ARMENIA
The Republic of Armenia produced its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security in 2019 to cover the period 2019-2021.
Objectives of the Armenia 2019-2021 NAP
The objectives listed below are set out in a matrix that also includes indicators with measurement of achievement, and which ministry/department is responsible for implementation.
- Promote initiatives for the involvement of women in different sub-divisions of the Armed Forces, paying special attention to the integration of women in such sub-divisions which participate in peacekeeping missions.
- Promote cooperation between governmental bodies, women’s organisations and women affected by conflicts, in the fields of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
- Support for the introduction of the gender perspective into the framework of reforms conducted in the Police of the Republic of Armenia.
- Promote participation of women in the policy development and decision-making processes within the defence system.
- Support the social adaptation of wives to the soldiers in military units of border settlements.
- Ensure protection of women and girls from violence during conflicts, including displaced women and girls.
- Protection of social and economic rights of women and girls affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
- Prevention of gender-based violence.
- Awareness-raising and education on Resolution 1325 in the population, the military police, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee.
- Provision of socio-psychological and legal assistance to displaced women and those under risk of displacement taking into consideration the results of the assessment.
- Development of the culture of protection of women’s rights and ensuring equal opportunities within the defence system and introducing the monitoring mechanisms for its protection.
Commentary
This former member state of the Soviet Union has been an independent republic since 1991 and currently ranks 61st of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report (2023).
Armenia’s NAP is one of the few to explicitly state the provision of psychological support to women displaced by conflict as a key objective in its implementation of WPS. This likely reflects the country’s historic experiences of genocide as well as contemporary traumas associated with the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh ethnic conflict. The latter is very prominent in the Plan, dominating the objectives and measures associated with the Protection Pillar of WPS.
It is notable that gender-sensitive police reform is mentioned as an explicit objective of the Armenian NAP. Women in Armenia currently experience high rates of sexual and gender-motivated violence but increased gender-protection units in the police force could have a major impact.
Civil society involvement in development of the NAP
Monitoring and evaluation of the NAP is set to involve the input of 3 non-governmental organisations “with sufficient experience of Women, Peace, and Security”, yet no involvement of community-level women’s groups is mentioned.
UN Peacekeeping statistics
As of May 2023, Armenia contributed 2 peacekeeping personnel, neither of whom were female. As of April 2023, Armenia ranked 119th for peacekeeping contributions.
Women’s role in peacekeeping
Armenia currently contributes no women to international peacekeeping efforts although the country has recently approved draft legislation to allow women to volunteer for 6 months military service alongside male Armenians between the ages of 18 and 27 who undertake 2 years compulsory national military service. (https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-women-military-service/32374803.html ).
References and sources
An English translation of the NAP is available at: Armenia-NAP-2019-2021-unofficial-translation.pdf (wpsnaps.org)
United Nations Peacekeeping. (2023). Troop and police contributors. Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/troop-and-police-contributors
Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (May 2023) Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/05_
missions_detailed_by_country_62_may_2023.pdf
Breakdown by Breakdown by gender of Armenia’s contribution to missions (dated March 2023) is at: operational effect and women peacekeepers (un.org)
Uniformed Personnel Contributing Countries by Ranking Experts on Mission, Formed Police Units, Individual Police, Staff Officer, and Troops As of: 30/04/2023: 02-Contributions by Country (Ranking)
Global Gender Gap Report (2023) https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023/
Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty, April 2023, Armenia approves law to allow women to serve in army: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-women-military-service/32374803.html
