HR and Civil Society
“Youth Engaged in Society” has been implemented since 2004 in cooperation with Jinishian Memorial Foundation and with the support of European Union. YES project aims at fostering civil society and active engagement of youth in society through creation of debate clubs. Due to yearly enlargement the project already includes 103 schools from Armavir, Metsamor, Echmiatsin, Abovyan, Hrazdan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Gavar, Sevan, Artashat, Masis, Ashtarak and Yerevan, as well as from Karbi, Mughni, Karin, Oshakan, Dalarik, Lernagog, Qarakert villages.
The project is in its 3rd phase of implementation and is funded by European Union. European Law Mooting Competition project aimes at assisting to Human Rights promotion in Armenia by providing an appealing and interactive mechanism, incorporating awareness raising and self-education in the area of Human Rights for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students majoring in law, international relations, international law, political science and history. The legal case was developed with consideration of timely accurate issues related to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Republic of Armenia. This Action created further continuous interest and tradition in such awareness raising and training with practical emphasis.
The first and second phase of the project was implemented in 2004-2005 and 2007-2008 in cooperation with Legal Guide Organization and was funded by European Union. The major goal of the project was to assist to the promotion of Human Rights by providing an appealing and interactive mechanism that would incorporate awareness raising and self-education in the area of Human Rights among young generation, as well as would be replicable and have a potential to grow into a tradition thus ensuring transferable sustainability. The Project involved knowledge transfer and absorption through public simulation of a court process of the European Court of Human Rights. Target group of students was chosen as a safeguard of knowledge sustainability and its preservation among the most progressive and receptive segment of the population. Main activities of the action were: the moot European Court of Human Rights contest for student mooting teams and televised final of the moot court contest final. All activities were covered by media which provided public awareness of the action and Human Rights issues.
The project was implemented in 2007 ad funded by Democracy Commissions Small Grants. The goal of “Democracy is Debate” project was to educate civically conscious citizens of a democratic society through organization of a summer school for representatives of 35 regional schools of Armenia.
“Democracy is Debate” project used non-formal education as a method for development of youth that was aware of its rights and was able to exercise them. It targeted students of 35 secondary schools of Armenia, from the following 6 towns: Armavir, Abovyan, Echmiatsin, Hrazdan, Gyumri and Vanadzor. The project targeted 14-17 age year-old members of debate clubs, but participation was open to other interested students as well. Participating youth also had an opportunity to put into practice their newly acquired knowledge by designing their own projects, concerning health, education, culture, art, labor right and drug protection. All the projects were funded; the teams received small grants and had two months for project implementation.
“Strengthening Civil Society role in good governance development in Armenia” Project
The project was implemented in 2007 in cooperation with Armenian PR Association and funded by European Union. The major objective of the project was enabling the civil society actors to engage in democratic governance by improving of quality and quantity of policy dialogue in the country between the stakeholders on governmental and civil society levels. The project had the specific objectives to:
1. Establish mechanisms for continuous dialogue and cooperation in the framework through creation and institutionalization of Civic Advisory Councils (CAC) in target areas of Governance: Justice, Social Services and Environment Protection.
2. Build Capacity of the Civil Society actors (NGOs and Media) to act as consultative/advisory bodies with the target government agencies
3. Promote principles of responsible governance among Armenian state officials
4. Raise awareness of general public about the functioning of Civil Advisory Councils and good governance practices by delivering easily accessible online information, through provision of TV broadcasts and with the means of press.
“Voter Education Campaign” Project
The project was implemented in partnership with Helsinki Association in 2006 and funded by European Union. The objective of the Project was awareness raising on civil participation issues and elections. This was the continuation of the previous “Voter Education Campaign” implemented by YFA in 2006. The target groups of the Project were 180 school communities of Armenia. From each school community one teacher/mentor participated in TOT organized in Yerevan. After the TOT each teacher/mentor conducted 2 day seminars on elections and voters’ rights issues in his/her school community. It was estimated that 25 high grade school students, parents, teachers and community members attended those seminars. As seminars were conducted in 180 school communities, 4500 potential voters were involved in the Project.
“Interactive Elections” Mooting project (IE)
The project was implemented in 2007 and funded by UNDP. “Interactive Elections” project aimed at assisting development of democracy, civic participation, raising young voters’ awareness on the issue of importance of participatory democracy and boosting their participation in elections. This project is a logical continuation of YFA’s previous projects on dissemination of principles and values of democracy, awareness raising among young voters on election-related issues through training and encouraging participation in electoral processes. Important component of this 6-month project is the interactive training for students served through 2-day seminars and Mock parliamentary elections simulation game. Project covers higher education institutions of Yerevan, Lori and Shirak regions, thus giving participation opportunity to a large number of Armenia’s students from across the country.
“Youth For Elections” project was implemented in 2007 and funded by National democratic Institute. The overall goal of “Youth For Elections” project was uniting a group of young people, who would share intention of supporting democracy-building in Armenia, provide them with knowledge about democracy and elections and assist the group in implementation of their small-scale initiatives aimed at involvement of more youth. The project planned to form a youth initiative, which will serve the purpose of fostering voter participation in upcoming elections 2007-2008.
An initiative group with 5-10 members was formed to carry out various small-scale activities aimed at raising the awareness of youth regarding free and fair elections, as well as fostering their participation in upcoming elections. Members of the group had participated in a workshop where they had obtained skills necessary for working in a team and design the plans of the initiative group, as well as receive training on electoral processes and cornerstones of democracy.
“Voter Education Campaign” Project
The project was implemented in 2006 and funded by democracy Commission Grants. “Voter Education Campaign” Project was designed with the purpose of assisting the formation of the civil society and fostering active citizen involvement in democratic processes. The Project intended to make a positive impact on target communities by changing its members’ mentality from passive democracy-consumers to active democracy-makers. Within the scope of the project, YFA has initiated a large educational campaign targeting 60 school communities with an aim of increasing the participation of these communities’ members, present and future voters, in the civil society and, particularly, in upcoming elections of 2007 and 2008.
“Men against Domestic Violence” Campaign Project
Project was implemented in partnership with Armenian Public Relations Association in 2005 and funded by United Nations Development Program. The project was aimed at raising the level of awareness on domestic violence cases and their prevention focusing on 15 project target communities: 5 in Yerevan and 10 in regions of Armenia. Also, discussions of discriminatory reality in Armenian communities were held through: articles, trainings of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) active members in target communities, shooting and airing a TV Shows, as well as seminars were organized by trained Social Service Agents and PTA members in their communities.
“Youth In Service” Youth Empowerment and Civic Participation Promotion Project
The project was implemented in 2004 and funded by American Councils for International Education. Based on the previous experience in establishment of Youth Councils in schools, YFA has launched another initiative aimed at empowering youth with knowledge and capacity to maximize their participation in school communities and create favorable environment for fostering active societal involvement. Youth Councils were established in 10 Yerevan secondary schools, which underwent a series of trainings providing them with necessary competence to utilize it in their everyday activity and future operation. Upon completion of trainings Youth Councils were granted an exquisite opportunity to develop and implement their own mini-projects. The Project contributed to the development of students’ involvement into the process of democracy building as well as raising generations with healthy and contemporary understanding of civil society.
“Transparency and Accessibility of Armenian Judicial System” Armenian Economic Web Portal Creation Project
The project was implemented in partnership with Armenian PR Association in 2004 and funded by European Union. The major objective of the project was improving access to regulatory and administrative information and increasing transparency of judiciary structures, policies and proceedings in and related to the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia, as well as improving the quality and effectiveness of judiciary. As an obtained result a web site has been designed. The main task of the web site is to safeguard the free provision of necessary information about the judiciary system and to enhance the efficiency and quality of information exchange between the public and the Economic Court. The Economic Court website not only contributes to the increase of public awareness on the court functions, and raises their legal conscience, but also becomes a daily source of information. Moreover it promotes the formation of civil society as a positive experience of transparency and cooperation.
“Manifesto: Right To Decide” Public Awareness Campaign
During September-December of 2003 YFA stepped into a new area of human rights advocacy – rights of mentally disabled people. The Campaign was implemented in cooperation with “Women for Dialogue”, “IT and Women”, “Unison” NGOs as well as “Prkutyun” Charitable Union for Assistance to Disabled Children and “Progress” Center of Social Researches. The Campaign started with consolidating and systematizing the cross-section efforts made in the sphere of Intellectual Disabilities. The activities implemented during the Campaign included Roundtable discussions with the key players of the field, educational Workshop for mass media representatives, Artwork Exhibition with participation of more than 150 children with intellectual disabilities countrywide, as well as TV Clip, Poster and Booklet production. As a result of the Campaign a Manifesto on the rights of people with intellectual disabilities was presented to decision-making bodies of this sphere as an appeal for National Strategy Development.
The project was implemented in 2002 and funded by World Learning Inc. The project aimed at increasing awareness on The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which had been ratified by the Republic of Armenia in 1996. The Campaign was funded within the scope of “Special Initiatives on Women’s Rights and Economic Equality and Civil Rights”. 105 PTA members of 105 school communities from all regions of Armenia underwent “CEDAW and Women’s Rights” trainings. Afterwards, the participants initiated and organized similar seminars for their local communities. Overall 1997 representatives of school communities (teachers, students and parents) participated in the seminars during the Local Initiatives Stage. Above all, “Guaranteed Rights vs. Traditions” TV Debate was shot and broadcasted on one of the national TV channels in Armenia. Most active PTA members, who previously participated in “CEDAW and Women’s Rights” trainings, constituted two teams supporting contrary viewpoints.
"Face The Democracy" Human Rights Campaign
The project was implemented in 1998 and funded by United States Information Service. Major objective of the project was to encourage involvement of young people in the democratization processes in Armenia and to define their role and share of responsibilities in the partaking of nation building. Youth is more likely to participate in the democratic processes throughout their lives if they perceived the importance of their social and political activity at an early age. "Face the Democracy" project was part of YFA's continuous effort of involving young people in the political life in Armenia, by increasing their awareness about the issues regarding civil society principles.
“Vote For Voting” Youth Countrywide Campaign
The project was implemented in 1997 and funded by the United States Information Service. The project was aimed at increasing youth awareness on the election process, as well as encouraging young voters (age range between 16 and 19) to take part in elections. Series of regional seminar-workshops, designed for high school and university students, were held in various regions of Armenia. These workshops included guest speaker presentations, group discussions, question/answer sessions, voting simulations, etc. The campaign was concluded with an overall two-day "Choose or Lose" conference in Yerevan. Many YFA members volunteered their time and efforts to introduce voting culture and to explain the significance of the vote in the election process to nearly 400 young voters all over Armenia.
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