Women Forward Azerbaijan

A regional women's economic empowerment initiative · Azerbaijan · 2024–2026

Women Forward Azerbaijan

A two-year programme that helped women in smaller cities and rural communities turn skills they already had into income they could plan around. It combined field research, four learning pathways, hands-on modules built around each woman's own work, and twelve weeks of follow-up support.

Implemented by the “Innovative Progress and Ecology” Public Union for Support of Socio-Economic Development · Youth co-leads Jamal Naghizade and Leyla Nakhchivani

420
women registered
18
communities
5
regions
82.6%
completed the full programme

The problem

Skills were there. The path to income was not.

Many women in Azerbaijan's regions have real professional, craft, agricultural and service skills. What they often lack are the practical tools to turn those skills into steady income.

Barriers named by participants

  • Little knowledge of cost calculation and pricing
  • Limited access to digital tools
  • Weak connections to markets and customers
  • No structured financial records
  • Low confidence when presenting their work

The aim was to build and test a regional model rather than run one more general entrepreneurship course. Participants were treated as partners: their experience, constraints and feedback shaped how the programme changed over time.

Map of the 18 communities Map to be added

Needs assessment

We listened before we designed.

Before writing a single module, the team ran a structured needs assessment across all five regions.

420
questionnaires completed
126
individual interviews
18
regional focus groups
27
consultations with local entrepreneurs, educators and community representatives

The research found three different starting points, not one group:

  • Strong practical skills, but had never sold a product
  • Occasional customers, but no way to calculate costs or record income
  • Small-scale activity already running, but without the tools or connections to grow it

Key finding

Most women priced their work by the cost of materials alone. Their own working time, transport, packaging and customers' repeated revisions were left out. The team redesigned the training plan and added a dedicated module on the value of labour and full-cost pricing.

Illustrative example

What full-cost pricing changes

A hand-embroidered table runner. Switch each cost on or off to see how the price changes. The figures are illustrative and are not project data.

Full cost of the selected items

60 AZN

35 AZN of real cost is not covered by the 25 AZN price.

Methodology

Six stages, from first assessment to local ownership

Select a stage to see what it involved.

Each participant was assessed in eight areas. The results set her starting point and decided her learning pathway.

  • A marketable skill, product or service
  • Understanding of costs
  • Setting and explaining a price
  • Income and expense records
  • Communicating with customers
  • Presenting a product or service
  • Using digital sales channels
  • Confidence in independent economic decisions

Four learning pathways

Idea Development

Has a skill but has not yet defined a product or service.

First Market Entry

Preparing to offer a product or service to customers for the first time.

Business Stabilization

Has sales experience but no consistent pricing, records or customer system.

Community Mentorship

Experienced participants who support other women in their communities.

Outcomes

Measured by what changed, not by how many events were held.

Participants took the same assessment at the start and at the end. Monitoring tracked behaviour: calculating costs, keeping records, presenting work, receiving orders and making repeat sales.

Before and after the programme

Average practical-readiness score 4.1 / 5was 2.0
Could explain the full cost structure 78%was 16%
Kept systematic financial records 69%was 12%
Used a digital channel professionally 74%was 21%

The thin line marks the level before the programme.

Participation and reach

IndicatorResult
Registered participants420
Communities / regions18 / 5
Completed the full cycle347 (82.6%)
Prepared structured product or service descriptions286
Created digital catalogues or professional pages251
Documented offerings1,150+
Received a first confirmed order through a new channel173
Made three or more consecutive sales96
Formed new local partnerships64

Sources: registration records, attendance records, completed assignments, coordinator reports, interviews and follow-up assessments.

Project catalogue

More than 1,150 documented offerings

Participants documented their products and services with clear descriptions and visual presentation. The shared project catalogue is not yet published online; a selection will appear here.

Photo to be added
Handicrafts and handmade goods
Photo to be added
Agricultural and food products
Photo to be added
Services
Photo to be added
Professional work

What we learned

Incomplete cases were part of the evaluation.

The team studied why some women stopped or could not use certain tools, and used those cases to change the programme.

Barriers we documented

  • Limited internet access
  • Family and caregiving responsibilities
  • Transport difficulties
  • Too little time to take part
  • Differences in literacy and digital experience
  • Uneven access to local markets

Nine documented revisions

  • Long theoretical sessions replaced with shorter applied workshops
  • Written instructions supplemented with visual and voice-based materials
  • One common curriculum split into four pathways
  • Peer support added for women with limited digital experience
  • Repeat sales added as an indicator of lasting market activity
  • A dedicated module on safe customer communication
  • Cost-calculation exercises using participants' own products
  • An anonymous feedback channel
  • A community-mentor pathway for experienced participants

The programme did not treat entrepreneurship as a universal solution. It gave women better information for their own decisions.

Continuity

Built to continue without the central team

30
regional coordinators and community mentors trained
24
practical sessions delivered independently
11
communities reached by local coordinators

The implementation package

  • Baseline-assessment materials
  • Participant-segmentation guidelines
  • Plans for all 36 modules
  • Individual development-plan templates
  • Two-week monitoring tools
  • Participant feedback forms
  • Data-protection guidance
  • Referral procedures
  • A standard reporting format

Youth project leads

Two co-leads, two halves of the work

Jamal Naghizade

Youth Co-Lead for Strategy, Monitoring and Impact Analysis

Helped design the baseline and final assessments, defined measurable indicators and built the monitoring system used to compare progress across pathways. He insisted on separating activity from impact: success meant observable changes in participants' behaviour, not counts of events. He consolidated data from the regional teams and helped build the replication package for 30 coordinators.

420
participants' data consolidated
4
pathways co-designed
30
coordinators given monitoring tools

Leyla Nakhchivani

Youth Co-Lead for Field Research, Programme Design and Participant Engagement

Kept the programme grounded in participants' real circumstances. She coordinated and conducted interviews and focus groups, turned the findings into the structure of the 36 modules, argued for working with participants' own products instead of generic exercises, and supported visual and voice-based materials. During the support period she coordinated communication with participants and helped set up the anonymous feedback channel.

78/126
interviews conducted personally
11/18
focus groups moderated
57/94
individual consultations

Leyla's work kept the programme listening to the communities it served. Jamal's work made it possible to show what actually changed. The organization credits the project's results to the combined work of participants, regional coordinators, invited experts, community partners, staff and the youth team.

Contact

Get in touch

For questions about the project, its methodology or its results:

Implementing organization

“Innovative Progress and Ecology” Public Union for Support of Socio-Economic Development

Working since 2017 on human development, local initiatives, social inclusion and environmental responsibility.

Address
Caspian Plaza, building 2, 5th floor, 44 Jafar Jabbarli St., Baku