Remarks by Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia at the Presentation of the UN Human Rights Office 2019 Annual Report to Member States

05 June, 2020

Madam High Commissioner,

We would like to thank you for the report, which helps to get a comprehensive idea on the impressive work exerted by the High Commissioner and her team. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on what we can do more to contribute to the common benefit and how we can better cooperate in the national capacity.

We share your view that in these unsettling times the importance of human rights has become even more evident and it’s true for both conventional and novel implications. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how vulnerable and dependent we are on the information technologies, and regardless of the development level for a given society. Imagine what should have been the impact of such a pandemic, with a strictly imposed lock-down, a decade or two ago, without teleconferencing, social networks, internet, and cellular phones. Although in our days digital technologies help us to cope with this challenge but still, we see real digital divides that need to be realistically assessed. Those are divides along age lines, ones that separate urban and rural populations, rich and poor, haves and have nots. We need to address it urgently in order to be prepared to the next crisis which will most certainly come. It’s not about if, but when, and we don’t know what kind of a crisis it would be.

The OHCHR has a crucial role to play in order to make sure that human rights are embedded in the core of our response to these challenges. In this regard we highly value the guidelines and recommendations issued by the Office and would like to call upon it to continue its work, including by taking into account the new realities related to the digital age.

Madame High Commissioner,

We commend the efforts exerted by the Office with regard to the development of the prevention agenda. The adoption of the Prevention Strategy is a landmark endeavour in this regard. We concur that the work of the OHCHR on economic, social and cultural rights and addressing inequalities, within the context of implementation of SDGs, can contribute to conflict prevention. We would encourage further involvement of the Office with all stakeholders, without leaving anyone behind.

We took note that the UN Human Rights identified armed conflicts and lack of access to certain regions as risk factors. In this latter case the status neutral approach can be adopted where necessary and applicable for reaching out to the people living in the conflict zones. When it comes to the armed conflicts, the work of the Office can largely contribute to enhancing literacy on and monitoring the compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, thus helping to develop measures for providing greater protection to civilians. We took note of the efforts of the Office aimed at sustaining the peace, in particular in Western Balkans, and support the OHCHR activities in this regard.

Another area where we see an extended potential for contribution of the OHCHR is the women, peace and security agenda. Recently Armenia adopted its national action plan for the UN Security Council resolution 1325 and we would welcome the involvement of the Office in its implementation.

Armenia attaches great importance to the protection of women’s and girl’s rights, and we appreciate that the High Commissioner and the Deputy High Commissioner raised their voices in this regard during several high-level discussions, including at the Commission on the Status of Women. During the chairmanship at CSW Armenia tried to contribute to the international efforts to this end.

Likewise, the freedom of religion is among the priorities of Armenia, and we welcome the engagement of the OHCHR at a conference that was held in Yerevan entitled “Contemporary issues of freedom of religion in Armenia, Georgia and beyond”.

We appreciate the efforts of the OHCHR aimed at contributing to the integration of human rights into national frameworks for the SDGs, including through delivering sessions on human rights indicators and the Universal Human Rights Index, one of which was organized for SDG Coordination Group and civil society organizations from Armenia.

We note with satisfaction other instances of successful cooperation between Armenia and the Office and we stand ready to further expand and enhance our interaction.

Madame Commissioner,

It is regrettable that the capacity of the Office to respond to all requests was limited, as OHCHR 2019 Annual Appeal was only funded to 56 per cent. We believe that continued mutual efforts from both the High Commissioner for Human Rights and from UN Member States is crucial to the improvement of the financial situation. We also believe that awareness-raising programs on the OHCHR projects and initiatives aimed at promotion and protection of human rights can enhance interest of stakeholders and foster contributions. In this regard we are happy to note a 154 per cent increase since 2017 in the number of media articles citing the UN Human Rights. The important work done worldwide should be promoted and encouraged.

In conclusion, we would like to wish High Commissioner and her office all the success in their endeavors.

Thank you.

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications