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World Bank: Azerbaijan has made progress in eliminating gender inequality in several sectors

11 December 2024 11:44 (UTC +04:00)

"In Azerbaijan, women comprise only 17% of the workforce in the transportation and storage sectors, 11% in energy, and 8% in construction," the Senior Operations Specialist at the World Bank's Azerbaijan office, Saida Baghirli, said during an event organized by the World Bank titled "Leadership Achievements in Promoting Women's Employment and Career Development in Azerbaijan," APA-Economics reports.

According to her, women hold only a small portion of leadership and technical roles in these critical sectors, leading to a significant gender pay gap. On average, women’s monthly salaries in Azerbaijan are approximately 35% lower than those of men.

Saida Baghirli also noted that Azerbaijan has taken several concrete steps to eliminate these barriers: "In late 2022, with the support of the World Bank's analytical work, Azerbaijan eliminated gender-based legal restrictions on women's employment. In 2023, the restrictions on women working night shifts were also removed."

Note that despite numerous challenges, Azerbaijan has made significant progress in eliminating gender inequality in male-dominated sectors, particularly in transportation, energy, and construction. The World Bank has supported these improvements through the Gender Advisory Services program, implemented under the Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF), funded by the European Union (EU).

During the event, a new report titled “Breaking Barriers to Women’s Employment in Azerbaijan”, which was developed by the World Bank within the EU-funded AZTAF program, was presented. The report includes key results from in-depth gender assessments of Azerbaijan Railways and Baku Port and highlights issues women face related to recruitment, inclusivity, career advancement, and leadership opportunities.

Additionally, the event featured the launch of an online training course titled “Occupational Safety, Health, and Violence and Harassment : A Gender Perspective” in English and Azerbaijani. The course aims to educate participants, including business leaders, industries, workers, and governments, about gender-related risks and inspire new approaches to workplace safety, health, and harassment prevention through targeted modules.