The
high-level international conference titled ‘Effective Defence and Security:
Advancing Women’s Meaningful Participation in Armenia’s Armed Forces and
Beyond’ is ongoing in Yerevan.
During
the conference, Armine Margaryan, Founder and President of the Women and Global
Security Architecture (WGSA), presented a report entitled “From Policy to
Practice: Integrating the Women, Peace and Security Agenda into Armenia’s
Defense and Security Reforms: Oversight, Accountability and Effective
Security.”
This
was followed by thematic panel discussions. The first panel addressed Armenia’s
strategic program for implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the
progress recorded, and the key issues for upcoming discussion. The discussion
was attended by Lilit Makunts, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of the
Republic of Armenia, Karine Sujayan, Head of the Department of Human Rights and
Humanitarian Issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of RA, Hrayr Hovakimyan,
Head of the Human Rights and Integrity Building Center of the Ministry of
Defense of the Republic of Armenia; Major Armine Grigoryan, Commander of the
Women’s Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and Ms.
Gulnara Shahinian, President of the “Democracy Today” NGO.
The
panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Knarik Mkrtchyan, Armenia Coordinator of
the “Building Resilience Across the Eastern Neighbourhood” Program of the
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).
The
second panel focused on “Harnessing International Best Practices for Promoting
WPS Agenda in Armenia: Women’s Meaningful Participation in the Armed Forces”.
The discussion was attended by by H.E. Andrew Turner, Ambassador of Canada to
the Republic of Armenia, Lieutenant
Colonel Fiona (Jill) Rogers of the UK Ministry of Defence, Charlotte Isaksson,
Senior Gender Advisor to the Minister of Defence of the Swedish Armed Forces,
Colonel Ekaterine Kharashvili, Head of the Defense Resources Management and
Programs Division of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, Colonel Ekaterine
Kharashvili, as well as Ekaterine Gamakharia, representative of Women's Fund
"Sukhumi". The discussion was moderated by Ms. Karin Fueg, Senior
Advisor for the South Caucasus of the WPS program.
The event
was organized in cooperation with the NATO Liaison Office, the Human Rights
Defender of the Republic of Armenia, and UN Women.
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