Breaking Barriers to Women’s Employment in Azerbaijan

This report explores the key issues relating to women’s employment in Azerbaijan and offers recommendations to policymakers and companies for tackling gender-based occupational segregation in the labor market and increasing women’s participation in sectors where they are underrepresented. The report specifically examines gender gaps within the transport sector, presenting the findings of gender assessments conducted for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) and International Trade and Sea Port of Baku (PoB) as part of the World Bank’s Strengthening women’s human capital for their better labor market outcomes 2023-2024 initiative within the European Union (EU)-funded Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF). The insights and recommendations presented in this report are relevant to a broad range of stakeholders committed to fostering equal opportunity in the workplace and strengthening women’s human capital in Azerbaijan and beyond, including policymakers and companies in transport and other male-dominated sectors. They are particularly pertinent to large male-dominated organizations in the early stages of formulating their gender strategies and undergoing significant modernization efforts within transport and related fields.