The Draft Shadow report was prepared by the “Armenian Young Lawyers Association” NGO (AYLA) in the framework of “Influencing the Women’s Rights Agenda” Project with financial assistance of Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
AYLA Board Member, Advocate Miss Syuzanna Soghomonyan, in the interview mentioned that it is planned to submit the document to public discussions. “This will be carried out on-line as well as through launching a series of discussions in a number of marzes and in Yerevan. The first discussion will be held tomorrow in Gavar City.”
She also added that all the articles were considered in the report, however the main focus was on 5 main issues: the property rights of women in the context of marriage, divorce and inheritance issues; women’s reproductive health rights including the sex-selective abortions where Armenia has recorded negative indicators; labor rights; women’s participation and the obligations of the RA under the International Treaties.
The discussions will be completed on 9 October. “Thus we shall have opportunity to include the opinions received as a result of the public discussions and also to further develop the report.”
The report consists of two parts: the first are the studies and revealing the problem. Whereas the second part provides clear recommendations. “Other methods were also applied. A number of interviews were conducted with the representatives of the state bodies, the responsible of the area, non-governmental and international organizations, lawyers, and advocates in around 20 state bodies,” member of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association, advocate Miss Mariam Zadoyan, legal adviser of the “Influencing the Women’s Rights Agenda” project said.
According to her a number of international conventions providing for the women’s rights, ECHR precedents, EU instructions and decisions of the European Court of Justice, RA and international legal instruments as well as international best practices were studied.
“We have tried to retrieve the best international practice and the recommendations are based on that practice and conducted trainings” our interlocutor said.
The members of the working group of Draft Shadow Report are: Advocate Mr. Karen Zadoyan, AYLA President and “Influencing the Women’s Rights Agenda” Project Manager; Mr. Carl Ulbricht, the International Expert of the Project; M. David Abgaryan, Advocate, Vice President of the AYLA, National Expert of the Project; Miss Syuzanna Soghomonyan, Advocate, AYLA Board Member, National Expert of the Project; Miss Mariam Zadoyan, Advocate, Member of the AYLA, Legal Adviser of the Project; and Miss Tatevik Manukyan, Legal Adviser of the Project.
