Justice Ministry of Armenia starts new stage of cooperation with UNICEF

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS: Justice Minister of Armenia Hovhannes Manukyan received today a delegation headed by Ms. Marie-Pierre Poirier, the UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of the Independent States.

Hovhannes Manukyan highly assessed the current level of the cooperation with UNICEF and expressed readiness to cooperate in issues of mutual interest, Justice Ministry’s press service informed Armenpress.

Marie-Pierre Poirier noted that among the organization’s goals is to ensure access to justice for children. “There are interesting shifts in Armenia in that regard. Improvement of the statistics of teenagers in penitentiary institutions is its vivid testimony. As compared to other countries, Armenia has registered a notable achievement,” said the UNICEF representative.

She expressed readiness to cooperate in the direction of developing community justice centers. “The practice shows that the 86 % of the juveniles passed through those centers successfully reintegrate into society and commit no more offences” Ms. Marie-Pierre Poirier said.

Wrapping up the meeting, the sides agreed to cooperate in the direction of capacity building and strengthening of Armenian Justice Ministry’s Rehabilitation Center for People who Committed Criminal Offences.