RA Local Government 2020: Dynamics of women’s participation / Infographic

The number of women leaders in the community in Armenia registered a slight increase in 2020 compared to 2019. If in 2019, 8 out of 502 communities were headed by women (1.6%), in 2020 the number of women-led communities increased by one to 9 or 1.8%.

Infographic 1

LSG – 2020

Women among the community heads

As of 2016

17 out of 793 were headed by women

As of 2020

Only 9 out of 502 communities are headed by women

Women heads in:

Araraet region  – Verin Dvin (Petrova Liudmila),

Armavir region – Artamet (Anahit Davtyan), Arevashat (Susanna Gevorgyan), Vagharshapat (Diana Gasparyan),

Gegharquniq region – Geghaqar (Karine Martirosyan),

Lori Region – Bazum (Srbuhi Harutyunyan), Qaradzor (Hranush Rostomyan),

Kotayk region  – Nor Yerznka (Alina Harutyunyan),

Shirak region –  Amasia  (Jemma Harutyunyan).

By the way:

There are no female community leaders in 4of the 10 regions of the republic  (Aragatsotn, Tavush, Vayots Dzor, and Syunik).

Only 1 out of 46 communities with urban settlements is headed by a woman ( Vagharshapat).

Only 1 out of 52 enlarged communities is headed by a woman (Amasia).

Only 22 out of 409 are headed by women (5,4%).

According to the official data provided by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Karadzor community of Lori region joined the list of communities led by women last year. At the moment, the communities with female leaders are:

Verin Dvin in Ararat region, (Petrova Lyudmila),

Vagharshapat in Armavir region, (Diana Gasparyan)

Arevshat (Susanna Gorgoryan),

Artamet (Anahit Davtyan),

Geghaqar in Gegharkunik region (Karine Martirosyan),

Bazum of Lori region (Srbuhi Harutyunyan),

Karadzor (Hranush Rostomyan),

Nor Yerznka in Kotayk region, (Alina Harutyunyan),

The enlarged Amasia in Shirak region (Jemma Harutyunyan).

There are no female community leaders in four of the ten regions of the republic  – Aragatsotn, Tavush, Vayots Dzor, and Syunik.

It should be noted that only rural communities are headed the women, only one of the 46 urban communities in the country is headed by a woman, Etchmiadzin, and this is the first time that a female head has been elected in an urban community.

Today, there are 52 united communities in Armenia, and only one of them, the head of the Amasia community in the Shirak region, is a woman. At the same time, among the administrative heads of 409 settlements in the enlarged communities – 22 are women, but the scope of authority of this position, according to the law, is much more limited than in the case of the head of the community. In addition, the administrative head is appointed and the head of the community is elected.

Observing the number of women leaders in the last twenty years, it can be stated that the changes in this regard have been very insignificant. And if we continue to move forward at the current pace, it will take at least half a century for the number of women in local government to reach at least 10%.

Infographic 2

Dynamics of women’s representation in LSG – 2020

Community council members

Community heads

According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, 392 or 10.7% of the 3,668 members of the Council of Elders of Armenia’s communities are women. Compared to the previous year, this indicator increased slightly, in 2019 it was 9.3%. For comparison, in 2016, the representation of women in the Council of Elders was 11.7%.

Among the Council of Elders, women are mostly represented in Lori (16%), Ararat (14%), and Armavir (13%). The least represented are Gegharkunik (3%), Shirak (5%) and Vayots Dzor (6%). In Kotayk և Tavush, women are represented in the Council of Elders by 9%, in Syunik և in Aragatsotn by 7%.

Inforgraphic 3

LSG -2020

Women among community council members

In 502 Commmunities of RA 392 out of 3668 members are women.

89,3 % men   and 10,7 % women

There are no women community council members in 275 out of 502 communities.

Of concern is the fact that 275 out of 502 communities in Armenia do not have women.

The decline in the number of women in the Council of Elders is linked to the process of community enlargement, which has led to increased competition in the elections and other obstacles, and the chances of women being elected are declining.

The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure has come up with a legislative initiative to amend a number of other laws in the Electoral Code to prevent the reduction of women’s representation in local self-government, according to which it is proposed to make a transition to community council proportional electoral system in communities with more than 4,000 voters or up to 4000. The authors of the amendments substantiate that in this way, at the legislative level, competitive conditions will be provided for the representative body of the community, broad political involvement and the balance of power will be ensured.

The transition to the proportional electoral system means that the gender quota enshrined in the Electoral Code will work, that is. The number of representatives of each sex in any three-digit number (1-3, 1-6, 1-9 and so on until the end of the list) starting from the 1st number of each electoral list of each of the parties included in the “Party (Party Alliance)” bloc should not exceed 70 percent. ” The draft was approved at the government sitting, passed to a certain stage of preliminary discussions. It is expected that after the adoption of the bill by the RA National Assembly, the number of women in local self-governments will not only keep from decreasing but also will increase. Earlier local elections were held in Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor.

Infographic 4

Women in community councils elected according to proportional electoral system

Gyumri Community Council

8 out of 33 council members are women (24%)

Vanadzor Community Council

8 out of 33 council members are women (24%)

Yerevan Council

21 out of 65 members are women (32%).