On November 19, at the 46th Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie convened in Kigali, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Robert Abisoghomonyan participated and delivered remarks at the discussion entitled "30 Years after the Beijing Conference: The Contribution of Women in the Francophone World".

In his remarks, the Deputy Foreign Minister particularly noted:

“Madam President, 

Madam Secretary General,

Excellencies, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude to the Republic of Rwanda for its warm hospitality.

The 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women provides an important opportunity to take stock of progress achieved, to discuss the remaining challenges and the ways to overcome them. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action continue to serve as essential guiding frameworks for the full realization of the rights of women and girls and for advancing their participation across all spheres of public life. It is encouraging that, over the years, these frameworks have been complemented by other significant initiatives and our Organization has not remained apart from this process.

Following the Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie held in Yerevan in 2018, the Strategy for gender equality and the promotion of rights and empowerment of women and girls was adopted, reiterating our commitment in this regard, while also underscoring the importance of implementing targeted initiatives by La Francophonie.  

I would like to reaffirm Armenia’s commitment to the protection of women’s rights and the promotion of women’s leadership. The efforts undertaken have resulted in a notable increase in both the quantitative and qualitative participation of women across various spheres of governance in Armenia. Women currently comprise 30% of the members of the Government. For the first time in our history, we have a woman serving as Minister of Internal Affairs and a woman Prosecutor General. The newly established Foreign Intelligence Service of Armenia is also headed by a woman, as is the Office of the Human Rights Defender.

The number of women Members of Parliament in the National Assembly of Armenia has also been steadily increasing over the years, currently exceeding 36%.

Armenia actively advances the Women, Peace and Security agenda both internationally and at the national level. We have already finalized the work on Armenia’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. The Plan, entitled “Contributing to Global Efforts for Securing Peace”, reaffirms the importance of the peace agenda, including through the implementation of commitments undertaken within the Women, Peace and Security framework.

Excellencies,

Women play an essential role in peacebuilding, in overcoming the consequences of conflicts and in restoring an atmosphere of trust and advancing reconciliation processes. As you are aware, on August 8, in Washington, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the United States signed a Joint Declaration, and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan initialled the Peace Agreement between our two countries. This marked the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, bringing an end to a long-standing conflict. It also created an opportunity to engage societies, including civil society and women’s organizations, in post-conflict recovery and confidence-building efforts.

In speaking about the full realization of women’s potential, it is essential to highlight the need for capacity-building and ensuring the fundamental right to education.

In this vein, we place great importance on the “La Francophonie avec Elles’’ programme established on the initiative of the Secretary General of La Francophonie. Launched in the midst of the global health crisis to support women, the programme has demonstrated its effectiveness and relevance and remains in operation today. I welcome the fact that, for the first time since its creation, two Armenian civil society organizations have become beneficiaries of the programme, with their projects aimed at supporting women, including displaced women, through education, training and the development of essential skills.

In conclusion, it is with satisfaction that I note that we will be adopting a rather ambitious document - the Kigali Call - which also obliges us to redouble our individual and collective efforts to translate it into tangible results.

I thank you.”