Pre-session working group

Forty-third session

19 January- 6 February 2009

List of issues and questions with regard to the consideration of periodic reports

Armenia

The pre-session working group examined the combined third and fourth periodic report of Armenia (CEDAW/C/ARM/4).

General

1.Please provide further information on the process of preparation of the combined third and fourth periodic report of Armenia. This information should include whether non-governmental organizations, particularly women’s organizations, and the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia were involved in the preparation of the present report and the nature and extent of the involvement and if the report was adopted by the Government and presented to Parliament.

Data collection and analysis

2.The report contains limited statistical data disaggregated by sex on the situation of women in areas covered by the Convention. Please provide information on the status of data collection in the country in general, and to what extent such data collection takes place on a sex-disaggregated basis. Please indicate how the Government intends to improve the collection of data disaggregated by sex pertaining to the areas of the Convention so as to support policymaking and programme development and to measure progress towards implementation of the Convention.

3.Please provide information on the results of the gender analysis of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Visibility of the Convention, Optional Protocol, legislative and institutional framework

4.Please indicate if the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been invoked in any domestic court cases, and if yes, which? Additionally, please specify what has been done to make widely known the Convention and the Optional Protocol which Armenia ratified on 14 September 2006 and to create awareness about the Convention and the Optional Protocol among the Armenian judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

5.Please inform the Committee about the powers of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia with regard to the issues covered by the Convention. Please include information on actions taken to follow up on its recommendations, if any, and provide data disaggregated by sex and on complaints lodged on the basis of discrimination on the grounds of sex, as well as on the areas and rights for which such complaints were lodged.

National Machinery for the Advancement of Women

6.Provide information on the powers and the financial and human resources dedicated to the promotion of gender equality within the department of Women’s, Family and Children’s issues.

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action/National Action Plan

7.Please provide information on whether the National Programme to Improve the Status of Women and to Enhance Their Role in Society in the Republic of Armenia for the Period 2004-2010 have led to a change in the areas mentioned in the State party’s report (CEDAW/C/ARM/4, para. 27).

Stereotypes

8.The Committee in its previous concluding observations expressed concerns at the persistence of deeply rooted patriarchal attitudes in the family and society. Please provide information on specific programmes being undertaken to overcome these attitudes and an overview of the outcome of the actions taken to combat discrimination against women.

Violence against women

9.Please indicate if there is a national law on domestic violence, as recommended by the Committee in its previous concluding observations. Furthermore, please provide information on the penalties for rape and indicate if the State envisages the criminalization of marital rape.

10.Please provide information on steps taken or envisaged, in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 19 on violence against women, to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat all forms of violence against women, as recommended by the Committee in its previous concluding observations including the capacity-building for the police, lawyers, and the judiciary and health workers.

11.Please provide information on the scale of violence against women, including the number of women murdered by their husbands, partners or ex-partners in the past few years in cases of domestic violence, as well as on the availability of social services and shelters — safe houses and 24-hour-help phone line — to the victims. Also provide, if available, statistics concerning violence against women, including domestic violence, the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and penalties handed down.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

12.Please provide, as requested in the Committee’s previous concluding observations, information if the State party has formulated and implemented a comprehensive programme, including legislation, to address exploitation of prostitution. Also please provide further information on the measures undertaken and budget allocated in order to ensure rehabilitation, social reintegration and physical and psychosocial recovery for victims of trafficking and prostitution, including for women and girls who wish to leave prostitution exploitation.

13.Please provide statistical data on the extent of trafficking in women and girls into, through and from Armenia as may be available. This information should include data on the number of individuals arrested, prosecuted and sentenced as a result of their involvement in trafficking.

Political participation and participation in public life

14.Please explain the reasons for the continuing underrepresentation of women in public and political life and in decision-making positions. Also, describe measures that the Government has taken, including temporary special measures taken in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25, to increase the number of women in the National Assembly, the Government, diplomatic service and regional and local/municipal bodies, judiciary and the impact of such measures. Please provide updated statistical data in that regard.

Employment

15.Please provide, as recommended by the Committee in its previous concluding observations, sex-disaggregated data on all aspects of women’s employment, and especially wages.

16.The State party’s report describes a variety of assistance and training measures for women entrepreneurs. Please provide data on the nature of the businesses women establish.

Stereotypes and education

17.Please elaborate on initiatives that have been undertaken to challenge stereotypical attitudes, and list concrete policies formulated to promote the sharing of responsibilities between women and men in family and society and their impact.

18.It seems that academic orientation is influenced by stereotypes. Please indicate if there are any measures in place to encourage girls and women to study non-stereotypical subjects and employers to recruit women for non-stereotypical posts.

19.Please provide further information on the pilot programme to reform secondary education (CEDAW/C/ARM/4, para. 145), including on the number of schools that have been closed and on the number of teachers, disaggregated by sex, who have lost jobs.

20.Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by region, on non-attendance, absenteeism and drop-out of girls and women at all levels of education covering the period since the last periodic report, especially for ethnic minority girls (Yezidis and Kurds).

Health

21.The report states that “unfortunately, abortion is one of the most widespread methods of family planning in Armenia” (CEDAW/C/ARM/4, para. 212). Please indicate what action has been undertaken by the Government to change “usage of abortion” as a method of family planning and ensure the availability and accessibility of affordable contraceptives, promote programmes of sex education and foster responsible sexual behaviour.

22.Both child and maternal mortality rates remain high in the State party. Please indicate what steps have been taken in order to address the situation and what the results in practice are.

23.Please describe any strategies and measures taken to combat HIV/AIDS as well as discrimination against affected women and their impact. Please also elaborate on any awareness-raising campaigns undertaken.

Rural women

24.Please provide further information on the steps taken by the State party in response to the Committee’s previous recommendations regarding the development of special policies and programmes aimed at the economic empowerment of rural women and their access to health-care services. In that regard, please provide further information on how the Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture Development impacts on the situation of rural women.

Women with disabilities

25.The State party’s report is silent on the situation of women with disabilities. Please provide information on programmes and services for women with disabilities including any assistance given to them during pregnancy and/or after childbirth, or in their housework.

Refugee women

26.The State party’s report provides little information on refugee women. Please provide a comprehensive picture of the de facto situation of refugee women in all areas covered by the Convention and particularly focus on rural refugee women as they suffer from multiple discrimination. Furthermore, please indicate if refugee children, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/15/Add.225), automatically acquire Armenian citizenship when their parents do so.

27.Please provide information on sex and gender-based violence within refugee communities.

Marriage and family relationship

28.Please elaborate on the efforts undertaken by the Government to ensure that the minimum age of marriage is raised for both women and men to the age of 18 instead of the current minimum age of 17 years for girls and 18 years for boys, and to eradicate any exceptions to this minimum age, in accordance with article 16 of the Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including any draft laws under consideration.

Economic consequences of divorce

29.Please provide information on regulations in place governing the distribution of assets/properties upon divorce. Please also provide information on the type of property that is distributed on dissolution of marriage or relationships, including in relation to unemployed women who have been taking care of the household and raising children.

Amendment to article 20, paragraph 1

30.Please indicate when the Government intends to accept the amendment of article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the meeting time of the Committee.