Armenia

The National Mechanism for Strengthening International Accountability in The Field of Human Rights and Ensuring Further Steps Arising From It (Inter-Agency Working Group) is Armenia's standing national mechanism.

INSTITUTIONAL SETUP

The national mechanism was established by decision of the Prime Minister No. 1031-U dated November 18.2024 that defines the main objectives and terms of reference and specifies inter alia its composition and working methods. Armenia's regulation is attached to this page.

Composition

The National Mechanism is composed of approximately 30 representatives of line ministries and other governmental bodies. This includes:

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Justice
• Ministry of High-Tech Industry
• Ministry of Economy
• Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports
• Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Ministry of Environment
• Ministry of Defense
• Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure
• Ministry of Finance
• Investigative Committee
• Prosecutor General's Office
• Statistical Committee
• Security Council Office
• Office of the Human Rights Defender
• Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters.

The mechanism includes focal points established under article 33 paragraph 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities and from Gender Equality Mechanisms.

Each ministry and other government body nominates its own representative. The focal points are mainly represented by the foreign relations departments of their ministries or other government bodies.

Secretariat

The Division of Cooperation with Monitoring Bodies of the Department of Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs performs the functions of permanent dedicated secretariat.

MANDATE

The mandate of the national mechanism includes:

• Reporting to UN Human Rights Mechanisms (UN Treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review)
• Responding to individual complaints from UN Treaty bodies
• Responding to communications (letters of allegations, Urgent appeals, questionnaires) from UN Special Procedures and hosting visits of UN Special Procedures
• Reporting to Regional Human Rights Mechanisms
• Following up on recommendations from human rights mechanisms (Special Procedures, Treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review)
• Implementing recommendations from human rights mechanisms (incl contributing to legislative changes)

The national mechanism engages with UN and regional human rights mechanisms.

Process for the preparation of state reports

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulates the requested information to the involved ministries well in advance of each monitoring body's report. After collecting it, a few meetings are held with the participation of representatives of the ministries to finalize the views on the report.

COORDINATION

The meetings are scheduled to be held twice a year with the participation of the Secretariat and all the focal points.

Channel of communication with the National Statistics Office

As a member of the national mechanism, the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia is involved.

Channel of communication with the Parliament

The Chair and the members of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly (Parliament) regularly participate in events related to the National Mechanism and are aware of current developments.

Channel of communication with the Judiciary

The Ministry of Justice of Armenia has its focal point in the National Mechanism and is involved in the processes within its jurisdiction.

CONSULTATION

It is planned to organize regular meetings with civil society representatives to discuss a wide range of issues related to the topic.

Armenia is looking into acquiring a digital tracking tool which will aim at integrating the national indexes, rights-based indicators and Sustainable Development Goal dashboards to help translate international recommendations into actionable priorities.

Armenia has also adopted its 2023–2025 Action Plan by Government Decision No. 1978-L, as amended by Decision No. 1674-L of 28 September 2023.