Current issues of human rights. international conference at YSU

The conference, dedicated to the study of human rights issues in Armenia, aimed to bring together scholars and human rights defenders to provide opportunities for professional discussions and collaboration in identifying new avenues for collaboration.

More than three dozen experts and students from various universities and research institutes in Armenia presented their articles related to the field of human rights, particularly focusing on the rights of displaced people, environmental rights, and gender equality, among other topics.

Sergey Ghazinyan, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of YSUm Chair of European and International Law as well as an expert from the European Studies Center, presented an article titled “The Legal Status of Ethnic Armenians Forcibly Displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia,” addressing the legal status issues of individuals displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Emphasizing the participation of students in this conference, Sergey Ghazinyan remarked, “It is extremely important for students to have the opportunity to see the combination of academic studies, research, and practical issues to understand how to elevate problems from practice that can later become a topic of academic analysis, and then return to the practical field, providing valuable insights to the practitioners in this sector.”

Knarik Vardanyan, lecturer and director of the legal clinic at the Faculty of Law of YSU, speaking about the importance of the event, highlighted, “Such conferences today encourage young scientists to undertake scientific work related to human rights and help understand how human rights are protected at the international and national levels. The purpose of the conference is also to make scientific research interdisciplinary, which will allow addressing the fundamental issues of human rights protection from legal, social, psychological, and other perspectives.”

Arman Gasparyan, programme officer at the Yerevan office of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, presenting the work of the institute, noted that the institute works with all state structures involved in human rights in Armenia: “It is very important for us to work with the academic community, and we especially value the collaboration with YSU. That is why the first conference was organized precisely at Yerevan State University.”

The conference also featured presentations by lecturers and students from the faculties of law, sociology, philosophy, and psychology of YSU.

It should be noted that the participating researchers will have the opportunity to receive continuous support in 2024 through grants, international research visits, and exchange programs to develop their research. Selected participants will have the opportunity to publish their research.

For more details, please see the video.