Along with the rest of the world, Azerbaijan has seen an increasingly active participation of fathers and other family members in family health issues in recent years. The importance of moral and physical support provided by men, as well as the early connection between fathers and their children before birth, is already based on irrefutable evidence. The World Health Organization recommends the active involvement of men during pregnancy, childbirth, as well as during the care of newborns.
In this regard, Azerbaijan, with the support of the European Union, has launched the project "Organization of work with men during pregnancy and childbirth” within the framework of the program "European Union for Gender Equality: against gender stereotypes and gender violence", implemented by the UN Population Fund and the UN Agency for Women. The project was implemented by the public Association of Social Initiatives "Ümidli Gələcək" at the Center for Public Health and Reforms of the Ministry of Health (MH), the Azerbaijan Medical Institute (AMI) and is carried out in close cooperation with the Azerbaijan State Advanced Training Institute for Doctors named after A. Aliyev.
The main goal of the project is to encourage the participation of family doctors, obstetricians-gynecologists, obstetricians-gynecologists, neonatologists and pediatricians involved in maternal and child health during pregnancy, childbirth and child care, as well as the participation of fathers in extensive sanitary and educational work. In order to coordinate the implementation of activities related to the project, a working group was created consisting of representatives of the Central Research Institute, AMU, AGIUV and the “Ümidli Gələcək" group, as well as independent experts.
Within the framework of the project, on December 6-8, 2021, a 3-day training course on family planning, antenatal care, perinatal and dependent care, and newborn care was conducted for 25 healthcare workers and medical workers. Associate professors of the Department of Pediatrics of our Institute Matanat Karakhanova and Nigar Hajiyeva took part in the training as trainers. They made presentations on the risks and emerging problems in men's participation in the care and support of children and pregnant women, as well as on appropriate strategies and responses to address these problems. Materials to be prepared on the basis of the training course “ecourses.az " an electronic course will be developed, which will be posted on a web platform and is constantly available.
It should be noted that the program is aimed at strengthening equal rights and opportunities for women and men by eliminating stereotypes and gender-based violence regarding the roles of men and women in the family and society. The program is implemented at the regional level in six countries - Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine.