Women must be involved in decision-making process - NA vice-speaker 

ArmInfo. Women's participation in decision-making processes is extremely important. This was stated yesterday by Vice Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan during the panel discussion "The Role of Women in Forming Consensus, Security and Peace" within the framework  of the conference organized by the "Katarine Community Bridgers" project.

"Our political force and the state are supporters of these processes.  This is an important and fundamental issue, since, representing the  interests of the public, we must take into account that it is women  who know their rights and vulnerable issues that concern them best of  all, and they should be involved in decision- making bodies and make  decisions," the Vice Speaker of the National Assembly noted, as  quoted by the press service of the parliament.

In this context, Arshakyan also noted positive steps aimed at  increasing the role of women in the state system. "Although the quota  according to our legislation is 30%, the participation of women in  the Armenian parliament is more than 35%," the RA NA Vice Speaker  emphasized.

During the panel discussion, the topic of involving women in the  negotiation process was also touched upon. "The problem is not only  in the presence of women in the actual negotiation process, which I  greatly appreciate, but also in the opportunity to express their  opinion in the peace process," Arshakyan expressed his opinion.

Among the problems, the NA Vice Speaker highlighted the issues of  limited opportunities for women in the field of education, leadership  and responsibility, and often the attitude of society towards them,  pushing them to change their behavior.

Without denying the existence of problems in this area, the Vice  Speaker at the same time pointed to significant progress. According  to him, freedom of speech and the information field, freedom of the  press, social networks and technological progress will contribute to  increasing the role of women and eliminating discriminatory attitudes  towards them.

The panel discussion was also attended by Sona Ghazaryan, an MP from  the ruling Civil Contract faction, and Anna Grigoryan, an MP from the  opposition Armenia faction. They also expressed their opinions on the  obstacles to women's participation in the peace and security process  and ways to overcome them.

In particular, Sona Ghazaryan raised the issue of the importance of  creating favorable conditions for the economic and political  advancement of women, promoting the participation of young women in  political processes. She highly appreciated the position of women in  peace negotiations, as well as their active work on the platform of  parliamentary diplomacy.

According to Anna Grigoryan, if women were more involved in these  negotiations, progress in this matter would be more obvious. The MP  touched upon the influence of women in matters of reforms, political  decision-making and security.