Sharing her views on "The role of men and boys in stopping gender-based violence", the deputy noted with regret that this problem is one of the most common human rights violations in the world. "Engaging men and boys in the fight against gender-based violence can be an effective solution to this problem," she added.
K.Nurullayeva also shared her views on "Sexual violence and conflict" and drew attention to the fact that cases of sexual violence are more common during armed conflicts. In this context, she recalled that during the occupation of Azerbaijani territories in the first years of its independence, hundreds of Azerbaijani women suffered from various types of sexual violence. She said that Azerbaijan, as one of the countries that experienced all the negative aspects of the armed conflict, is sensitive to this issue, is always in favor of peace and supports all initiatives related to the prevention of sexual violence in armed conflicts. Additionally, she emphasized the importance of joint action on the creation of special mechanisms in order to solve this problem.
Then, K.Nurullayeva shared her thoughts on the topic "The fight for a level playing field – ending discrimination against women in the world of sport" and spoke about the importance of joint efforts to eliminate existing inequalities between women and men in terms of salary, treatment, accessibility and status. She noted that women in Azerbaijan have equal rights and opportunities to engage in sports and physical education. Stating that the vast majority of the clubs' income comes from sponsorship, the deputy proposed the development of special mechanisms for companies to implement their investments and advertising equally for men and women in sponsorship matters.
MP Konul Nurullayeva then spoke on the topic "Closing the digital divide: promoting equal access to digital technologies". She said that if we want prosperity for everyone in society, it is extremely important to tackle all the varieties of the digital divide described in the informative memorandum. The deputy said that in order to reduce the digital gap in Azerbaijan, many innovative programs such as "National e-government network initiative" and "Digital Girls - National Training Program" are being implemented at the country level.