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Armenian NGO News in Brief - 12/15/2004

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  • Armenian NGO News in Brief - 12/15/2004

    IN THIS ISSUE:

    *** NGO/MEDIA THEMATIC ENCOUNTERS AT AAA NGO CENTER

    *** COMMUNITY CENTER OPENS IN GYUMRI

    *** FIVE YEARS OF AREVATSAGHIK

    *** GOOD WILL, GOOD DEEDS, GOOD RESULTS: INTERREGIONAL VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT
    2004

    *** SAFE AND RATIONAL USE OF MEDICINE

    *** NGOs TO MONITOR ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

    *** PRESENTATION OF THE STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WEBSITE AND NATIONAL
    MONITORING PROJECT



    *** NGO/MEDIA THEMATIC ENCOUNTERS AT AAA NGO CENTER

    On November 4, AAA NGO Center hosted its regular thematic NGO/Media
    encounter titled Diminution Of Unemployment As A Step Towards Poverty
    Reduction. These encounters are aimed at raising public awareness on the
    diverse problems Armenian NGOs are tackling, NGO sector activities to
    address those problems and constraints faced while working towards
    solutions. The goal of this seventh encounter was to draw public attention
    to Armenian NGO activities aimed at reducing unemployment, with a special
    emphasis on the most vulnerable groups of the population - refugees and
    disabled people: their vocational training, professional development and job
    creation for them. During the encounter, representatives of the Galik
    Employment Assistance and Areguni Social Development NGOs made presentations
    on involving disabled people in NGO initiatives on unemployment reduction
    and Tchambarak region experience in using local resources for reduction of
    unemployment among refugees. Other participants included representatives
    from NGOs dealing with poverty reduction, Mass Media, and state and
    international organizations.

    The next thematic encounter, held on November 30, was devoted to the
    International Day of AIDS. Vardan Babayan of the Armenian National AIDS
    Foundation presented the current HIV/AIDS situation in Armenia and Jina
    Sargizova of AAA NGOC spoke about the Capacity Building In HIV/AIDS
    Prevention program, jointly implemented by UNFPA, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNICEF, ROA
    Ministry of Health, Armenian National AIDS Foundation and AAA NGOC. The
    expected outcome of this project is the improved capacity of the Government
    and civil society to design and implement effective and well-coordinated
    HIV/AIDS work plans and programs at the national, regional and community
    levels.

    Contact: Margarit Piliposyan
    AAA NGO Training and Resource Center
    39 Y. Koghbatsi St.
    Tel.: 54-40-12, 54-40-13
    E-mail: [email protected]


    *** COMMUNITY CENTER OPENS IN GYUMRI

    On November 2, a new Community Center opened its doors in Gyumri. The
    building was renovated by the Norwegian Refugee Council and houses Community
    Social-Healthcare and Pedo-Psychological Assistance Centers as well as a
    Kindergarten. Services of the Community Social-Healthcare Center will be
    provided by Mission Armenia Charitable NGO and are designed to meet the
    needs of vulnerable, single, older and disabled people and refugees residing
    in temporary dwellings. This integrated center includes a soup kitchen,
    social services center, health post, bath and laundry, hairdressing room,
    training resource center, conference room and other more.
    The soup kitchen will be operational on week-days and provide hot nutritious
    meals to about 200 beneficiaries. The social services center will provide
    health, psychological, legal trainings and individual consultations. The
    in-home services for almost 600 single older residents of Gyumri are one of
    the most significant activities to be carried out through the center:
    provision of individual care, personal hygiene, medical assistance,
    psychological, gerontological and legal assistance, home renovation, heating
    of homes, and more. It will also serve as a good place for arranging
    cultural events, meetings and round-table discussions. The health post will
    provide primary health care and necessary medications to beneficiaries free
    of charge. The bath and laundry will meet primary hygienic needs of older
    beneficiaries. The hairdressing room will provide relevant services to the
    vulnerable. Through the training resource center, computer, hairdressing and
    tailoring skills will be transferred to the vulnerable refugee and local
    population of the town, providing them an opportunity to acquire new job
    skills. Mission Armenia Charitable NGO implements these activities through
    funding support received from USAID.

    Contact: Hripsime Kirakosyan
    Mission Armenia Charitable NGO
    42 G. Nzdeh St.
    Tel.: (374-1) 44-47-92; 44-47-93
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.mission.am


    *** FIVE YEARS OF AREVATSAGHIK

    November 2, 2004 marked the fifth anniversary of the Bridge of Hope NGO's
    Arevatsaghik (Sunflower) magazine. Today, the periodical is the only one of
    its kind in Armenia with a mission of integrating disabled children into
    mainstream society. The monthly magazine presents integration opportunities
    for disabled children into society and helps develop a positive attitude
    towards children with special needs. Children and juveniles with and without
    disabilities work together to create the magazine. They develop their
    journalistic skills through juvenile journalists training courses held in
    the Bridge of Hope's center. The monthly publication is disseminated in
    secondary schools, children's libraries and other institutions dealing with
    children's issues. Today, the number of readers is 10,000. Arevatsaghik
    covers current issues of concern to children and juveniles: disability,
    health, education, social, legal and cultural. The monthly has various
    rubrics: Brave Spirits; School Mosaics; Discussion Club; Know-All George's
    Corner; Cinema; Your Problem, Our Solution; and more.

    Contact: Susanna Tadevosyan
    Bridge of Hope NGO
    19a Koryun St.
    Tel.: (374-1) 56-01-43; 58-91-86
    E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
    Website: http://www.bridgeofhope.am


    *** GOOD WILL, GOOD DEEDS, GOOD RESULTS: INTERREGIONAL VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT
    2004

    The Good Will, Good Deeds, Good Results yearly interregional events promote
    volunteer movement and activities of NGOs as an effective institute to unite
    communities in solving their local problems. Participants are NGOs, local
    and regional authorities and community members. This year, Good Will, Good
    Deeds, Good Results events were organized by the Center for Community
    Dialogues and Initiatives NGO on October 28 and 29 in eight regions of the
    republic. The registered results are encouraging: 910 events in 25 towns of
    Armenia with the participation of 102,000 citizens. Some activities included
    free services of dentists, hairdressers, cobblers, cleaning areas, material
    assistance, cultural and sports events, and more. One participant said,
    "This movement enabled citizens of Armenia to make their practical
    contributions in the development of their communities while also conveying
    the power of the volunteer movement."

    Contact: Naira Hovhannissyan
    Center for Community Dialogues and Initiatives NGO
    8 Tumanyan St.
    Tel.: (374-1) 58-42-79, 58-42-97
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.ccdi.am


    *** SAFE AND RATIONAL USE OF MEDICINE

    On November 8, Pharmprogress Youth NGO initiated meeting among its members,
    representatives of Health and Social Welfare Department of the Yerevan
    Municipality and eight policlinics in Yerevan. These parties are involved in
    disseminating instructions for using humanitarian medicines to vulnerable
    groups. The meeting was part of the Increasing Awareness On Safe And
    Rational Medicine Usage Among Representatives of Economic and Social Risk
    Groups in Yerevan project. The cooperating parties have tasked themselves
    with ensuring the provision of Armenian and English versions of instructions
    of medicines disseminated by Yerevan policlinics to vulnerable groups, and
    their participation in training courses on safe usage of medicines.
    Participants agreed upon cooperation mechanisms.

    Contact: Hrant Danagulyan
    Pharmprogress Youth NGO
    18 Heratsi St.,
    Tel.: (374-1) 57-82-05, 57-82-04
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.medicina.am/pharmprogress


    *** NGOs TO MONITOR ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

    On November 24 and December 1, the first sessions of the Protection of
    Economic Competition (preventing anti-monopoly and conflict of interest) and
    the Healthcare working groups of the ROA Commission on Anti-Corruption
    Strategy Monitoring were held. The first working group unites 15 NGOs and
    the second 27. Activities of the working groups include: implementing
    anti-corruption strategy and monitoring implementation of departmental
    anti-corruption projects; studying and summarizing the experiences of
    international organizations in anti-corruption efforts, developing
    suggestions to improve the mechanisms used, conducting expert review of
    legislative drafts, suggesting amendments and submitting those to the
    Commission on Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring.

    Contact: Abgar Yeghoyan: Commission member; Coordinator of the Protection of
    Economic Competition working group
    E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

    Greta Mirzoyan: Commission member; Coordinator of the Healthcare working
    group
    E-mail: [email protected]

    Marianna Stepanyan: Commission exptert
    E-mail: [email protected]


    *** PRESENTATION OF THE STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WEBSITE AND NATIONAL
    MONITORING PROJECT

    The November 25 presentation marked the beginning of a series of events by
    the Women's Rights Center NGO within the framework of the 16 Days of
    Activism Against Gender Based Violence. The project is being implemented in
    Armenia with the financial support of Network Women's Program and Open
    Society Institute Assistance Foundation - Armenia with the goal of creating
    an information source on the problem (http://www.stopvaw.org) and promoting
    cooperation among organizations dealing with gender based violence and
    drawing the attention of the public and relevant structures to this issue.
    The newly-launched internet page (http://www.stopvaw.org) presents links and
    resources including the National Plan of Action on the Improvement of
    Women's Situation and the Enhancement of their Role in Society; Research and
    Reports; Treaties; Legislative Trends; Women's NGOs, and more.

    Contact: Susanna Vardanyan
    Women's Rights Center NGO
    17 Abovyan St., #20
    Tel.: (374-1) 58-36-18
    E-mail: [email protected]

    __________________________________________________ ________________________

    Armenian NGO News in Brief is a publication of the NGO Training and Resource
    Center (NGOC) issued in the Armenian, English and Russian languages for
    electronic dissemination inside and outside Armenia. Primary funding for the
    NGOC, which is a project of the Armenian Assembly of America, is provided by
    the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) Individual
    NGOs are welcome to submit information for publication to the NGOC. The NGO
    Center is not responsible for the clarity of information provided by
    individual NGOs.

    Dear Readers,

    The not-for-profit, non-governmental sector of Armenia is rich with diverse
    civic initiatives and activities. This electronic publication, though far
    from covering all activities of the sector per any given time period, is
    intended to contribute to raising awareness, both inside and outside
    Armenia, of the activities of Armenian not-for-profit, non-governmental
    organizations.

    Your comments and feedback about this electronic publication are greatly
    appreciated.

    Thank you.
    NGOC staff.

    Contact Information:

    In Armenia:
    Armenian Assembly of America
    NGO Training and Resource Center
    39 Yeznik Koghbatsi St., Yerevan 375010
    Tel.: (3-741) 54-40-12; 54-40-13; 53-92-04
    Fax: (3-741) 54-40-15
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.ngoc.am

    In the United States:
    Armenian Assembly of America
    NGO Training and Resource Center
    122 C Street NW, Suite 350
    Washington, DC 20001 USA
    Tel: (202) 393-3434Fax: (202) 638-4904
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.aaainc.org
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