When a crowd of around 70 people listened to Aytekin Verdiyeva make an impassioned speech in August 2012 on women’s leadership in Azerbaijan, no one could have guessed it was her first public oration. Her feelings seemed to overwhelm her as she made her first speech as a government official.
In Baku, Azerbaijan, a woman (name withheld to protect identity) recounted how she was deceived and entrapped with an offer of “good employment” in a neighboring country. Upon arrival at her new job, she was forced into prostitution for six months.
Hamid Mikayilov owns Girkhbulag Trout Farm, located just outside the city of Sheki, in rural Azerbaijan. Over 40 percent of the country's population makes its livelihood from agribusiness, yet agriculture comprises only 6 percent of its GDP.
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan is working hard to modernize the country's financial sector. In 2009, an important milestone was achieved when USAID assisted it in drafting legislation that met international standards in combatting serious financial crime. The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism bill was successfully passed and established a Financial Monitoring Service (FMS) that was charged with enforcing the new financial sector requirements.
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