On March 12, the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations hosted a side-event entitled “From Equal Rights to Equal Opportunities: Countering Discrimination Affecting Women and Girls” at the United Nations Headquarters, which featured a keynote speech by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zaruhi Batoyan. The event was held on the margins of the 63th Session of the United Nations Committee on Status of Women.

The panel opened with the welcoming remarks delivered by the Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN Mher Margaryan. The list of panelists included Ms. Josie Christodoulou, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus on gender mainstreaming in foreign policy, Ms. Daniela Bas, Director, Division for Inclusive Social Development, UN DESA, Mr. Luis Mora, Chief of the Gender, Human Rights and Culture Branch, UNFPA, Ms. Susan O'Malley, Chair, NGO CSW/NY.

The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Zaruhi Batoyan in her statement stressed that Armenia is committed to support the global efforts for gender equality, enhancement of opportunities and empowerment of women in all spheres of public life, noting that women have significantly contributed to the changes that took place in spring 2018 in Armenia and to the peaceful nature of the process.

The Permanent Representative of Armenia Mher Margaryan emphasized the importance of increasing the participation and representation of women in leadership and decision-making across all areas, highlighting, in this regard, the impact of women throughout the entire process of the popular movement in Armenia. The Permanent Representative of Armenia further emphasized that, as a candidate country for the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2020-2022, Armenia is renewing its commitments to further enhance and strengthen mechanisms for empowerment of women and girls.

The meeting was attended by a large number of representatives of the UN member states, UN Secretariat, UN specialized agencies, funds and programmes, civil society and academia.