High Commissioner Zareh Sinanyan participated in the opening ceremony of the 9th Symposium of the Armenian International Women's Association (AIWA) in Yerevan. More than 250 Armenian women from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Lebanon, Kuwait, Russia, Georgia and Armenia are participating in the conference.

«For generations, Armenian women have played a pivotal role in our nation's story. They were and remain the backbone of our families, our communities and the driving force behind the preservation of our culture in the Diaspora. You are the keepers of our hearth and the architects of the brighter future for our people. This year marks the 34th anniversary of AIWA's founding by three highly accomplished Armenian women. They recognized the undeniable and self-evident fact that Armenian women around the world play a vital role in their communities and that helping them grow and flourish would have a broad and positive impact on our society at large. The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs is honored to have AIWA as our partner», - said Zareh Sinanyan.

President of the association Silva Katchiguian, Vice President Zela Astarjian and member of the board Alice Petrossian also made speeches at the opening. They emphasized that the primary goal of this conference is to bring together Armenian women, focusing on Armenia, engaging in organizations that bring positive changes in various fields, whose activities are related to women's education, economic situation, security, health care, social welfare, rights, technology and entrepreneurship.

RA Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, international human rights lawyer Sheila Paylan, World Bank Senior Economist Léa Hakim, Director of ArmAs Company Victoria Aslanian, Mediation Adviser with the UN Women Karma Ekmekji and representatives from the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, FAST Foundation, COAF, Armenian Education Foundation, FemInno and Picsart are involved as speakers at the conference.

The conference includes a symposium, a series of round table discussions at the American University of Armenia, a visit to Dilijan, and meetings with partner structures.