The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights. It remains at the heart of the Council of Europe statutory goals: human rights, rule of law, and democracy, which cannot be realized without respect for social rights. The Charter was ratified by Armenia in 2004. Its enhanced implementation in practice will contribute to better protection of social and economic rights and support sustainable democracy in Armenia. The Council of Europe supports Armenia in implementing reforms in the area of social rights and social protection in line with the requirements of the European Social Charter and relevant European standards, including also in the context of responding to crisis situations.

On 23 July the Council of Europe held a workshop on Treaty System of the European Social Charter and its reporting mechanisms for 35 representatives of the national authorities, legal professionals, Human Rights Defender’s Office and representatives of Human Rights NGOs.

“The Workshop on Treaty System of the European Social Charter and its reporting mechanisms is the first event dedicated to the European Social Charter. This event will mark series of dedicated events with the objective of ensuring the enhanced knowledge on the Charter and the reporting procedure to the European Committee of Social Rights”, – mentioned Margarita Galstyan, Head of Cooperation Unit, Department of Social Rights in her welcome remarks.

Opening remarks were made by Member of Parliament - Chair of Standing Committee on Labor and Social Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ms Heriknaz Tigranyan and Head of Department for Protection of Civil, Socio-Economic and Cultural Rights of the Human Rights Defender Office of Armenia Mr Vladimir Hovhannisyan.

The Council of Europe International Consultant, Vice President of the European Committee of Social Rights Ms Tatiana Puiu and the Council of Europe National Consultant, Expert in International Law, Ms Anna Melikyan presented the Overview of the European Social Charter and its Monitoring Procedures, the reforms in the European Social Charter System, Armenia vis-à-vis the European Social Charter and the way forward.

The meeting was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Enhancing Social Human Rights in Armenia.” The Project is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023-2026.

The Project  is promoting the enhanced capacities of the national authorities to align national policies and practices concerning social rights, including housing, employment and labour rights, with relevant European standards, providing for proper protection and implementation of these rights. The Project also strives for ensuring that the decision-makers are well-aware of the procedure for accepting new provisions of the European Social Charter, as well as Collective Complaint procedure. The staff of the Human Rights Defender’s office, CSOs, as well as legal professionals are expected to have developed capacities to implement and monitor the observance of social rights in accordance with the European Social Charter and the case-law of the European Committee of Social Rights.