Armenia

Despite the introduction of a quota to ensure women make up 20 per cent of Armenia’s parliament, the reform has failed to have much effect, with only half that percentage winning seats in the May 6 election.

A gender quota law for political parties is putting more women on the ballot in the May 12 elections in Armenia, where only seven women serve in Parliament. Observers say women are now playing a wider role in local politics

Public opinion polls show 46.6% of respondents believe Armenian women are discriminated, while 41.1% disagree with this opinion, said head of Caucasus Research Center while presenting a “Survey on Gender Dimension of Civic and Political Participation in Armenia”.

A group of women intelligentsia has initiated a daily silent sit-in at Yerevan’s central Liberty Square, which according to its organizers, is the logical continuation of Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian’s 15-day hunger strike staged in the same location last month. 

Public opinion polls show 46.6% of respondents believe Armenian women are discriminated, while 41.1% disagree with this opinion, said head of Caucasus Research Center.

Over 150 women leaders from civil society, government, academia, and political parties convened in Yerevan on May 18 for a two-day conference organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and USAID, with support from the British Embassy and the United Nation

U.S.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan calls on all political forces to include more women in the list of candidates standing for parliamentary election.