In accordance with UN General Assembly resolution 73/340, a high-level meeting (HLM) of the General Assembly will be held in New York, on 23 September 2020 in the framework of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (adopted during the Fourth World Conference on Women). The overall theme of the meeting is “Accelerating the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
A preparatory meeting was held on 21 July by the initiative of the UN General Assembly President’s office and UN-Women entity. The goal of the meeting was to spark comprehensive discussions among all the stakeholders on the high-level meeting happening in September that will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Zaruhi Batoyan, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of RA also took part in the meeting and gave a speech in the “Dialogue among Gender Equality Leaders” session.
“As you may know Armenia is chairing the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Also, on 1 July, Armenia was elected as the leader for the
“Technology and Innovation” Action Coalition formed within the The UN-led Generation Equality Forum. This is another vivid proof that Armenia commits to supporting gender equality and the global efforts towards elimination of violence against women”, said the minister.
In her speech, Batoyan also mentioned that in order to make policies more accessible for all women and girls, who repeatedly experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, it is crucial to ensure their participation at all stages.
She also recalled the military actions happening at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and drew attention to the issues all the citizens and particularly women face as a result of those.
Continuing her speech she noted, “As any other country Armenia too is fighting a pandemic these days. The role of female medical workers and their experience in this battle is priceless. However, recently there is another crucial issue in any Armenian’s agenda – the violation of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. One of the Armenian factories located near to the borderline (producing 300.000 facemasks daily) was bombarded. In a situation like this the voice of women producing masks and the voice of women wearing those to fight the pandemic should be heard not only in Armenia, but also in the international arena. I believe that if decision makers hear the voices of these women they can’t overlook the peace agenda.
The minister covered gender equality issues as well, mentioning that dialogue for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women is crucial.
“The Armenian government is determined to achieve gender equality. That determination is based on political dialogue. If the mutual trust between the stakeholders is strong, neither the government nor the civil society will back down”, she stated.
Talking about the new National Security Strategy of Armenia (developed with the direct participation of female representatives) Zaruhi Batoyan mentioned that the strategy calls for violence-free environment as a vital precondition for public solidarity.
Wrapping up her speech, she said, “The above mentioned provision was the result of collaboration and political dialogue, and now it is in the ecosystem of Armenian habitat. This is our vision of cooperation between different parties to achieve gender equality. I am positive that our experience of cooperation in this issue will become exemplary for many societies and strengthen global cooperation for the sake of all women and girls.
Source: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of RA
