Results of analysis related to activities of the committees of guardianship and curatorship authorities in Armenia discussed

Today, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan participated in the inter-professional discussion on the topic "Strengthening of a multi-sector national platform for planning, implementing and assessing actions putting an end to violence against children". The meeting was attended by First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Arsen Manukyan, coordinator of the Juvenile Justice Project of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in Armenia Victoria Ohanyan, Deputy Head of the Department for Drafting Anti-Corruption and Penitentiary Policies of the Ministry of Justice Shushan Ghukasyan and representatives of NGOs.

"Today we are going to discuss a very important and current issue. The relevant analysis of the activities of the committees of guardianship and curatorship authorities in Armenia and the gaps in those activities will be presented. We are all well aware that this sphere requires serious regulations. Thus, our efforts should be aimed at eliminating the obstacles, as well as closely co-operating with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs — the body developing policies in this sphere," Deputy Minister Krmoyan said.

 According to him, there are a number of issues related to the remuneration of specialists, professionalism, need for trainings and social hardships. "One should not forget that social workers deal exclusively with human lives. Therefore, the shortcomings in that sphere should also be regulated," the Deputy Minister stressed.

Attaching importance to the role and significance of social services, Suren Krmoyan expressed certainty that if social issues are solved in particular, persons having committed offences will not return to penitentiary institutions anymore, as there are many cases when people without the intention to commit a crime, have found themselves in the status of an offender due to dire social conditions.

Let us add that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is the authority regulating the sphere of guardianship and curatorship authorities and the authority that develops policies. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia has conducted relevant studies on the topic; in particular, Shushan Ghukasyan introduced to the participants of the discussion the gaps of the sphere, the experience of European countries and presented the legal solutions for correcting the shortcomings. The submitted proposals will be considered with the representatives of NGOs.