Mylene Verveer: Azerbaijan may face a shortage of women

  On Monday, Milen Verveer, coordinator of the U.S. State Department for women, held a press conference following a visit to Azerbaijan held at the business center Landmark. She reported on meetings with women from among the employees of the government, civil society and science.

She said that the situation of women in Azerbaijan leaves much to be desired. It is necessary to increase the role of women in political life, beginning with parliament, to the management at the level of villages and communities.

"I regret that there are problems with abortion in Azerbaijan. Many families want to have a boy and women have an abortion when they find out that the child to be born will be a girl. If this continues, some time later the country will face a shortage of women. Society must be vigilant to this issue," said Verveer. It also focused attention on the fact that maternal mortality has not lessened.

Participation of women in such issues as security, global economic crisis, the environment is important. "The countries and societies where women are actively involved in management and development are the most successful," said Verveer.

According to her, women must play a more important role in the resolution of such problems as poverty, maternal mortality, eliminating hunger. "In countries where women's rights are equal to the rights of men, the development is better," she said.

Responding to the question from Turan, what is America’s support for women in the Middle East, CIS and the Caucasus for being persecuted for fighting for democracy, Verveer said that in these regions, the role of women in government is low. America wants the women to have made great success in education and management. In these areas, USAID implements problems.

 "We believe that the best investment in these countries is the education of young girls. After education, they will be able to find a decent place in the family and society," said Verveer. -03C04-