"To enter the 21st century or not?" - PAS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000784

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/PPD SRUEDY, EUR/CACEN FOR ESIDEREAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO KWMN PREL OEXC SCUL AM
SUBJECT: "To enter the 21st century or not?" - PAS
Yerevan hosts International Women's Forum.


1. SUMMARY: On March 21, the PAS Yerevan organized a
highly successful forum in honor of International
Women's Month, featuring prominent women working in the
fields of international affairs, politics, business,
media and law. The event drew capacity crowds and was
covered by three television stations and at least five
print media. PAS has received much positive feedback
from the participants, who praised the embassy for
organizing a unique event that addressed the critical
and sensitive issue of gender in Armenia. END SUMMARY.


2. In honor of International Women's Month, PAS
organized a day long "International Women's Forum" at
the American University of Armenia's Business Center.
Leading women working in the fields of international
affairs, politics, business, media and law were invited
to make presentations based on their personal
experiences, take questions and engage in discussion
with the audience. PAS advertised the forum through
alumni, university and NGO listserves and bulletin
boards and was overwhelmed with more than 200 RSVPs, a
rare occurrence in Armenia. At the opening of the
forum, the hall was over capacity. Many of the
participants, who were about 90 percent female,
traveled from the far regions of Armenia to attend.


3. Several high-level women took part in the forum.
The first panel was dedicated to women working in
international affairs and included the U.S. Charge d'
Affaires, the British Ambassador and the Turkey Desk
Officer from the Armenian MFA. The Charge opened the
forum by excerpting Secretary Powell's Message on
International Women's Month, highlighting the
Department of State's commitment to human rights and
called on those present to consider that each and every
woman, no matter how modest, has a contribution to make
in influencing and inspiring future generations. The
British Ambassador pointed out the connection between
gender equality and poverty and gave her ideas about
ways to promote equality on an individual level. The
Turkey Desk Officer shared several interesting
statistics about Armenian women working in the MFA;
women account for 28 percent of Armenian diplomats and
are primarily serving at the mid-level, there are
currently three women Ambassadors and women face great
difficulty in securing overseas assignments where most
Ambassadors prefer an all-male staff.


4. The women in politics panel featured Lydumila
Harutyunyan, head of the independent, non-aligned
Dignity Party, Hranush Hakobyan, a prominent Member of
Parliament, and an Armenian-American professor of
political science. Their presentations generated a
lively debate about the need to raise and enforce an
existing quota (currently 5 percent) on female
representation in Parliament, the need for women to
test their cultural boundaries and get more involved in
politics and the role of NGOs (which are primarily
dominated by women in Armenia) as incubators for
political activists. Harutyunyan exhorted the women in
the audience to take control and define their own role
in society, ending the panel with the question: "Are we
going to enter the 21st century or not?"


5. After lunch, the President of the National Press
Club and the director of InterNews, an NGO that
promotes media development, shared their opinion that
current media programming in Armenia does not serve
women's interests, prompting a discussion with the
audience on whether or not media outlets should develop
special content for women, with the majority of the
audience opposed to softer subject matter and instead
calling for programming that addresses gender issues
and promotes equality.


6. A lieutenant colonel in the police, a litigation
attorney, an assistant community prosecutor, a lawyer
specializing in international human rights law and the
head of the International Affairs Department in the
Prosecutor General's office made up the women in law
panel and shared their particularly interesting
viewpoints as women in a line of work overwhelmingly
dominated by men in Armenia. They shared their own
success stories and asserted that there are
increasingly more opportunities for women in this
field. Most were quite young in age and their positive
outlook was very inspiring for the audience.


7. The final panel was devoted to women in business.
The director of an international business training
center stressed the importance of getting a solid
foundation in business practices and law. The owner of
a popular caf and bookstore shared her humorous wisdom
on the challenges to women who want to start businesses
in Armenia, noting that everyone must make the choice
to either "stay under the blanket and sleep or get an
education and do their best!"


8. COMMENT: This event was a great success. Hundreds of
women from universities, NGOs, businesses and the
government were given the opportunity to hear success
stories, exchange wisdom on overcoming the strong
gender discrimination that exists in Armenian culture
and frankly discuss opportunities and challenges to
women in Armenia. Participants told us that this was
the largest such meeting on women's issues in Armenia
in years and PAS received multiple expressions of
appreciation for organizing it. The event generated
significant and positive press exposure as three
television stations and at least five print media
covered the event over several days. The program
effectively and publicly demonstrated the United
States' commitment to promoting gender equality and
human rights. END COMMENT.

Walker