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During the parliamentary hearings of the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, held on November 11, Issues to be presented in the Fourth Cycle of the National Report of the Republic of Armenia on the Rights of the Child within the Framework of the UN Universal Periodic Review Process, Independent International Expert Hayk Davtyan reflected on the report of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on Armenia, published on October 14, 2024.

It was noted that the document presented the situation related to children's rights in Armenia according to sectors, as well as recommendations were made.

The RA Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Tatevik Stepanyan gave a speech on the topic of Relevant State Policy for the Protection of Children's Rights. The rapporteur emphasized that Armenia has made significant progress in the direction of expanding the legal and institutional frameworks for the protection of children's rights. Next, the Deputy Minister presented the legislative reforms implemented in the field of protection of children's rights and the things to be done.

Tatevik Stepanyan answered the questions of the participants of the hearing and gave clarifications.

Then, the Head of the Department for the Prevention of Juvenile offences and Domestic violence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, police colonel Edgar Petrosyan spoke within the framework of the topic of the right to education of the child and the problems arising in this field, the problems of the quality of education, the dangers of bullying and drug trafficking in school.

At the moment, the police do not have any minors involved in drug trafficking.

Speaking about the activities being carried out, Edgar Petrosyan noted that the Police carries out general awareness activities with students. In this framework, legal awareness activities are carried out, as well as certain sector information is provided in terms of security, for example, in relation to cyber security, which may also be related with illegal drug trafficking, as well as with bullying.

At the moment, bullying does not have a legal formulation in Armenia. At the initiative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, a draft on the Right of the Child and Child Protection System is open to public discussion. The definition of bullying will be given for the first time with the document, as well as the positive duty of the state to protect people from bullying, as well as to perform social rehabilitation and psychological work for these people. "Currently, we deal with bullying to the extent that it is related to a crime or offense," Edgar Petrosyan explained.

Certain statistics were also presented regarding the cases of prevention of interpersonal relations among children.

The Head of Department for Strategic planning and monitoring of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia Robert Stepanyan also referred to the recommendations and comments made by international organizations during the general periodic reviews.

In the Q&A session and speech format, the steps taken in the direction of preventing possible crimes among minors, the problem of children left out of compulsory education, access to education, increasing the quality of education, the importance of awareness campaigns by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the expansion of social support to disadvantaged families and the necessary steps in the field of protection of children's rights were discussed. The formation of the culture of protection of children's rights has become important in our country.

Reference was also made to the use of drugs in educational institutions, the need to fight against this dangerous phenomenon and the expediency of making legislative amendments, inclusive education, the educational issues of children belonging to national minorities, the protection of human rights, etc. The deputy of the NA Armenia Faction, Assyrian Irina Gasparyan, referred to the issue of indicating the nationality of persons belonging to national minorities in passports, highlighting it.

Summarizing the work of the hearings, Rustam Bakoyan assured that the issues raised will be duly recorded and will be further considered by the colleagues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the Deputy Chair of the Committee, such hearings are a good example of constructive partnership between the public, the Executive and the Legislature. He expressed gratitude to those present for their active participation, as well as for the Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia (MAP) project for supporting the organization of the hearings.