On
April 9, the Office of the Human Rights Defender officially launched the
process of implementing the Gender Equality Seal (GES) for public institutions.
The
process of implementing the Gender Equality Seal (GES) is being officially
launched for the first time in the Republic of Armenia, and the Human Rights
Defender's Office is the first national human rights institution that will pass
the evaluation for the introduction of the seal.
Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan's written message was presented at the official
opening event. Anahit Manasyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Natia
Natsvlishvili, Resident Representative of UNDP in Armenia, and John Gallagher,
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia, made opening remarks.
The
Gender Equality Seal is a specially developed methodology that aims to support
government bodies to enshrine the gender equality provisions of the 2030 United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5 (SDG 5) in domestic legal acts by
adopting gender-sensitive approaches when implementing mandates. The main goal
of all this is to promote the equality of women and men through the improvement
of the state system.
The
Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan especially emphasized that without these
approaches it is impossible to have a united and tolerant environment.
"Guarantee
of equality is one of the main directions of our work. Our activities aimed at
ensuring and promoting gender equality, including public awareness on the
equality of women and men and the improvement of legislation in the field, are
of an ongoing nature. Within the framework of the annual report of the Human
Rights Defender, a great deal of space was devoted to issues related to the
provision of equality and the prohibition of discrimination," Anahit
Manasyan stated in the opening speech.
The
protection of women's rights and the elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women are important directions of the Human Rights Defender's work. In
this field, the activity of the Defender is carried out both by restoring the
violated rights of women in individual cases or by preventing possible
violations, as well as by eliminating the reasons that violate women's rights
at the systemic level. From this viewpoint, the Public Council on Women's
Rights adjunct to the Defender has a very important role.
Anahit
Manasyan expressed hope that the Office of the Human Rights Defender will serve
as a positive example for the strengthening of the work carried out in the
direction of gender equality and the development of women's abilities in other
state institutions, especially in the implementation of the process of GES and
the implementation of institutional reforms.
High-ranking
officials of the executive power, the Supreme Judicial Council, representatives
of local self-government bodies, diplomats accredited in RA, representatives of
international organizations, non-governmental organizations participated in the
event.
The
Gender Equality Seal is funded by the Good Governance Foundation of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the framework of the UNDP
Women in Politics, Public Administration and Civil Society programme.
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