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Joint Civil Society Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative Workshop Opens up Space for Collaboration Amongst Armenian and Turkish Organizations
On April 8th, 2010, the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV) and Counterpart Armenia held their second event of the Civil Society Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative (CBCI) . Counterpart welcomed its Turkish CSI partners for the Initiative’s Joint Workshop in Yerevan, which provided an opportunity for Armenian and Turkish civil society representatives to engage in dialogue, compare the two countries’ Civil Society Index (CSI) findings, discuss similarities and differences and discover areas to cooperate and learn from one another. ...
Armenian Civil Society Index National Workshop Identifies Opportunities to Empower Civil Society
By the final session of the Armenian Civil Society Index (CSI) National Workshop, participants were tired. They had been hard at work since 9:30am, and by 6pm there was still much to be done. But as the members of the three task forces filed into the Manoogian Auditorium at the American University of Armenia and began presenting their final action plans, something unprecedented and exciting started to happen: for the first time in Armenia, civil society representatives had an honest conversation about the state of civil society in Armenia, without the input or guidance of any international donors....
Creating Space for Cooperation: Counterpart Armenia Heads to Turkey
Armenian and Turkish civil society organizations, led by Counterpart International-Armenia and Turkey’s Third Sector Foundation (TUSEV), launched an unprecedented partnership effort on February 18, 2010, to implement the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative (CBCI), generously supported by USAID and the Black Sea Trust. Counterpart International’s CSI Team traveled to Istanbul Turkey to meet with counterparts at TUSEV to hold the first of a series of working meetings in advance of several national and regional activities and events. The CSI is an action-research project that assesses the state of civil society in a given country. While Counterpart Armenia is implementing the CSI in Armenia, TUSEV is carrying it out in Turkey. The goal of the Cross-Border project is to compare Turkish and Armenian civil societies, highlight similarities and open up dialogue about the differences, and create future opportunities for cooperation between organizations on the two sides of the border. ...
NGO Establishes Unprecedented Mechanism to Protect University Students’ Rights
Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia after the capital city of Yerevan, boasts a university and college student population of around 10,000. These students are represented at each of their colleges and universities by student councils, which united to form the Student Council of Gyumri NGO in order to work jointly on behalf of Gyumri’s student population. Despite the fact that resources such as these exist to assist students, student councils still lack the experience, knowledge, and structural independence to fully advocate on behalf of their peers. Often, even students serving on student councils fear the potential repercussions that they may face for voicing a complaint....
Armenian Civil Society Organizations Complete Major Certification Process on the Way to Organizational Sustainability
In September 2009, three of Armenia’s key civil society support organizations, successfully completed a major step in becoming strong and sustainable service providers and resource centers for Armenia’s non-profit sector. In the framework of USAID’s Civic Advocacy Support Program (CASP), implemented by Counterpart International, these three service providers successfully finished the Organizational Certification Process (OCP), carried out over more than three years. These organizations were the Civic Development and Partnership Foundation (CDPF), the Partnership and Teaching Non-Governmental Organization for Civil Society and Education (P&T NGO) and the NGO Center Civil Society Development NGO, Northern Branch (NGOCV)....
NGO advocacy leads to enforcement of legislation on free eye exams for children
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, health officials in the city of Yeghegnadzor have seen an increase in the number of children with eye disorders. In many cases, complications from these illnesses lead to blindness and other serious conditions. Since the concept of preventive eye care is not widespread, parents rarely take their children to the optometrist for regular eye exams and problems often go unnoticed. Despite the existing law adopted in 2007 and guaranteeing free yearly eye exams for children under 15, children were not receiving the necessary preventive care. In addition, some doctors were illegally charging for these eye exams. ...
NGO advocates for the repair of unsafe electrical wiring
Over the years of implementing building management projects in Yerevan, the Millennium Communities Development Foundation - a grantee of the Civic Development and Partnership Foundation, one of Counterpart Armenia’s Intermediary Service Organizations - identified a need to address the widespread problem of unsafe electrical wiring. While this is against building codes, many residential and commercial buildings in Yerevan have exposed wires in entrances and corridors, which pose a great risk to residents, especially children. It is not uncommon for electrical wiring to be located close to either gas or water lines, greatly increasing the chances of an explosion or electrocution. ...
NGOs hold debates in preparation for first-ever Yerevan municipal elections
The Center for Community Dialogues and Initiatives (CCDI) and Paros NGO, grantees of Counterpart Armenia’s elections program, both held debates between political parties leading up to the first-ever municipal elections held in Yerevan, which aimed to raise awareness of the voting process and issues that face voters....
NGOs protect the rights of voters with disabilities during Yerevan municipal elections
Armenia’s census does not include any questions related to disabilities, so it’s hard to say precisely how many individuals with disabilities live in the country. According to rough estimates, there are 170,000 citizens with disabilities living in Yerevan; an estimated 100,000 of these individuals eligible voters. Voters with disabilities in Armenia, when they are in a position to take advantage of their right to vote, face many obstacles. The most pressing of these being physical inaccessibility to polling stations, many of which are located upstairs in buildings without elevators or ramps. Other issues faced by voters with disabilities include lack of information, which does not often cater to blind and deaf voters, and gaps in legislation which violate the rights of blind voters to vote in private. ...
NGO establishes standards of operation and oversight for local pharmacies
Armenia’s Law on Drugs stipulates that certain types of medication can only be dispersed with a doctor’s prescription yet almost all pharmacies in Armenia still sell prescription-only drugs as if they were over-the-counter medications. People often request medication at a pharmacy for various conditions without ever consulting with a physician, which can lead to many serious problems and even death. This tendency to self-diagnose and self-medicate is dangerous on two fronts: both because the proper medication is not being taken and because the ill individual may be taking a combination of drugs which is harmful to their health. People in Armenia would often site the cost of a visit to the doctor as the main reason for which they do not consult with physicians for proper prescriptions, but regular visits to policlinics have been free in Armenia since the government announced a system of free primary healthcare in January 2006. Members of the Martiros Charitable Foundation, many of them doctors, identified this problem in their daily work, and pointed to the lack of mechanisms for oversight of pharmacies as one of the main factors contributing to it. ...
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