"The Ministry of Defence highly values its joint work with UNFPA and is ready to continue and deepen their cooperation", said Mr. Davit Tonoyan, First Deputy Minister of Defence, on 19 February 2015, in his opening remarks at the presentation of “Perspective of Expansion of Opportunities of Representation and Participation of Women in the Field of Defence” report. Mr. Tonoyan noted that women’s rights in the armed of forces and the issues related to the promotion of equal opportunities are included in the reform agenda of the Ministry of Defence.
In his speech, Mr. Garik Hayrapetyan, UNFPA Armenia Assistant Representative, also stressed the importance of cooperation with the MoD in the field of women empowerment and gender equality, and on behalf of UNFPA Armenia expressed readiness to actively continue the joint wiork.
Speeches were also held by Ms. Katherine Leach, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to Armenia, Mr. Tevan Poghosyan, MP, the National Executive of military and political affairs of the OSCE office in Yerevan, MoD representatives, and experts.
The presentation took place at MoD Headquarters and was attended by representatives of government, public sector, and international organizations and missions. The purpose of the meeting was to present and discuss the main findings, policy analysis and recommendations based on the assessment of perceptions and experiences of the target population on gender roles and service of women in the country’s defence sector.
The assessment was conducted in the framework of the “Supporting Integration of Gender in Defence Sector Reforms in Armenia” project. The project was implemented by International Centre for Human Development and Armenian Democratic Forum in 2014 with the support of UNFPA Armenia Country Office. Mr. Vahan Asatryan, ICHD expert, presented the findings of the assessment, together with his colleague from Armenian Democratic Forum.
The Ministry of Defence of Armenia also shared their plans for further work in this area.
