His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians expressed concerns over the issue of prenatal sex selection at the "Family, Society, and the Church: Contemporary Challenges" conference that took place at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, on September 12, 2014. The same concerns were repeatedly voiced by all the parties at the conference including high ranking representatives of the Armenian executive and legislative powers.
Three years ago UNFPA Armenia for the first time raised the issue of prenatal sex selection in the country and worked day by day advocating for its acknowledgment and actions taken against this bitter practice. Today the issue is acknowledged and acted against not only by the Media and a large alliance of non-governmental and international organizations, but also by the highest secular and religious powers in the country.
The conference was organized by the Office of Religious Conceptual Affairs of the Holy See with the support of World Vision Armenia, the WCC Round Table Charitable Foundation, and UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund. It was chaired by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Director of the Office of Religious Conceptual Affairs of the Holy See, Mr. Ara Babloyan, Chair of the Health Care, Maternity and Childhood Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia, Mr. Sergey Khachatryan, Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Zhirayr Edilyan, Head of World Vision Armenia, and Mr. Garik Hayrapetyan, UNFPA Armenia Assistant Representative. The conference was attended by clerics, academics, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and international organizations. The purpose of the conference was to comprehensively examine and evaluate the role of the Church in the lives of people in terms of thinking, historical background, and current challenges particularly in the field of reproductive health and rights.
In his opening speech, His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan addressed the conference participants and stressed the importance of family in the area of reproductive health and rights. He also expressed the position of the Armenian Church towards the current challenges and issues in that sphere.
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians blessed the participants and expressed his appreciation to the organizers. In his speech he said that the Church has always valued the integrity, sanctity and importance of the family for our people, considering it an indispensable pillar for preservation of spiritual and moral values and establishment and development of a healthy public identity.
Catholicos also expressed his concerns over the raised rates of divorce, negative demographic changes, and health of families. “Today it has become a necessity to promote family health and increase public awareness at all levels and platforms, through conferences like this, church advocacy, large and small discussions, family support programs, public awareness and state legislative initiatives”, said His Holiness Karekin II.
In his adress to the participants, Garik Hayrapetyan, UNFPA Assistant Representative underlined the importance of the faith based organizations, in particular the Armenian Church, in helping the people of Armenia to overcome population and development challenges, in particular those related to reproductive health, domestic violence, etc. He also touched upon the issue of prenatal sex selection in Armenia stressing that when UNFPA started working on this issue we could only dream of such a coalition and support.
Mr. Hayrtapetyan also made a separate presentation on the issue of prenatal sex selection in Armenia.
The conference was widely covered by the media.
Media coverage
