A panel meeting was held within the project "Improved food security and rural livelihoods through women´s economic empowerment (WEP)"

Opening the event with a speech, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ilhama Gadimova highlighted that raising productivity in the agricultural sector and increasing the employment level of women in the agricultural industry are the main goals of the project: "To ensure the stability and sustainability of WEP, in the next stage, with the close cooperation of state institutions, women in the agricultural sector will be its activity will be supported by a comprehensive approach. As the Ministry of Agriculture, we are interested in increasing the economic power of women in the agricultural sector in cooperation with international and local institutions. This is one of our future activities."

Bariz Mehdiyev, Deputy Head of the Partnership and Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Azerbaijan, noted that this project was successfully implemented due to cooperation with various government agencies implementation of this project. Hijran Huseynova, Chairman of the Family, Women and Children's Affairs Committee of the Milli Majlis, said that the project plays a vital role in terms of increasing the role of women in public life, protecting gender equality, increasing the participation of female farmers, entrepreneurs and female leaders in the creation of sustainable agricultural and food security systems. Sadagat Gahramanova, the deputy chairman of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, expressed her confidence that increasing the activity of women in the agricultural sector will make essential contributions to the development of the agricultural industry.

Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA), said that the importance of women's entrepreneurship in our country is increasing day by day. The head of KOBIA reported on measures taken to promote the development of women's entrepreneurship in various fields, including the agricultural sector, and to increase further the number of women among small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Agency, Mustafa Abbasbeyli, noted that agriculture plays a vital role in ensuring employees in the regions and drew attention to the importance of women acquiring different professions and adapting to the labour market.

Deputy Executive Director of the Youth Fund Azerbaijan, Orkhan Arabov, stressed that they are ready to support increasing women's participation in the agricultural sector and the expansion of women's entrepreneurship in the regions. Leyla Jabbarli, deputy chairman of the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency and national coordinator of the WEP project, touched on the work done within the framework of the "WEP" project. They presented the measures planned to ensure the stability and sustainability of the project.

The meeting continued with panel discussions.