WOMEN’S PROGRAM

The OSIAF-Armenia Women’s Program promotes women’s rights protection and gender equality, and enhances women’s social and political participation as an important component of the democratic process. The program is meant to raise public awareness of gender issues, to empower women’s NGOs and women’s movements throughout the country in general.

While designing its tactics, the OSIAF-Armenia Women’s Program has set the following priorities:

In 2006 primary objectives of the OSIAF-Armenia Women’s Program’s Institutional Partner “TRUST” Social Work and Sociological Research Centre were gender education at high school level, leadership training for women (25 new participants) and creation of a network of women-leaders, and continuation of women’s oral history project. “TRUST” continued to provide training sessions for high school teenagers, mixed groups of students and teachers and furthered research among school students (700 students and 100 schoolteachers from 45 different schools from Yerevan and three regional cities were beneficiaries of Gender Education). In 2006 “TRUST” focused on strengthening gender sensitivity among teenagers through engaging them into Gender Writing Contest. A book entitled “Gender in Stories and Tales” consisting of fairy-tales on gender-related issues composed by participating school students was prepared and published. A weekly radio program was organized throughout 2006 to air tales and stories. Based on conducted researches and case studies on gender issues, “TRUST” developed and prepared for publication Gender Study Manuals that introduces methodology and analysis of researches and serves as an educational material for gender specialists and/or students.

In 2006 Foundation supported development of interdisciplinary academic courses on gender: Women’s Movement Worldwide (19th and 20th Century), Social Psychology of Gender, Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism, and Politics of Gender: Micro and Macro analysis. These courses were piloted at three state universities in Armenia: Yerevan State University, State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan, and State Linguistics University after V. Bryusov. In 2006 with support from the Foundation, the course developers participated in Methodological Summer School held in Issyk Kul with the aim to introduce innovative methods in teaching Gender Studies.

Education of youth in the field of gender was one of the priorities of the Foundation in 2006. A series of discussions among university students were supported accompanied by screening of “Gender Montage” documentary film collection. Leading characters, filmmaker and gender expert of Armenian films “Women’s Happiness or Men’s Dignity” and “Playing to One Gate”, as well as Tajik filmmaker of the Tajik film “New Penelope” were invited to these discussions, which were moderated by the students themselves. In 2006 the films of the “Gender Montage” collection were screened at international film festivals “Golden Apricot” and “Kin” (“Woman”) in Armenia, “One World” in Czech Republic, and “Filmmor” festival of women-filmmakers in Turkey.

In 2006 the OSIAF-Armenia supported Women’s Right Centre to implement the third year of a three-year project “Stop Violence against Women Website and National Monitor Project” in cooperation with Network Women’s Program and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights to maintain and further expand the Stop Violence against Women website, and develop a country monitor and on-line mentoring component. The website includes sections on Domestic Violence, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Trafficking. In addition, the Centre expanded its advocacy initiatives throughout the regions of Armenia and conducted series of presentations of the site followed by debates and discussions on Violence against Women, in particular Domestic Violence. To strengthen the capacity of the Center and to establish and encourage cooperation between the Police and the Center, in 2006 OSI East East Program supported a mixed group of NGO and Police representatives to participate in “Enhancing Police Intervention in Domestic Violence Cases” workshop in Czech Republic.

In collaboration with the OSI East East Program and the Global Fund for Women, the Foundation increased information and experience exchange on combating violence against women through organizing an international conference on effective advocacy for prevention of domestic violence in Armenia during 16-days campaign in 2006. The conference was a forum for opinion exchange and debate on the need and challenge of introducing legislation on domestic violence as well as successful strategies for lobbying of the need of such a law. Additionally, two surveys (sociological and legislative) were supported in 2006, which will be implemented by Women’s Rights Center and Catholic Relief Services with co-funding from OSCE Office in Armenia.