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The sex-selective abortions in Armenia have cut down, due to which the imbalance in the number of boys and girls born in Armenia in 2016 reduced. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Armenia Assistant Representative Garik Hayrapetyan noted this during today’s press conference adding that in the first half of 2016 100 girls were born per 108 baby boys in Armenia and if this trend had continued throughout the entire year incredible results would have been achieved.

However according to him, the number of the boys increased to 112 until the end of the year. Thus according to the study if 100 baby girls were born per 114 boys in the previous three years, in 2016 100 girls were born per 108 boys.

“This is a great success. Armenia is one of those few counties that has registered progress in this respect in the recent five years. No other country has achieved an equal success in such a short period of time,” Garik Hayrapetyan said adding that it is also based on the fact that people have realized that sex-selective abortions and the discrimination against girls are not normal for the Armenian people.

To note, the 2011 studies initiated by UNFPA Armenia showed that sex-selective abortions were registered in Armenia, i.e. some of the Armenian families did not allow baby girls to be born preferring to have boys instead. As a result of this since the beginning of 1990s the birth ratio became imbalanced in Armenia making up 114 boys per 100 girls born in 2011, whereas the indicator of 102-106 boys per 100 girts is considered normal.

In the words of Garik Hayrapetyan, in these years, large-scale works have been carried out and various programs have been developed.

Notably the Government instructed the Ministries of Health and Social Affairs to develop a special program to combat sex-selective abortions, due to which some amendments were made in the RA law on Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights.

“One of the biggest and most important achievement was the fact that the media outlets repeatedly voiced the issue and today each adult in Armenia is aware of it,” G. Hayrapetyan said.

Head of Maternal and Reproductive Health Department of Ministry of Health of Armenia Gayane Avagyan touched upon the law noting the following: “The amended law on Reproductive Health and Reproductive bans gender-selective abortions in Armenia. In addition to this, a woman is given 3-day time to consider reasonability of making an abortion.”

According to Gayane Avagyan the amendments in the law had a positive impact. She claims that the number of abortions reduce in Armenia annually.

“It is true that the downward trend is not high, however one-rate decline is considered a serious success in demography,” Gayane Avagyan said.

As for the abortions, the representative of the Ministry of Health said that a total of 40-42 births are registered in Armenia annually and the number of abortions make up 7-8 thousand.