On
February 10, the inaugural session of the newly formed Public Council on
Women's Rights adjunct to the Human Rights Defender took place, titled
"Informed Woman - Protected Right".
The
Council consists of representatives of NGOs active in the field and independent
experts.
Opening
speeches were delivered by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of
Armenia, Ms. Anahit Manasyan and the UNFPA Armenia Head of Office, Ms. Lusine
Sargsyan.
The
Human Rights Defender presented the main objectives of the event, emphasizing
the importance of the Council's activities in the comprehensive discussion of
issues related to women's rights as well as their effective and appropriate
addressing.
“It
is extremely important to have platforms where not only issues related to
women’s rights are discussed, but also mechanisms will be launched that will
enable them to be addressed in a large-scale and systematic manner.
I am
convinced that, no matter how challenging it may be to speak about these
issues, we must do everything within our capacity to overcome the existing
problems in this field. Work in this field must be continuous and systematic,
otherwise it is impossible to achieve results that meet the requirements of the
modern world,” Ms. Anahit Manasyan noted.
The
Defender also stressed that effective work, particularly in sensitive areas,
cannot be carried out alone: cooperation, involvement of like-minded people and
strong partnership relations are necessary.
In
this context, Ms. Anahit Manasyan specifically emphasized the role of the UNFPA
Armenia Office as one of the most important and key partners in the field,
noting that the Fund constantly supports the protection and promotion of
women's rights, while maintaining high professional and ethical standards.
The
Defender also referred the importance of protecting and promoting the rights of
women belonging to national minorities, emphasizing the need to overcome
stereotypes as a key condition for the effective implementation of the process.
Welcoming
speeches were also delivered by the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic
of Armenia, Ms. Anna Karapetyan, and the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs,
Mr. Armen Ghazaryan. They also underscored the importance of the Council’s role
in women’s empowerment and in the prevention of violence against women.
During
the session, the council members presented the main directions of their
activities, referred a number of sectoral issues. The possibilities of
improving practical mechanisms for raising awareness of women's rights were
discussed, as well as common approaches to priority actions were outlined.
Subsequently,
the Head of the Department for Professional and Methodological Support of the
Main Directorate of Community Policing of the Police of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, Police Lieutenant Colonel Mr. Gevorg Khachatryan, and the
Chief Operations Officer at Safe YOU, Ms. Lilit Shakhulyan, presented the
results of the integration of the Safe YOU application into the system of the
Police Operational Management Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Concluding
the meeting, Ms. Anahit Manasyan expressed gratitude to international and State
partners, as well as representatives of NGOs for effective cooperation,
emphasizing that achieving sustainable and positive outcomes in the field of
women’s rights protection is possible only through joint and coordinated
efforts: “Effective protection of women’s rights is possible only in conditions
of multilateral cooperation”, the Defender noted, suggesting that the council
members submit ideas, based on which target issues will be mapped at the next
session and addressed in appropriate formats.
The
event was held within the framework of the project “Promoting the Protection of
Human Rights and Strengthening National Institutions,” co-financed by the
European Union and implemented by UNDP, UNICEF and the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA).
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