End Violence against Children - Progress report (2019, Armenia)

As in many countries throughout the world, children living in Armenia experience situations of violence in their homes and within the communities where they live. Despite governments, citizens and children taking action to end this violence, the percentage of Armenia’s children experiencing acts of violent discipline in the last year suggest that current efforts to end these abuses and other types of violence are not enough. World Vision believes that a world without violence against children is possible. It takes actions from all members and institutions in society to end violence against children.

This report focuses on a government’s duty to create an enabling environment that ensures all actors can and will take action to end violence against children. Such an enabling environment requires that the government create a legal framework to set child rights standards and employ services to protect those rights. An enabling environment also requires conditions favorable to implementing those services, such as funding and strategy.

This report reviews the Armenian government’s progress to create the minimum conditions in law and policy needed to ensure an enabling environment to end violence against children. These minimum conditions align with provisions stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and more specifically with General Comment, General Measures of Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child1 that clarify necessary government actions to protect children from violence. These minimum standards do not mean that governments cannot do more to end violence against children, but rather, without these critical, foundational steps, it cannot enable all actors, within government, in civil society, and in communities, to work in unity towards this achievable goal.