Sahiba Gafarova chairs a meeting of women parliamentarians in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, JUN 2: A meeting of women parliamentarians was held within the framework of the Second General Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Islamabad on Tuesday, June 1. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova chaired the first session of the meeting of women parliamentarians.

The Press and Public Relations Department of the Milli Majlis told APA that the Speaker spoke about the importance of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization and thanked the Women's Parliamentary Group for providing an important platform to discuss the main challenges and opportunities of women in leadership positions.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted that the topic of this event is really important, as issues such as women's rights and gender equality are still on the agenda.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis said he was proud to represent a country in the East that gave women the right to vote and be elected for the first time. He said that this was done in 1918, long before most European countries. The first secular school for girls in the Muslim East, the first ballet and opera were opened in Azerbaijan.

Sahiba Gafarova noted that contacts between parliamentarians, especially women MPs, are an important driving force of inter-parliamentary cooperation. It is important that more women MPs are represented in various parliamentary organizations than in Islamic countries.

Speaking at the first session of the Women's Parliament, Ms. Munazu Hassan, Secretary of the Women's Parliamentary Group, Ms. Begum Sadjida Zulfikar Khan, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Ms. Andlib Abbas, Secretary of the Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Ganira Pashayeva, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture The role of trade, business, entrepreneurship in development, the future of regional cooperation and other issues.

Summing up the meeting, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova stressed the importance of the issues discussed at the meeting, wished success to the Women's Parliamentary Group, noting that the views expressed will be discussed at future meetings.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of the Milli Majlis Malahat Ibrahimgizi.

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COURTESY apa.az

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