Protection of Domestic Workers' Rights in Armenia: Closing Event and Online Presentation of Research Findings

On June 28, the Human Rights Research Centers (HRRC), in consortium with the Caucasus Research Resource Center - Armenia (CRRC-Armenia) and UN Women Armenia, presented findings from ongoing comprehensive research on the protection of domestic workers' rights in Armenia.

The centerpiece of the event was the presentation of the research "Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the Potential Ratification of ILO Convention No. 189 on Domestic Workers," conducted by HRRC and CRRC-Armenia.

Anahit Simonyan, Director of HRRC, and Isabella Iskandaryan, a legal expert at HRRC, highlighted the challenges in ensuring labor rights for domestic workers in Armenia, many of which stem from gaps in national legislation. They also discussed policy proposals and options in line with the requirements of ILO Convention No. 189.

The presentation was followed by a Q&A session and an active discussion involving government representatives, local and international NGOs, and experts.

Domestic workers perform paid work in or for private households, including tasks such as cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, ironing, childcare, gardening, housekeeping, driving, and pet care.

Addressing the labor rights of domestic workers requires legislative improvements in Armenia, such as defining the term "domestic worker," ensuring specific labor regulations for domestic work, establishing occupational safety and health norms tailored to domestic work, and introducing mechanisms for domicile inspection.

HRRC extends its gratitude to partner institutions, CRRC-Armenia and UN Women Armenia, for their extensive work, as well as to the participants of the closing event and online presentation for their valuable observations.

The research was conducted under the "Women's Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus" project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency.