UNDP, EU and the Government of Armenia Promote Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at the Local Level

To address the challenge of gender equality in Armenia, UNDP and the European Union, in partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration, have started a project on Promoting Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities

To address the challenge of gender equality in Armenia, UNDP and the European Union, in partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration, have started a project on “Promoting Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities: Women in Local Democracy”. The initiative aims at promoting women’s participation in local elections, building capacity and knowledge of potential local female leaders, and accelerating women’s progress towards realization of their capacities.
Today, Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, Traian Hristea, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, and Vache Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, officially launched the project.
“Equal rights and equal opportunities are one of the main cornerstones of UNDP’s mandate. This timely initiative comes to support participation of females and males in the governance processes and decision-making in the context of growing civic activism in Armenia. Within three dimensions – women empowerment, strengthening the local government and promotion of gender equality – we will outreach to main stakeholders – citizens of Armenia, Government, civil society and media,” said Dafina Gercheva in her welcoming remarks.
“The European Union is committed to equality between men and women, which is one of our founding values. We believe that by promoting the representation of women in decision-making positions, this project will support a better gender balance and will lead to significant long-term benefits for Armenia, including more innovation, productivity and sustainable development,” noted Ambassador Hristea.
Since its independence in 1991, Armenia has ratified over 50 Conventions and other international legal instruments reaffirming its commitment to promote equality between women and men, including equal representation of women in decision and policy-making processes. The draft law “On State Guarantees of Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women” is at present pending approval of the Parliament, and the 2011-2015 Gender Policy Strategic Action Plan of the Republic of Armenia came into force on 20 May 2011.
Policy changes, however, are translating into real life slowly. Currently, the level of women’s representation and meaningful participation in governance and decision-making continues to stay low. Women comprise 11 percent of the MPs and the Ministers, while there are no female Governors and City Mayors, and none of the 12 communities of Yerevan have female leaders or deputies. The gender situation is further aggravated by low public awareness, widespread gender stereotypes and the confusion of gender equality with feminism. Widespread stereotypes on the role and the position of women and men in society seriously impede women’s engagement and prevent many of them from taking a more proactive position, especially in rural areas. Overall, women’s potential remains widely underused and undervalued, thereby having an adverse impact on the country’s prospects for attaining sustainable development and social justice.
The three-year project will support the participation of women in local elections, as well as apply a number of innovative methods, techniques and gender transformative programmes, thus reducing gender-specific constraints that women face in social and economic decision-making processes in Armenia. The European Union has allocated 525,000 Euro to the initiative.

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