Background and political system
With a population just over 2.9 million, Armenia is a landlocked country located in Southwestern Asia, bordering Türkiye, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Armenia’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995, following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Constitution of Armenia, adopted in 1995 and amended through 2020, provides the framework for the country’s political institutions and governance. Armenia is a unitary, multiparty republic divided into 10 regions (marzer) and one city region, Yerevan, and governs via central, regional and local government structures.
Armenia’s government consists of the Executive and Legislative branches, complemented by the Judicial branch. The central government is led by the President of the Republic, who is elected for a single seven-year term by the National Assembly and acts as Head of State. The Prime Minister is both Head of Government and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The Prime Minister is nominated by the parliamentary majority to be elected by the National Assembly and appointed by the President of the Republic. The Government consists of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and ministers proposed by the Prime Minister to be appointed by the President of the Republic. The legislative Assembly, called Azgayin Zhoghov, is formed by members elected directly by the public and serves in a unicameral parliament.
The judicial branch consists of the Armenian Court of Cassation, which consists of the Criminal Chamber, composed of the Chairperson and three judges, the Anti-Corruption Chamber and the Administrative Chamber, each composed of a Chairperson and four judges, and the Civil Chamber with a Chairperson and five judges; and the Armenian Constitutional Court which consists of nine judges, in addition to subordinate courts. The Supreme Judicial Council is a 10-member independent state body that guarantees the independence of courts and judges. The President of Court of Cassation (Lilit Tadevosyan), the Prosecutor General (Anna Vardapetyan) and the Human Rights Defender of Armenia (Anahit Manasyan) are women.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Women’s right to vote and stand for election was first ensured in the country in 1918, and confirmed under Soviet administration and after independence from the Soviet Union. The first women in parliament, Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan, Perchuhi Partizpanyan-Barseghyan and Varvara Shakyan, were elected in 1919, in the direct parliamentary elections in the First Republic of Armenia.
Traditional patriarchal values and gender stereotypes have persisted in the Armenian society, both beneath the surface of the communist era despite formal gender equality, and following the country’s democratic transition, creating barriers to practical socioeconomic and political equality and participation. However, considerable strides have been made in recent years. According to UN Women, 83.3 percent of the legal frameworks that promote, enforce, and monitor gender equality under SDG 5, gender equality, with a focus on violence against women, are in place. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, Armenia ranks 64th out of 146 countries, a decrease from its 2023 ranking of 61st and improvement from its 2022 ranking of 89th. There are still challenges with regards to women’s access to decision-making, while traditional norms still place the majority of the care burden on women and girls, as they spend almost 22 percent of their time on unpaid care and domestic work, compared to 4.4 percent spent by men.
Structure of parliament
The Parliament is composed of a minimum number of 101 members (currently 107) elected to five-year terms through a closed-list proportional system in single-seat constituencies. The Parliament is responsible for enforcing legislative initiatives, exercising supervision over the executive power, and adopting the State Budget.
The electoral code, as amended through 2020, establishes a 30 percent gender quota, specifying that for each electoral zone, at least one in three consecutive candidates shall belong to the underrepresented sex.
Women's representation in parliament
As of July 2024, the Armenian Parliament has 39 women members, representing 36.5 percent of total deputies. Sona Ghazaryan is the youngest member of Parliament. The next elections will be held in 2026.
Forecast based on past trends
If changes continue at the current pace, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of improvement from 1995 to 2023 and projecting it into the future.
Forecast based on recent trends
If changes registered in the past five years continue, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of change in the past five years and projecting it into the future.
Best case forecast
If the situation improves similarly to the country performing best in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the rate of improvement from the country performing best in the region and accelerating the change with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Worst case forecast
If the situation deteriorates similarly to the country registering the worst drop in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the drop rate in the country performing worst in the region and deteriorating the situation with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Women Chairpersons of Parliament Committees
The Armenian Parliament has 12 specialized Committees on the topics of Defense and Security; Economic Affairs; European Integration; Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs; Foreign Relations; Health Care; Labour and Social Affairs; Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs; Regional and Eurasian Integration; Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport; State and Legal Affairs; and Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment Protection. As of July 2024, Heriknaz Tigranyan (the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs) and Tsovinar Vardanyan (the Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Issues) are the only two women Chairpersons of a parliamentary committee.
Structure of government
Central government (karavarutyun)
The President serves as the Head of State, and is in charge of ensuring the regular functioning of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers, and guaranteeing independence, territorial integrity, and the security of the country. The Prime Minister is Head of Government, and is required by the Constitution to oversee the Government's regular activities and coordinate the work of the ministers.
The Cabinet is composed of 15 members, including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers and sectoral ministers. Within the executive branch, the Council of Ministers, led by the Prime Minister, constitutes the Government of Armenia and is responsible for developing and implementing the domestic and foreign policies of the State, and exercising the general management of the bodies of the State administration system.
The current Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, was first elected in May 2018. The current President is Vahagn Khachaturyan who was elected in March 2022. Armenia has not yet had a woman serve as Prime Minister or President, while there are two women ministers in the current Cabinet: Anahit Avanesyan (Minister of Health), and Zhanna Andreasyan (Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport).
Ministers or Cabinet Members
Anahit Avanesyan
Minister of Health
Zhanna Andreasyan
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport
Regional government
The Government implements its territorial policy in marzes through marz Governors, who are appointed and dismissed by the Government itself.
Local government
There are 71 one-tier community-level local government units in Armenia. The community level government (hamaynk) is composed of the deliberate body which holds a community council or a “council of elders” (avaganu khorurd) of five up to 65 elected members, and the executive body made up of a Head of Community, who also serves as Chairperson of the community council, and one or more deputies. In communities of over 4000 inhabitants, the Head of Community is a deliberating member of the council. In smaller communities, the Head of Community has only an advisory role. The local government is responsible for political, administrative, and financial local matters. The gender quota also extends to local level representation for communities of over 4000 inhabitants, with a 30 percent minimum gender representation requirement, as well as a condition that at least one of the first three names on each candidate list be from each gender.
For more information on gender quotas adopted at the national level, visit the women in parliament section.
Structure of public administration
The central government’s roles and responsibilities include implementing State policy on financial and economic, credit and tax matters; administering State property; directing local executive bodies on certain issues, including law enforcement and training of local body employees; appointing regional Governors' tasks to fulfil national policies at the regional level.
The regional government bodies (Marzes) implement the regional policy of the Government and coordinate the activities of local branches of the executive authority in the following areas: finance; urban development, housing and utilities; transport and road construction; agriculture and land use; education; health care; social security; culture and sports; nature and environmental protection; and services.
Within each local jurisdiction, the local government is in charge of managing an independent budget and overseeing and managing the economic activity – including local taxation – in compliance with national law, working on initiatives to serve local issues, and issuing localized directive, decisions, and orders to ensure organization and function at all local levels.
Women’s representation as employees and decision-makers in public administration
This visualization was developed based on data provided by GIRL@University of Pittsburgh.
Data across countries and territories is not comparable. For more information about the methodology and sources used, read here.
In the context of Armenia’s public administration, women’s representation throughout time has remained mostly stagnant, with a few significant fluctuations. At the employee level, women have maintained a strong representation, measuring 62.2 percent in 2022, which is a 3.6 decrease from 65.8 percent in 2008. However, this percentage has shifted significantly, with a dip to 59.4 percent in 2017. While women are well represented in employee roles, their influence at the decision-making level is much lower and more variable. In 2018, women constituted 14.6 percent of decision-makers in public administration, compared to 15.7 percent in 2015.