YEREVAN – With births of boys rapidly outpacing those of girls due to gender-biased prenatal sex selection, the National Assembly of Armenia is weighing new legislation to address the harmful practice.

During a working meeting on the issue held 20 May 2014, UNFPA Armenia Assistant Representative Garik Hayrapetyan briefed parliamentarians on the scope of the problem nationally and globally. He also outlined international experiences in combatting the son preference that drives gender-biased prenatal sex selection and managing the availability of technologies and services that allow the practice to be carried out.

Prenatal sex selection in favour of male offspring perpetuates the culture of gender inequality and can lead to serious, long-lasting social and economic consequences and demographic impacts. In Armenia, 114 boys are born for every 100 girls, the third-largest such imbalance in the world after China and Azerbaijan. The normal sex ratio at birth ranges from 102 to 106 males per 100 females.

In Armenia, the imbalance is particularly dramatic for third births: the record level of 173 sons born for every 100 daughters has no known equivalent anywhere else in the world. According to a report released by UNFPA in 2013, nearly 93,000 women will be “missing” in Armenian society by 2060 if the country’s high prenatal sex selection rate remains unchanged.

UNFPA Armenia’s presentation and subsequent Q&A session were conducted at the behest of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood, which is discussing the draft law put forward by the country’s Ministry of Health. The working meeting, which was attended by Committee Chair Ara Babloyan, National Assembly Vice President Hermine Naghdalyan, and members of relevant committees and the Youth Parliament, was seen as an important step in formulating solutions to prenatal sex selection in Armenia.