Background and political system
With a population of just over 10.4 million people, Azerbaijan is located in Southwestern Asia bordering Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Türkiye. It is a landlocked country but borders the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan’s first multiparty elections were held in 1990, while the country declared its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
The Constitution of Azerbaijan, adopted in 1995, as amended through 2016, provides the framework for the country’s political institutions and governance. Azerbaijan is a unitary presidential republic divided into 66 districts (rayonlar) and 11 cities (saharlar), and governs via central, intermediate (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic) and local government structures.
Azerbaijan’s government consists of the Executive and Legislative branches, complemented by the Judicial branch. The central government is led by the President of the Republic, who is the Head of State and is directly elected for a seven-year term (no term limits). The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and is appointed by the President of the Republic, with the consent of the National Assembly. The executive branch’s Cabinet of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, ministers and chairpersons of State committees. The National Assembly, called the Milli Mejlis, is formed by members elected directly by the public and serves in a unicameral parliament. The judicial branch hosts the Supreme Court, consisting of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and 23 judges, and the Constitutional Court of the Azerbaijan Republic, consisting of nine judges, in addition to subordinate courts.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Women’s right to vote and to stand for election was first ensured in the country in 1918 when Azerbaijan first gained independence. These rights under Soviet administration continued and were once again confirmed at independence in 1991. The first woman in parliament was elected in 1990.
Traditional patriarchal values and gender stereotypes have persisted in the Azerbaijani society, both beneath the surface of the communist era despite formal gender equality, and following the country’s democratic transition, creating barriers to practical socioeconomic and political equality and participation. Regrettably, in the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, Azerbaijan ranks 103rd out of 146 countries, a decline from its 2023 ranking of 97th and its 2022 ranking of 101st. Challenges lie especially in the area of women’s political empowerment, as the share of women in parliament and in ministerial positions is still particularly low, despite little progress over the last few years: in 2024, women still account for only 16.8 percent. UN Women highlights that gender inequalities persist in public and private spaces, as women and girls aged 15+ report spending 25.4 percent of their time on unpaid care and domestic work compared to only 8.9 percent for men.
Structure of parliament
The Parliament is composed of 125 deputies elected to five-year terms through a majoritarian system in single seat constituencies, and is responsible for enforcing legislative initiatives, approving the Prime Minister, and approving the State budget.
The electoral code does not include a quota for women parliamentarians.
Women's representation in parliament
As of July 2024, the Parliament of Azerbaijan has 21 women members, representing 16.8 percent of total deputies. The current Speaker, Sahiba Gafarova and the youngest member of Parliament, Sabina Khasayeva, are women. In 2020, Gafarova became the first woman Speaker of the National Assembly. The next elections will be held in 2024.
Forecast based on past trends
If changes continue at the current pace, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of improvement from 1995 to 2023 and projecting it into the future.
Forecast based on recent trends
If changes registered in the past five years continue, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of change in the past five years and projecting it into the future.
Best case forecast
If the situation improves similarly to the country performing best in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the rate of improvement from the country performing best in the region and accelerating the change with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Worst case forecast
If the situation deteriorates similarly to the country registering the worst drop in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the drop rate in the country performing worst in the region and deteriorating the situation with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Women Chairpersons of Parliament Committees
The Parliament has 15 specialized Committees on the topics of Law Policy and State-Building; Defense, Security and Counter-Corruption; Human Rights; Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology; Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising; Agrarian Policy; Social Policy; Health Care; Family and Women’s and Children’s Affairs; Youth and Sport; Public Associations and Religious Institutions; Regional Affairs; Science and Education; Culture; Foreign and Interparliamentary Relations. As of July 2024, only the chairperson of the Committee on Family, Women’s and Children’s Affairs (Hijran Kamran ghizi Huseynova) is a woman.
Structure of government
Central government
The President of Azerbaijan acts as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and the State and is the Head of the Executive branch of power. The President is also the guarantor of compliance with international agreements to which the state is a party, and has the power to cancel the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers and to dismiss the Cabinet.
The executive body comprises the Cabinet of Ministers, which is responsible for preparing a draft State budget to submit to the President; ensuring the execution of the State budget; implementing financial, economic, and social policies; supervising ministries and other central executive authorities. The Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers, as Head of Government, and is appointed by the President with consent of the National Assembly.
The current President of Azerbaijan is Ilham Aliyev, who was first elected in October 2003. The Vice President of Azerbaijan is the second-highest constitutional office in Azerbaijan, after the President. The first and current Vice President is First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. The Prime Minister of Azerbaijan is Ali Asadov, who was first elected in October 2019. Azerbaijan has not yet had a woman serve as Prime Minister or President. As of July 2024, Bahar Muradova serves as Chairperson of the State Committee on Family, Women’s and Children’s Problems.
Ministers or Cabinet Members
Bahar Muradova
Chairperson of the State Committee on Family, Women's and Children's Affairs
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a landlocked enclave of Azerbaijan, which borders Armenia, has its own Constitution, Supreme Assembly, Cabinet of Ministers and Supreme Court. The legislative branch’s Supreme Assembly (Ali Majlis) is a unicameral system, composed of members directly elected by voters of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Chairperson of the Supreme Assembly is elected from and by the Ali Majlis itself. The Cabinet of Ministers is composed of the Prime Minister, deputies, ministers and heads of other central bodies of executive power of the Autonomous Republic. Cabinet members are selected by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Ali Majlis, while the Prime Minister is proposed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and appointed by the Ali Majlis.
Local government
At the local level, the government is organized into one tier of 1607 municipalities that hold political, administrative, and financial authority over local matters. Local governments are comprised of deliberative bodies, and executive bodies. Local deliberative bodies are made up of 5-19 elected officials who form a municipal council. The head of each municipality is elected by the council itself. Municipal council members are elected using a relative majority electoral system in multi-mandate constituencies. The executive body of each municipal council is composed of the chairperson, the deputy chairperson, and the heads of executive departments. There is no gender quota at the local level government.
For more information on gender quotas adopted at the national level, visit the women in parliament section.
Structure of public administration
The central government’s roles and responsibilities include elaborating the main directions of domestic and foreign policy; protecting national security and defense; ensuring the implementation of State policy in the field of education (primary and secondary), health care, ecology, public utilities, employment, and environmental protection.
Local government bodies are responsible for approving in-house regulations of municipality; establishing local taxes and duties; approving the local budget and reporting on its implementation; approving and implementing local programmes of ecology and social and economic development.
Women’s representation as employees and decision-makers in public administration
This visualization was developed based on data provided by GIRL@University of Pittsburgh.
Data across countries and territories is not comparable. For more information about the methodology and sources used, read here.
In the field of public administration in Azerbaijan, women’s representation has remained rather consistent at the employee level but has increased significantly at the decision-making level. In 2022, women represented 29.1 percent of employees, compared to 28.6 percent in 2005. At the decision-making level, the trajectory of women’s representation shows women’s growing role in public administration, reaching as high as 36.1 percent in 2020, only to recede to 33.6 percent in 2022. This is still a remarkable increase from 2005, when women’s representation as decision-makers only measured 18.8 percent.