Women’s Role Has Not Risen

In Armenia, women are almost not represented in state and local governmental bodies.  They have no opportunity to make decisions or express their will. This opinion was expressed yesterday by women representatives of parties and NGOs, members of the “Women’s Union.” They once more declared that the role of women in public and political life in our country has declined.. However, the women were full of determination and ready to struggle for power. As Alvard Petrosyan, female parliamentarian, mentioned, “Each sphere is very inharmonious without a woman’s participation, and if we won’t try to appear by our own initiative, no one will invite us.” Recently, the Government has worked out a strategy on raising the women’s role. When we asked whether any changes have taken place after that and to what extent women are involved in public and political programs, representatives of the “Women’s Union” said: “There have been no changes and the number of women in both legislative and executive bodies has not increased so far.”

L.Amirbekyan

Published in: “Aravot” (http://www.aravot.am), #114/2733, 22 June 2006 (Unofficial translation)