Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of March 8.

Dear women,

I want to extend my warmest greetings to all the women on this particular day, March 8, Women's Day. Women constitute the majority of the Republic of Armenia's population, with 53 percent women.

As the Prime Minister of this country, I believe that Women's Day is a chance to reflect on the full potential of women's participation in our country's development. This day was established to safeguard women's labor, political, educational, and other rights. Therefore, we must ensure the complete utilization of women's potential to maximize Armenia's development opportunities.

Our government prioritizes creating equal opportunities for women's involvement in public administration, law enforcement, security, economic, political, scientific, and other fields. We acknowledge that such an approach will significantly improve our country's growth prospects.

We are pleased to see that many women in Armenia are now engaged in economic activities, earning value through their daily creative work and paying taxes. Likewise, we are proud that many women now serve in law enforcement agencies such as the police and the army. We want to encourage more women to join these fields as their participation is vital to our country's best interests.

It is also worth mentioning that many women currently hold high-level government positions, and we are delighted that their success is not attributed to their gender but their skills, expertise, and dedication to their work.

Women in Armenia should have access to high-quality education. We have implemented the 300 Schools and Academic City program to address this issue. However, we are also aware that the country's demographic issues will intensify unless women are encouraged to have more children. Hence, we have introduced the 500 kindergarten program, which is only the first step towards many solutions to help women avoid the dilemma of "work or have a child." We are also proud to have introduced paternity leave so that men can share childcare responsibilities with women.

Finally, on this day, we would like to pay homage to the women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our homeland, including our sisters, mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters of our soldiers. A sovereign, developed, stable, and prosperous state will be the best consolation for their loss, and we are committed to achieving it.

Long live the Republic of Armenia, and Happy Women's Day to all.