Armenia-Human rights and women in the armed forces in Armenia - phase II

The main partners and beneficiaries of the Project are Ministry of Defence (MoD); Ministry of Justice (MoJ); Office of the Representative of the Republic of Armenia Governmental Agent of the Republic of Armenia before the European Court of Human Rights (Governmental Agent); Security Council (SC); Human Rights Defender’s Office (HRDO); Justice Academy (JA), Law Enforcement Bodies and the Civil Society organisations (CSOs).

The main objective of the Project is to ensure that human rights in the armed forces in Armenia are respected and promoted, and the role of women in the military is enhanced.

Three expected results are foreseen under the project:

Legislative, regulatory framework and procedures are improved for effectively preventing, investigating and eradicating human rights violations in the armed forces, and the commitments of state authorities on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in the armed forces are translated into action;
Relevant institutions have enhanced capacities to prevent, conduct effective investigation of human rights violations in the armed forces, including capacities to ensure full and effective equality of women and men;
Military officers, including gender advisors, are empowered to deal with human rights issues in the armed forces, including discrimination, and ensure strong and coherent leadership in support of implementation of gender equality and gender mainstreaming policies.

With a view to achieving these results, the following types of activities will be implemented:

Providing recommendations on the draft legislation and other regulatory frameworks pertaining to effectively preventing, investigating and eradicating human rights violations in the armed forces, including more specifically discrimination of and inequality among women and men;
Supporting the national stakeholders, in particular law enforcement bodies, to establish Internal regulatory instruments and procedures to ensure effective investigation of fatalities in the armed forces and full and effective equality of women and men in the military;
Establishing a platform for improving the exchange of information and cooperation between stakeholders concerning the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and execution of the Court’s judgments related to human rights violations in the armed forces in Armenia;
Enhancing the capacities of the HRDO for monitoring human rights violations in the armed forces;
Training a group of gender advisors – champions of human rights – so they are able to demonstrate professional competence and increased knowledge of the relevant substantive areas of work and provide support and content expertise on mainstreaming a gender approach into key elements of the MoD’s work;
Conducting awareness raising activities, as well as training and workshops for military personnel and future conscripts visà-vis human rights and equality in the context of the armed force;
Conducting capacity-building activities for the newly established Unit on the Work with Women Servicepersons and to be established General Department on Health Care and Social Protection of Service Persons and Veterans’ Affairs of the MoD; Governmental Agent’s Office and the HRDO to better protect human rights in the armed forces.

Project information
Duration: 24 months (1 June 2020 – 31 May 2022)
Place/country: Armenia
Budget: EUR 630 000
Funding: The Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022

Project documentation

Project summary

Publications

Project News

Back The Project “Human Rights and Women in the Armed Forces of Armenia-Phase II” successfully concluded in Yerevan

On 13 December 2022 Closing Event and the Final Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe project “Human Rights and Women in the Armed Forces in Armenia-Phase II” (‘’Project’’) concluded more than 2,5 years of successful cooperation with the Armenian state authorities working in the field of defence.

The main aim of the Project was to ensure better protection of human rights in the armed forces, in particular rights of women servicepersons, as well as the effectiveness of the legal proceedings in military cases by providing legal drafting and capacity building support for the implementation of the 2020-2022 National Strategy for Human Rights Protection. The specific objective of the Project was to enhance the engagement of women in the armed forces in accordance with Council’s standards and recommendations.

The Project was officially launched in June 2020. For 31 months of its implementation, the Project contributed to important changes of institutional framework and practice and directly contributed to the implementation of a number of actions of the National Human Rights Protection Strategy and respective Action Plan for 2020-2022. The results achieved during the implementation of the Project among others include developing HELP online model course Human Rights in the Armed Forces, introduction of Human Rights Course into the curricula of the Military University and opening a Human Rights Lecture Room, introduction of the Sub-Module on Effective Investigation of Death and Ill treatment Cases in the Armed Forces in Armenia into the curricula of the Justice Academy, strengthening of capacities of Women Councils of Military Units, enhancing the capacities of the Human Rights Defence’s Office on monitoring of human rights in the armed forces, enhanced capacities of military servicepersons and legal professionals in the field of human rights protection in the armed forces.

Summarising main achievements and objectives met by the Project, Mr Arman Sargsyan Deputy Minister of Defence expressed his satisfaction and gratitude for all results achieved within the framework of the Project in partnership with the Armenian state authorities. “We consider the Project to be a mark of success of good and reliable cooperation”, underlined Mr Sargsyan. Ms Leila Zhdanova, Deputy Head of Council of Europe office in Yerevan stated that “the work done in the past years has led to a broader foundation for better embedding the European human rights standards in the armed forces and enhancing the promotion of the rights of women military servicepersons in line with the Program of the Government of Armenia for 2021-2026”.

Referring to the impact of the Project, Mr Tigran Karapetyan, Head of the Transversal Challenges and Multilateral Projects Division of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe underlined that the Project “produced very good results because of everyone’s professionalism and dedication. The Project created a very important platform for the capacity building of the national partners, to bring together civil society organisations, representatives of different government agencies”.

Following the consultations, positive assessment of the Project results and of the joint work expressed by the Ministry of Defence of Armenia, necessary future actions were also presented.

The cooperation between the Council of Europe and Armenia will continue within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023-2026.

YEREVAN/ARMENIA 13 DECEMBER 2022