Women's Political Participation in Armenia: Institutional and Cultural Factors

Women have been poorly represented in Armenian politics for the last several decades. Currently, there are 14 women out 131 members in Armenia's National Parliament. The percentage of women ministers and deputy ministers has never risen above 11% during the past 5 years. Women currently hold two cabinet posts, serving in the ministries that deal with culture and the diaspora. There are no women governors. Additionally, for the past decade, there were no female mayors or deputy mayors in any urban community in Armenia. There is a gender quota system in place for political parties, requiring that in campaign lists every fifth person starting from the second position should be a woman. Nevertheless, there is a widely practiced phenomenon of self-withdrawal among women candidates in Armenia, which is one of the barriers for women to be represented in all levels of decision-making. The practice of self-withdrawal is also an obstacle for implementing the quota system since it prevents the quotas from actually functioning. Among various obstacles preventing women's political participation in Armenia are: gender stereotypes, gender roles, women's lack of economic independence and social capital, low self-confidence among women, and the overall political culture

Women's Political Participation in Armenia: Institutional and Cultural Factors

Women have been poorly represented in Armenian politics for the last several decades. Currently, there are 14 women out 131 members in Armenia's National Parliament. The percentage of women ministers and deputy ministers has never risen above 11% during the past 5 years. Women currently hold two cabinet posts, serving in the ministries that deal with culture and the diaspora. There are no women governors. Additionally, for the past decade, there were no female mayors or deputy mayors in any urban community in Armenia. There is a gender quota system in place for political parties, requiring that in campaign lists every fifth person starting from the second position should be a woman. Nevertheless, there is a widely practiced phenomenon of self-withdrawal among women candidates in Armenia, which is one of the barriers for women to be represented in all levels of decision-making. The practice of self-withdrawal is also an obstacle for implementing the quota system since it prevents the quotas from actually functioning. Among various obstacles preventing women's political participation in Armenia are: gender stereotypes, gender roles, women’s lack of economic independence and social capital, low self-confidence among women, and the overall political culture

Gender Inequality and Poverty in Armenia: A Multidimensional Approach

A gender perspective highlights that poverty affects women and girls disproportionally due to gender biases, unequal division of power in society and social expectations from the roles of men and women. Starting from the 1980s, feminist researchers had begun to raise the issue of the feminization of poverty, and stressed the importance of the intersectionality between not only poverty and gender, but also poverty, gender, ethnicity, age, marital status, etc. Multidimensional analyses of poverty can become the most appropriate methodological approach to understand interconnections between gender and poverty. In order to reveal the whole spectrum of impacts of poverty on different social groups, a multidimensional analysis focuses on 1) opportunities and choices; 2) resources; 3) power and voice; 4) human security. In the article, poverty among men and women in Armenia is presented and recommendations to mitigate poverty among various women's groups are presented

Study of Hydrogen Peroxide Vapors Sensor Made of Nanostructured Co-doped SnO2 Film

A technology was developed for manufacturing the hydrogen peroxide vapors solid-state semiconductor sensor. Gas sensitive nanostructured films made of doped metal oxide SnO2 were manufactured by the high-frequency magnetron sputtering method. The chemical composition of prepared SnO2 targets was analyzed. The thickness of the deposited doped metal oxide film was measured. The morphology of the deposited Co-doped SnO2 film was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The sensor sensitivity to the different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide vapors was measured at different operating temperatures. It was found that the Co- doped SnO2 sensor exhibit a sufficient sensitivity to very low concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapors (875 ppb) at the operating temperature of 100 °C. It exhibits a sensitivity at low operating temperature (25 °C) when exposed to hydrogen peroxide vapors with a concentration greater than 3.5 ppm. The optimal performance was observed at the operating temperature of 150 °C. The sensor made of SnO2 had potential application in real samples for the implementation of medical diagnostic apparatus for use in determining low concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapors

Women in Politics

ISSN:1867-932

Gas Sensor Based on ZnO Nanostructured Film for the Detection of Ethanol Vapor

In this paper, the ZnO target was synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and a nanostructured thin film was deposited by the RF (radio frequency) magnetron sputtering method on a Multi-Sensor-Platform. The obtained ZnO nanostructured film was investigated as the sensing material. Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis indicated the existence of La in the synthesized ZnO material. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of the film showed the grain sizes in the range of 20–40 nm. Sensor performance characteristics such as a dynamic response, response and recovery times, and ethanol detection range were investigated at 50–300 °C. A sensitivity was observed at extremely low concentrations of ethanol (0.7 ppm). The minimum response and recovery times of the sensor corresponding to 675 ppm ethanol vapor concentration at 250 °C were found to be 14 s and 61 s, respectively. The sensor showed a high response, good selectivity, fast response/recovery behavior, excellent repeatability toward ethanol vapor, and low sensitivity toward humidity. These characteristics enable the use of a ZnO based sensor for ethanol detecting applications

The ethanol sensors made from alpha-Fe2O3 decorated with multiwall carbon nanotubes

Thin film ethanol sensors made from alpha-Fe2O3 decorated with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were manufactured by the electron beam deposition method. The morphology of the decorated alpha-Fe2O3/MWCNTs (25:1 weight ratios) nanocomposite powder was investigated using the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. The thickness of thin films has been determined from ellipsometric measurements. The response of manufactured sensors was investigated at different temperatures of the sensor work body and concentration of gas vapors. Good response of prepared sensors to ethanol vapors already at work body temperature of 150 degrees C was shown