Women’s Rights and Opportunities in the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia

Today is the day of the Constitution, the basic law of the country. It defines the most basic principles, values and ideas of society, practical application and strengthening of which the state should seek for.

What principles and solutions does the Constitution of Armenia provide for women’s rights and opportunities? It should be noted that new articles on women’s rights have been added in the amended Constitution introduced in December 2015, which are included in the second chapter entitled “Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen”.

Experts estimate that the constitution is based on not only the idea of ​​establishing mechanisms for equality of rights of women and men, but also the creation of equal rights, which creates a problem of equal opportunities. Thus, if Article 30 stipulates the equality of rights of women and men, the necessity of equality of opportunity appears in Article 86, when promoting “equality between women and men” as the main goal of state policy. In this regard, it is highlighted in the Constitution that the government must report to the National Assembly every year and reflect on the mechanisms that it has created for the de facto implementation of fundamental rights.

By the way, in this context, the importance of the RA Law “On Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men” is highlighted, which was adopted in 2013, but has not been mentioned and used so far in the law-enforcement practice. Measures to enforce the law have been restricted by the RA Prime Minister’s decision of 2013 on “Monitoring the State Program on Gender Equality and Approval of the Information Exchange Procedure”. Let’s also note that instead of the strategic program of the 2011-2015 gender policy of the Republic of Armenia completed in 2015 a new program has not yet been adopted. At the same time, the government’s program 2017-2022 contains a gender-oriented approach to all socio-economic programs.

Full text in Armenian