PACE Concerned of Unusually Higher Number of Boys than Girls Born in Armenia

Doris Stump (Switzerland, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on pre-natal sex selection, is to visit first Georgia, then Armenia, from Jun. 14 to 17, in order to assess the situation and its demographic and social effects, with a view to preparing a report on this subject, according to a Jun. 9 PACE press release.

According to the rapporteur, imbalances have been reported in these two countries in particular in the sex ratio, that is, the ratio of the number of boys to the number of girls being born, which is unusually high. This new tendency — one not confined to the southern Caucasus — is said to result from the rapid development of pre-natal techniques, enabling parents to find out their baby’s sex in advance and to have the foetus aborted if it is female.

On Jun. 14 and 15, Stump is due to have a meeting in Tbilisi with the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs and the Chair of the Georgian delegation to the PACE. On Jun. 16 and 17, in Yerevan, she is due to meet with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Minister of Health and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. In both countries, discussions are also scheduled with representatives of health authorities, the United Nations and NGOs.

Stump’s report is due to be debated at the meeting of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in Paris on Sept. 9, 2011.