Within the framework of the UNDP “Women in Politics, Public Administration and Civil Society” project, funded by the UK Good Governance Fund, Gender Equality Seal (GES) for the Public Institutions was officially launched within the RA Human Rights Defender Office (HRDO), positioning Armenia as one of the gender equality champion countries and the first one to launch the GES within its HRDO. 

RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s message was read to the event participants, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia Natia Natsvlishvili, , RA Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan, UK Ambassador in Armenia John Gallagher, and UNDP GESPI Global Manager Ana Maria Landa Ugarte welcomed the event participants. 

“We are confident that the assessment will help to continuously strengthen the internal capacities of the HRDO in promoting the cause. We are also confident that this is just the beginning of the official Gender Seal journey in the public sector of Armenia,” said UNDP Resident Representative Natia Natsvlishvili in her speech.

Within the GES assessment, a comprehensive toolkit to foster gender equality agenda will be introduced to further enhance institutional modernization of the public sector.

The GES for public institutions is a methodological proposal to support and acknowledge the efforts of public institutions towards achieving substantive gender equality within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The GES for public institutions proposes to accelerate gender mainstreaming in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation, based on a comprehensive process of improving and transforming key internal and external aspects of the institutional architecture. 

Particularly, in-house, the GES intends to integrate gender equality principles and practices in the institutional architecture and culture, which are the core of its operations. Externally, the GES aims to encourage public institutions to analyze and mainstream gender into their public policies, to improve their approaches and their potential impact on women’s lives, empowerment, and gender equality.