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The member of the RA NA Standing Committee on European Integration, the deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Sona Ghazaryan gave a speech in the Conference of parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs (COSAC) held in Brussels. The MP noted in her speech:

“First of all,

Let me express our gratitude to the Presidential Troika and the Belgian Parliament for inviting the Armenian delegation to be part of this important platform.

The equal representation of women and men in institutionalised politics has been a very important topic for us since only with proportional presentation it is possible to reach real democracy.

After the Velvet Revolution in Armenia, we made changes in the legal framework to reach at the moment 30 percent of female representation in the parliament and in the local authorities. First of all, we reviewed the Electoral Code and upgraded the gender quota up to 30 percent for the nationwide lists. Another important step undertaken was changing the law on Political Parties with a clear message on the importance of having inclusive representation in the governing bodies of the political parties, as we believe the political parties are the gates to institutionalised politics especially in countries with parliamentary form of governance.

The party of the majority itself is currently working on its internal policy to introduce gender quotas in all its governing bodies - national and local. We are also working on ideas to encourage women’s participation in the party through the bodies beyond quotas. We believe the legal framework is necessary but not enough; we also need to encourage women, support them, as every woman in institutionalised politics needs to pave the way for other women to join.”