December 18, 2009 marked the 30th Anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Convention is often described as an international bill of rights for the women worldwide. The Convention entered into force on September 3, 1981 after being ratified by the 20th state party.

The document consisting of the preamble and 30 articles clearly defines discrimination against women as well as sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field." (Art.1) According to the document, discrimination against women violates the principles of equality between women and men and therefore the Convention appeals to the member states to adopt all necessary measures in order to ensure women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life - including the right to vote and to stand for election - as well as education, health and employment.
The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 
The Republic of Azerbaijan has acceded to the Convention in 1995. The Government presents the periodic reports on implementation of CEDAW to the Committee once in four years.
 
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On December 21, 2009, the Combating Gender Based Violence in Azerbaijan Project (UNFPA) organized a round table on “The last report presented by the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the respective Concluding Observations of the Committee”. The representatives of the State Committee on Family, Woman and Children Affairs, several ministries, education agencies, public organizations and parliamentarians as well as the Ombudsman attended the event. 
 
The briefs from the forth periodic report of Azerbaijan Republic on implementation of the Convention were presented by Ms Sadagat Gahramanova, the deputy chairwoman of the State Committee on Family, Woman and Children’s Affairs. Speaking about the implemented activities during the last reporting period Ms Gahramanova stated that the State Committee had undertaken several important efforts jointly with the UN Country Office in order to ensure better protection and promotion of women’s rights in the country. The Law on Domestic Violence aiming at providing the necessary guidelines for ensuring that the cases of domestic violence are effectively combated was specifically mentioned in this respect.
 
Mr Faig Gurbanov, the head of the Human Rights and Public Relations Department took on the panel following the presentation and spoke of the importance of media involvement in combating GBV in the country. Speaking about increased cases of violence against women during the last period, Mr Gurbanov emphasized that the numbers of violence cases are quite high in remote regions of Azerbaijan as compared to the capital Baku city. According to him, this is closely connected to insufficient numbers of awareness campaigns in regions and also to the existing attitudinal barriers among the people living in the regions.
 
Ms Elmira Suleymanova, the Ombudsman in her turn spoke of the legislative initiatives directed at better protection and promotion of women’s rights in the country. The latter session was facilitated by the representative of the Council on State Support to NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan Republic, Ms Rena Mirzazade.  Ms Mirzazade stressed the importance of legal intervention into the cases of domestic violence issues saying that the establishment of family courts is very important in Azerbaijan as well as in many other countries.
 
The event continued with the discussions on the report as well as the Concluding Observations of the Committee that have called upon Azerbaijani government to adopt the Law on Domestic Violence, continue the efforts on rehabilitation of victims of violence and human trafficking, conduct public awareness campaigns via mass media and enlightenment programs in order to effectively combat all forms of violence against women.
 
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The CEDAW Committee has requested the government of Azerbaijan to respond to the concerns expressed in the latest concluding observations in its next periodic report under article 18 of the Convention. The Committee has invited the State party to submit its fifth periodic report by 9 August 2013.