CE Commissioner for Human Rights published the report of her visit to  Armenia  in September 2018

ArmInfo.Today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, published the report of her visit to Armenia carried out in September 2018. The report focuses on women's rights, gender equality and domestic  violence; the human rights of disadvantaged or vulnerable groups; and  accountability for past human rights violations, the press service of  the Council of Europe reports.

Finding that women in Armenia remain significantly underrepresented  in public decision-making, the Commissioner urges the authorities to  ensure women's full and effective participation, as well as equal  opportunities for leadership at all levels of public life, equal pay  and equal access to the labour market. In order to counter the  persisting discriminatory gender stereotypes, Commissioner Mijatovic  recommends raising public awareness and promoting gender equality,  especially through education.  To build on the considerable  improvements to Armenia's legislation against domestic violence, the  Commissioner recommends ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on  preventing and combating violence against women and domestic  violence, while ensuring that the new national legislation is  effectively applied in practice. Specifically, she urges the  authorities to increase the availability of places in shelters for  victims of domestic violence, and to ensure access to education for  children staying in such shelters.  Another focus area of the report  is the human rights of persons with disabilities, children, older   persons and LGBTI people.  While welcoming the authorities' clear  commitment towards de-institutionalisation of persons with  disabilities, the Commissioner recommends that revised legislation  governing state support to persons with disabilities ensure their  inclusion in all decision-making processes that concern them. In  particular, she calls on the authorities to put an end to plenary  guardianship for persons with psycho- social disabilities and to move  from a substituted to a supported decision-making model for all  persons who may require such support.  The Commissioner encourages  the government to achieve its aim to make all education fully  inclusive by 2025, and recommends that special attention be paid to  ensuring inclusive education at the pre-school level and to pursuing  de-institutionalisation equally for children with and without  disabilities. She also recommends that Armenia solidify its  commitment to international standards in this area, by accepting  additional provisions of the Revised European Social Charter, and by  ratifying instruments allowing for individual and collective  complaints. The Commissioner welcomes the recent appointment of a  well-known disability rights activist as Minister for Labour and  Social Affairs, and encourages the government to take further action  to raise public awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities.