AWA UK was established in October 2017 with an aim to connect Azerbaijani women living in the UK and to provide a social forum to reinvigorate their Azerbaijani networks.
It was founded by Mrs. Ulviyya Taghizadeh, whose husband served as Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the UK until 2021. She is currently Honorary President of the organisation.
Activities of AWA UK include networking activities, cultural gatherings, mentoring programmes and fundraising events, both in Azerbaijan and the UK — bringing together women who are "so different, but united."
Born in Baku, Ulviyya worked at Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy in Prague before moving to London as the spouse of Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the UK (2014–2021). She organised charity events through diplomatic networks in the Czech Republic and Britain, volunteered with gender-awareness initiatives, and served on diplomatic and educational committees in London, alongside NHS blood donation and cancer research fundraising. She received a Westminster volunteer recognition, co-created a fitness programme and authored a parenting curriculum — before founding AWA UK in October 2017.
