Over 150 women leaders from civil society, government, academia, and political parties convened in Yerevan on May 18 for a two-day conference organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and USAID, with support from the British Embassy and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The conference on “Supporting Women’s Political Participation in Armenia: A Nationwide Women’s Conference and Women’s Platform” aimed to bring greater attention to women’s issues and increase women’s political representation and participation in Armenia.

The conference opened with inspirational speeches and a panel discussion by prominent U.S. and European government officials. Keynote speakers and panelists included U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch, Ambassador Meryl Frank (U.S. Representative, UN Commission on the Status of Women), Swedish Ambassador to Armenia Diana Janse (based in Tbilisi), former Macedonian Ambassador to Albania Blagorodna Mingova Krepieva, UNDP Resident Coordinator in Armenia Dafina Gercheva, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, and British Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale. Invitees included senior officials from the Armenian government and representatives of local and international organizations. In her opening remarks, Ambassador Yovanovitch stressed that Armenia needs to draw on all of its talents – and that includes women – to reach its full potential.

During the conference, the women participants broke into smaller, cross-sector working groups to formulate policy solutions to issues of concern to Armenian women. Panel discussions addressed topics such as coalition building, working within parties and across sectors to support gender equality, and encouraging male political leaders and the public at large to support greater political rights for women.