A group of civil society organizations in Armenia, which includes the Yazidi Center for human rights, presented a report on the situation of human rights in Armenia to the UN Universal periodic review of human rights (UPR). Consideration of the report in the UN UPR will take place on 20-31 January 2020 in Geneva . According to the information shared on social networks by the leading expert of the Yazidi Center for human rights Isabel Broyan, a number of important topics related to the rights of the Yazidi community in Armenia were noted:

Here are the main points concerning ethnic minorities in Armenia:

* The government does not have a comprehensive strategy to protect and promote the culture, language and identity of ethnic minorities;

* The government does not maintain disaggregated data on economic and social indicators by ethnicity and nationality to better understand the impact of public policies on ethnic minority communities;

* About 70% of children in Armenia are not covered by pre-school education due to lack of appropriate services or poor quality of infrastructure. Due to the lack of kindergartens in ethnic minority communities, ethnic minority children have limited access to pre-school education;

* School enrolment and attendance rates for children from ethnic minorities, in particular Yazidis, Kurds and Molokans, were significantly lower than average, and dropout rates after ninth grade were higher;

* The government has not taken any steps to eliminate harmful customs and traditions among ethnic minorities. In particular, Yazidi girls remain vulnerable to early marriage and its consequences, including reduced access to education and reproductive health services;

* Statistical information on early marriages is limited, as most child marriages are not officially registered or are registered only after the child reaches the legal age of marriage.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Develop a national strategy to protect the ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities and create conditions for the development of this identity in accordance with the UN Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Improving legislation and enforcement mechanisms to prevent underage marriages;

Establish an effective mechanism to identify and refer children who are unable to attend school.»