A meeting with Head of the OSCE Office in Baku Bilge Cankorel was held Friday in the Azerbaijan State Committee on Family, Woman and Children Affairs. Members of Milli Majlis and NGOs representatives attended the meeting where discussions focused on Azerbaijan`s draft law “On the Prevention of Domestic Violence”.

Chairperson of the Committee Hijran Huseynova briefed the participants on the outcomes of UN discussions on the forth periodic report of Azerbaijan on gender equality. She noted the Organization praised what the Azerbaijani government had done to fight discrimination against women.

Huseynova underlined the necessity of drawing up and passing the bill “On the prevention of domestic violence” soon. She also expressed confidence that UN relevant structures` assistance in drawing up the bill would yield positive results.

Touching upon the bilateral cooperation, Huseynova expressed hope that Cankorel would spare no efforts to contribute to enhancing it. For his part, Cankorel said he supports the adoption of the bill “On prevention of domestic violence”, as violence against women concerns the whole world. She also pointed out his Office was keen on cooperation with the Committee.

Deputy Chairman of Milli Majlis legislative department on State building Jeyhun Garajayev said OSCE`s recommendations are taken into consideration while working on the draft law “On prevention of domestic violence”.

Chairwoman of Parliament`s Committee on Human Rights Rabiyyat Aslanova said the bill must highlight enlightenment issues, as putting in place punishment measures only is ineffective sometimes.