Azerbaijani Official Highlights Housing As Key Pillar Of Social Inclusion And Safety

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The fundamental right to secure, adequate housing functions as an unyielding pillar underwriting human dignity, public health, physical safety, and comprehensive social integration, Bahar Muradova, Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of Azerbaijan, said, Trend reports.

The government official made the remark during the "Women's Roundtable" session, held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.

Muradova noted that female-headed households, displaced women, elderly citizens, women with disabilities, and those employed within the informal economic sector navigate significantly higher tiers of systemic socioeconomic vulnerability.

"In acute cases of gender-based violence, the absolute lack of safe, adequate housing forces women into an exceptionally harsh dilemma: either remain trapped within an abusive domestic environment or face the immediate, destabilizing risks of systemic poverty and homelessness," she pointed out.

According to her, the strategic discussions taking place at the roundtable mirror the global policy priorities of the Beijing+30 Platform for Action and the New Urban Agenda, both of which mandate the structural design of more inclusive, protective metropolitan ecosystems.

The State Committee head emphasized that formal, gender-neutral public policies frequently fail to yield equitable real-world outcomes in daily practice. Consequently, municipal and national planners must systematically integrate the distinct needs and lived experiences of women into initial urban design solutions.

She highlighted the critical necessity of securing equal access for women regarding land tenure, property rights, affordable credit streams, social housing programs, financial inclusion mechanisms, and targeted social protection nets.

According to Muradova, the government of Azerbaijan treats the active advancement of gender equality as a central priority of its national state policy matrix.

She reminded the delegation that the statutory law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Guarantees of Gender Equality" has formally established the provision of equal rights and strategic opportunities for men and women as a baseline constitutional obligation of the state for two decades.

Muradova concurrently reported that over the past six consecutive years, the State Committee has compiled and presented exhaustive annual data-driven reports to Parliament tracking the real-time status of gender equality. Furthermore, the ratification of the nation's new National Action Plan on Gender Equality aims to secure a highly systematic, institutionalized execution of these public policies.

At the municipal layer, specialized gender commissions and monitoring units attached to local executive authorities are working to mobilize community capacity to safeguard women and girls against discrimination and violence.

Turning to the comprehensive post-conflict rehabilitation of the liberated territories, Muradova stressed that Azerbaijan dedicates targeted attention to building inclusive living environments, secure public spaces, universally accessible social services, and resilient community networks.

According to her, housing strategy must be analyzed through a comprehensive, multi-dimensional prism, given that residential security maintains deep, unbreakable structural links with climate resilience, social safety nets, macroeconomic participation, and gender equity.

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