On 27 October 2017 Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan delivered a statement at a UN Security Council Open Debate on “Women, Peace and Security”. The Open Debate was dedicated to the role of women in peace, security and conflict resolution, as well as to the UN agenda on combating gender based and sexual violence.
In his statement Ambassador Mnatsakanyan underlined the importance of strengthening the link between the empowerment of women and the sustainability of peace and development, both at national, regional and international levels.
In reference to Armenia’s policies at national level, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan briefed the Council about the numerous activities and legislative initiatives of the Government aimed at equal rights and equal opportunities for women, recalling also that gender equality and empowerment of women receives considerable prominence in Armenia’s overall National Strategy and Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
He informed the Council that the Government of Armenia undertakes steps to improve the legislature on the protection of human rights and intends to setting up an inter-agency working group for the elaboration of a National Action Plan on the Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, with a view to its adoption in 2018.
In his statement the Armenian Ambassador stressed the significance of the role of civil society organisations, in particular women-led organisations in setting an environment conducive to peaceful resolution of conflicts and promoting confidence building among conflicting parties. In the context of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan noted: “Armenia consistently emphasises the importance of dialogue and confidence building. However, meaningful effort to promote such dialogue and confidence building measures is considerably undermined by a persistently flaring hate speech, intolerance, xenophobia and ethnic profiling of Armenians, glorification of hate crimes, especially led and encouraged by the political leadership in the neighbouring state, as well as violence against and imprisonment of human rights defenders, including women amongst them.” He concluded his statement with emphasis on the significant role of women as catalysts of sustainable peace.
