Shahla Ismayil
Shahla Ismayil is Chairperson of The Women’s Association for Rational Development (WARD), a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit women’s organization founded in 2002 in Azerbaijan. WARD’s aim is to contribute to the development of Azerbaijan through women’s empowerment and equal political participation. The organisation focuses on gender equality, healthcare, economic development and peace building.
As Chairperson, Shahla Ismayil is in charge of the organisation’s main projects, fundraising and advocacy on local and international levels. Shahla Ismayil also serves as advisor at Global Fund for Women and Urgent Action Fund for Women Human Rights Protection. She is an attorney at Human Rights House Foundation and the Head of Gender Block at the National Center of Educational Technologies.
WARD is one of the few independent organisations in Azerbaijan that managed to survive the crackdown on the civil society in 2013. The organisation and its leaders have been repeatedly threatened and blackmailed because of their critical perspective on the government and human rights activities. Since August 2014, Shahla Ismayil has been subjected to searches at the border when travelling in and out of the country. In September 2015, the organisation was under investigation initiated by the Office for Serious Crimes of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As part of the investigation, the organisational and Shahla Ismayil’s personal bank accounts were frozen, while she was also banned from travelling. Even though the investigation ended in January 2016, the government still closely monitors the organisation’s activity.
The space for human rights defenders (HRDs) and NGOs has been steadily shrinking in Azerbaijan. A number of legislative amendments have been adopted in recent years that restrict the work of HRDs and put their activities under strict governmental control. The roundup of the most prominent HRDs and their subsequent trials and imprisonment indicate that Azerbaijan is well on the road towards authoritarianism, seemingly adopting a Russian-style contempt of civil society.
