Violence against children in Armenia is concerning. The Human Rights Defender mentioned this at the opening of two-day conference entitled “No violence against children”.
“Violence may occur in childcare facilities, at school or in a kindergarten, on the Internet, at home or anywhere else. Violence against children has a negative impact on their development and increases the risk of them using violence in the future. We need to take more effective steps to prevent violence against children”, said the Human Rights Defender, highlighting the importance of joint work in the protection of the child’s rights with all the stakeholders.
Arman Tatoyan informed the attendees that the Child Rights Protection Unit is operating at the Human Rights Defender’s Office. Moreover, after the adoption of the Law on the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, the Defender became an independent monitoring body for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a result, he has received the opportunity, regardless of complaints, to conduct monitoring visits to children's care and protection facilities. Furthermore, this year the RA Human Rights Defender has become an Associate Member of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, which gave an opportunity to participate in the activities of organization’s management and governing bodies, as well as to share experiences and necessary information.
In his speech, the Defender also touched upon the recently published ad hoc report on "The RA Status of Implementation of the Obligations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Protocols," which states that Armenia has unsatisfied or partially satisfied obligations.
"It turns out that not only parents and children are not informed on the children-related provisions of the Convention, but there are also state officials, who are not familiar with the requirements of the Convention," highlighted the Human Rights Defender.
UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of Armenia Shombi Sharp, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs of the RA National Assembly Hakob Hakobyan, Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan, as well as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mane Tandilyan, made opening speech at the two-day event organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund in Armenia and the Government, the subject matter of which was the development of the roadmap or to address the problems in the field.