Anna Hakobyan, spouse of the Armenian Prime Minister, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of My Step and City of Smile charitable foundations, on October 23 participated in the discussion on “Women in leadership” within the framework of the annual conference “Teach for all”. In her speech, Anna Hakobyan touched upon women’s participation in the velvet revolution and women’s role. Speaking about the challenges she has as the Prime Minister’s spouse, Anna Hakobyan noted that there is still no perception that the prime minister’s wife should be active, as I do now, and the opposition uses certain stereotypes to harm my husband.
“This is very difficult, because I am under constant pressure. I know that people love and appreciate the work that I do. I see this during daily conversations with people. I often visit different cities and villages and see the warm attitude of people. However, the political opposition is using this activity against my husband to harm him. This is due to the fact that there is still a tendency in Armenia that “it’s very bad when your wife is active” or “maybe you are not such a good husband, therefore your woman is active” or “your wife should stay at home, next to the children” and so on. It is very difficult to work in such conditions, but I continue to do this because I believe in women, I believe in my work and in the role that I perform. I do not want to give up on the details, because it is not right,” she said.
“My perception is that my husband is the prime minister, and now he is in a difficult situation, since managing the country is a very difficult task. I am sure that it is difficult to rule any country, but Armenia has its own characteristics – historical, geographical and so on. And I can’t stay home and live my life when my husband has so much work. And if I am half of it, then it should be useful to him, children, society and the country. Yes, it is difficult, but there are difficult times in life, and I am convinced that this is one of such periods.”
Anna Hakobyan advises women not to be afraid to take risks and believe in what they do․
