Sahiba Gafarova

Sahiba Ali gizi Gafarova (Sahibə Əli qızı Qafarova; born 19 March 1955) is an Azerbaijani politician and academic. She is chairwoman of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan since 2020.

Biography
Gafarova was born on March 19, 1955, in Samkhor (Shamkir). She graduated from Faculty of Russian Language and Literature of Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Russian Language and Literature and Faculty of English Philology of Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. In 1978–1981 she worked as a secondary school teacher in Shamkir. In 1981–2020 she worked as a laboratory assistant, teacher, senior teacher, associate professor, professor of Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Russian Language and Literature, dean of Western languages faculty of Western University, head of European languages department of Baku Slavic University. In 2004–2020, Gafarova worked as Vice-Rector for International Relations of Baku Slavic University. From 2006 to 2007, she was at the University of Michigan Institute for Women and Gender Studies under the US State Department's Fulbright Scholarship Program.

In 2015–2020, she served as Deputy Chairman of Committee on Family, Women and Children of National Assembly. From 2013 to 2015, she chaired the subcommittees of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Gender Equality and Racism and Xenophobia.

From 2015–2017, she was a Political Coordinator of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's "Women Free from Violence" Parliamentary Network, Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Chairman of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and IDP of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and member of the Bureau. In 2018–2020, she was the head of Azerbaijani delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. Gafarova has been a member of New Azerbaijan Party since 2004, and a deputy of 4th, 5th and 6th convocations of Milli Majlis.

Awards

 * Honored Teacher of the Republic of Azerbaijan — 14 December 2016.
 * Order "Hyzmatdaşlygy ösdürmäge goşandy üçin"