Minister Mkrtchyan highlights women’s active engagement in all spheres of life

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Conference was held in Yerevan on October 25 on the sidelines of the project “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus”.

During the conference maternity protection, social protection, economic opportunities and gaps of unpaid care, as well as other issues were discussed.

In his remarks Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan stated that women’s active engagement in different spheres of public and political life, ensuring their equal participation to decision-making process and promoting gender equality is one of the key issues in the policy of the Ministry.

“Women’s economic empowerment, revealing their potential and developing professional capacities are also among the priorities of the Ministry. In this context we highly appreciate the cooperation with the United Nations in labor and social protection sector, particularly the role of Women Accelerator program in terms of promoting entrepreneurship and supporting small and medium businesses. It is being implemented in several provinces of the Republic aimed at promoting women entrepreneurship and employment in areas of high economic productivity thanks to innovative support mechanisms at ecosystem level. This allows to map the capacities and strategic goals of different role players of the ecosystem, as well as develop and introduce effective models for the promotion of entrepreneurship and employment, assessment systems, and provide research data to develop a data-based policy”, the minister stated.

He added that the function to provide support to women and children who were subject to trafficking, exploitation and domestic violence, is also under the focus of the Ministry.

With the co-financing of the government, centers providing support to the victims of domestic violence and shelters continue operating in all provinces of the Republic.