The results of projects implemented for the prevention of sex-selective abortions will be observed in 1-2 years, head of Maternity and Reproductive Health Protection Unit of Armenia's Ministry of Health, Gayane Avagyan said.

"We can already see a positive change: if the girl-boy ratio was 100-115 in 2012, it is 100-112 now. Such projects and public campaigns may change the people's attitude," Avagyan said at a session of the commission of grants competition, organized by the President's office and the Youth Foundation of Armenia (YFA), Tuesday, July 21.

Avagyan mentioned three main reasons behind sex-selective abortions in Armenia: when people plan to have few children, they want to have kids of different genders or only boys; there has always been some kind of preference for sons in Armenian families, YFA website reports.

The ministry representative said they have proposed a legislative initiative: in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and with the support of international and local NGOs, the Ministry of Health is planning to implement a program on prevention of sex-selective abortions.

Names of grant-winning NGOs will be announced in the coming days.