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On March 9 -13 a discussion of the manual “Tolerance” envisaged for the pupils of 5 -9 grades and training for teachers took place in Aghveran. The President of the NGO “WFD” Gohar Markosyan and the Educational department officer Susanna Ghazaryan participated in it. The working meeting was organized by UNDP and the National Institute of Education. The participants of the meeting conducted by the consultant – expert Caroline Ashton were the authors of the manual, heads of the regional structures of the National Institute of Education, specialists of the requalification department, school teachers, parents, pupils, representatives of NGOs.
During the five-day hard work the participants got acquainted with the logical structure of the manual, methods of teaching. The representatives of the NGO “WFD” had an opportunity to make constructive proposals and justified comments on different topics, especially the chapter “Conflicts”.
On March 1-3, 2010, the first joint regional partner consultation of the Church Development Service (EED) and the Social Service Agency of the Protestant Church in Germany (DW EKD) took place in Tbilisi, Georgia. The president of the NGO “WFD” Gohar Markosyan participated in it.
The overall goal of the consultation was to strengthen the partnership, to improve collaboration, and to meet with the whole partner network of Bread for World and EED.
The aim of the workshop was to discuss the achievements of the past and the challenges for the coming years in the region, and to share important insights for the direction of collaboration.
On
December 29, 2009 a New Year and Christmas party took place in the Community
Center of Bayandur village, Shirak region. The initiator of the event
was the head of Bayandur community Hovagim Sargsyan. At the beginning
of the party on behalf of himself and the population of the community
he expressed their gratitude to the NGO “Women for Development”
for establishing the Community Center in their village, organization of
useful meetings with the population and assisting them in their initiatives.
During the event the children of Bayandur presented themselves through
reciting poems, singing and dancing. The audience was also pleased with
the performance of the members of the Arts school who played the unique
national musical instrument (parkapzuk). At the end of the party the children
hosted Santa Claus, who came with presents for them. Though the small
kids didn’t understand who Santa Claus was, the audience recognized
who was hidden under the clothes of Santa. It was the head of the community,
Hovagim Sargsyan, who sang and danced with the kids, distributed presents
and sweets.
The village population expressed their gratitude to the head of the community
for turning that day into a real holidays for their kids. It is also worth
mentioning that on the eve of the previous year Hovagim Sargsyan, dressed
in Santa Claus, made a tour round the village on a sledge, greeting the
villagers and distributing presents to the children.
From December 1 up to December 4 lessons on the topic “Gender and Conflict” were conducted in “Peace Education Centers” of some schools of Gyumri by the NGO “Women for Development”.
During the lessons more than 85 schoolchildren of 7-9 forms received information on the history of the campaign “16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence”, joining their voice to the struggle against gender violence. The lessons were also valuable because of the fact that the young boys and girls managed to understand what gender is, what gender differences are, what the main conflicts are that occur in the result of gender differences, they brought examples from their daily life. Hot discussions were held especially on the issue of gender differences. Here are some of the opinions of the schoolchildren:
“... a woman also can lead, but it is accepted that the man is a leader...”
“.. a boy should be clever, no, a girl also should be clever, tolerant, for me everybody is equal...”
“... in order not to have arguments, the boy and the girl should protect each other, no matter who it is - a boy or a girl...”
On
December 1-10, 2009, the Coordinator of the Project “Creation of
healthy and peaceful communities in Shirak region” Armine Shiroyan
participated in the 8th Annual Global Linking and Learning Programme,
organized by Dignity International (www.dignityinternational.org)
in partnership with European Anti Poverty Network – Netherlands
(www.eapn.org ), with the support of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland (www.formin.fi),
Oxfam NOVIB (www.oxfamnovib.nl)
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The programme
took place in the Netherlands.
The theme of the programme was human rights based development. 25 participants
selected from over 400 applications from different corners of the world
gathered for an intensive learning that aimed to equip them with the knowledge
of the key elements of human rights based development, and enhance skills
for its practical application. They represented a variety of organizations
specialized in human rights and addressing poverty, health, discrimination,
gender issues and education.
The goal of the programme was to deepen the participants’ understanding
of Human Rights and Human Rights in development, introduce to them new
training methodology, create and develop relationships and networks while
sharing experiences and acquiring understanding of diverse cultural experiences.
The program was a creative and participatory process. It was also a multicultural
exchange, engaging both learners and facilitators to bring out and understand
the Human Rights basis to development.
A 4-day working meeting of the International Peacebuilding Network OMNIBUS 1325 took place on November 14-17, 2009 in Istanbul (Turkey). Susanna Ghazaryan, Education Department Officer of the NGO “Women for Development”, member of the International Peacebuilding Network OMNIBUS 1325 also participated in it.
The goal of the meeting was to summarize and evaluate the seminars on the topic “Gender in History and in the Memory”, which took place in September – October, 2009 in the Caucasus. It was very productive that numerous trainers from the Caucasus had an opportunity to participate in this meeting and exchange their experience and views. The strategy for the coming 2-3 years was developed during the meeting and the activities for 2010 were planned. The meeting was organized by the NGO “OWEN” (Germany).
According to the evaluation of the organizers, this meeting was another big contribution to the spread of peace throughout the world.
On
September 18 an event devoted to the International Day of Peace was held
in the UN Armenian office. This year the International Day of Peace was
celebrated by UN under the slogan “We must disarm”. The event
was organized by Association of Women with University Education, and a
number of civil society organizations participated in it.
The President of the NGO “Women for Development” Gohar Markosyan
was also invited to participate in the event and presented the project
“Peace and Conflict Resolution education in schools” which
is being implemented in the schools of Shirak region for the last 8 years.
Gohar Markosyan started her presentation with the following words: “The
peace education philosophy of Gandhi is in the following: it is necessary
to teach peace education not only on memory days, it is necessary to promote
the teachers to teach peace to our children. Following this philosophy,
we undertake stable steps to introduce peace education to schools”.
To read more about the presentation of G. Markosyan on the International Day of Peace... International Day of Peace
It
has been two years already since members of Peace Education Centers of
the organization’s beneficiary schools take part in the celebrations
dedicated to September 21 – International Day of Peace, which is
a new holiday for our schoolchildren. The organized events are various.
Last year more than ninety 8th graders from School #20 after George Byron
organized Peace Parade on September 21. Pupils were carrying posters and
balloons in their hands, and on them “People are building peace”
slogan was written both in English and Armenian. The parade took off from
Charles Aznavour Square and continued towards the school. On their way
schoolchildren presented the passers-by with balloons decorated with words
associated with peace.
In the surrounding area of School #9 chalk-drawing contest was organized.
Pupils of School #29 organized a presentation, where pictures of various
types of weapons were shown and children spoke about enormous amounts
of money being spent of weapon production in different countries and the
important alternative ways for spending these sums. Pupils even transformed
the toy gun into a tray filled out with chocolates which was disseminated
to the guests.
Events organized in Schools #26 and #30 involved the entire school community
and became a great celebration for all those who were in attendance. All
events were videotaped and broadcasted by local TV channels, and received
positive feedback from the citizens of Gyumri.
This year as well schoolchildren participated in the events dedicated
to the International Day of Peace. They found out when the idea of celebrating
the Day of Peace occurred, became familiar with the history of UN’s
Peace Bell and prepared Peace Posters. On the posters they underlined
the contours of their hands and wrote what is Peace for them. Afterwards
they read what they wrote in turns and glued the “hands” on
the posters. In School #26 children posted their ideas and wishes on the
branches of Peace Tree.
This is how the children value peace:
“Peace is very important for me. To me good friendship is peace”. - Marlen Asatryan, school #40
“Peace is the ability to forgive”. - Kristina Tepanosyan, school #40
“I want all people be first of all happy and then peaceful, because peace is the guarantee for happiness. I also wish everyone could solve their problems without conflicts and see white crane always flying up in the sky”. - Liana Karapetyan, school #26
“Peace
is a very good concept and a person who chooses peace is a happy person”.
- Ani Asatryan, school #26
The president of the NGO “Women for Development” Gohar Markosyan participated in the “International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Global Partners in Action: NGO Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development”, held on September 2-4, 2009, in Berlin. The forum marked the 15th anniversary of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and was jointly hosted by the United Nations Population Fund and the Government of Germany through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and supported by the MacArthur Foundation. It brought together over 400 activists, NGO leaders, and stakeholders working in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to share lessons learned and strategies for moving forward, while fostering collaboration to further advance the ICPD Program of Action.
The Forum was a big success and reminded that the best way to continue to forward the ICPD agenda is through partnership in which we all contribute our diverse strengths.
In just a few days, after assessing gains and gaps in the advancement of sexual and reproductive health, rights and development, the participants were able to agree on the Berlin Call to Action and form the basis for Strategic Options for NGOs (SONGS).
On August 9-22 on WFD invitation a volunteer
consultant from the Canadian organization CESO (Canadian Executive Service
Organization) Jim Wards was working with the WFD staff and the beneficiaries.
During the last 25 years Jim was involved in the Community Development
projects and works mainly with vulnerable groups of the population, those
who live in bad social conditions and need assistance. The goal of the
visit was to get the staff members of the NGO WFD acquainted with the
international experience in rural community development, mobilization
and raising participation, promote raising effectiveness of the community
centers’ work.
According to the scheduled plan, Jim Wards conducted seminars for “WFD”
staff and target community centers’ responsible persons on the topic
“Some Thoughts re Community Development in Shirak Villages”.
This kind of seminar was conducted in the village of Bayandur for the
community general population as well.
In the result a group of 13 volunteers
was formed in Bayandur community, who are trying with the help of the
NGO WFD to raise exact problems that concern their community and try to
solve them. The space of the community center is used to conduct music
and dance classes. The working plan for the coming 2 months and time frame
of the activities is ready. By the end of this year the community center
will have necessary equipment for conducting events, organizing the spare
time of the youth, chess club, the work on creation the community development
strategic plan is in process.
In June-July 2009 the NGO “Women
for Development” hosted the volunteers from Canada and Argentina,
who were in Armenia in the frames of the project being implemented by
the charity foundation “To Hayk”. Cynthia El-Khoury and Marianna
Martirossyan were Armenian students. Cynthia studies at the department
of Dental Care of Montreal University, and Marianna graduated from the
department of Biology of Buenos Aires University. Together with the project
staff they visited the community centers in the target villages, got acquainted
with the activities of the organization and its objectives, participated
in the organized activities. According to their own words, the trainings
conducted by the organization’s Healthcare department responsible
Karine Haroyan on the issues of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS were
very interesting and instructive, the contacts with the rural population
were also very interesting. According to the preliminary agreement, they
conducted seminars on the topics “Genetics” and “Dental
Care” in the Community Centers of the villages Goghovit, Musayelyan,
Bayndur, Lanjik and Krashen for more than 170 young boys and girls. The
joint work of the volunteers with the “WFD” team brought fresh
air and interest in the communities, the level of the youth participation
in the organized activities raised.
In June-December 2008, jointly with the specialists from the National Institute of Education of RA Ministry of Education and Science, presentations were organized for more than 230 teachers from 10 project beneficiary schools, as well as more than 100 teachers from 32 schools in Gyumri, Vanadzor and Ashtarak – respective capitals of Shirak, Lori and Aragatsotn provinces. The goal of the presentations was to disseminate “Peace and Conflict Resolution in Schools” handbook for teachers. All teachers who attended the presentations received copies of the handbook. NIE and school libraries were also provided with handbooks. All school principals received a “Peace Education Center” model developed by WFD NGO specialists, which is a unique policy guide for establishing such centers in schools.
In
March-June 2008 “Women for Development” NGO and the
National Institute of Education of RA Ministry of Education and
Science organized “Peace and Conflict Resolution Education”
trainings for more than 20 teachers from 10 beneficiary schools
in Shirak along with seminars targeted at awareness raising for
15 social science and history teachers from 6 schools of the province
and 11 specialists from Shirak Branch of the National Institute
of Education.
Trainings and seminars were targeted at presenting the published
handbook to the teachers, familiarizing them with the topics raised
in the handbook and discussing the teaching methodology.
Training-seminars served as a perfect opportunity for familiarizing
teachers from various schools of the province with the activities
implemented by WFD in the sphere of peace education as well as achieved
results. During all meetings tense discussions related to the following
issues were taking place: is peace education necessary for Armenian
schoolchildren, and how realistic is the mission of peace education?
Meeting participants came to the conclusion that Peace and Conflict
Resolution Education is extremely important not only for the pupils
of middle and high school, but also elementary school. “In
order to achieve success, it is necessary to begin peace culture
education at an early age”.
While stressing out the importance of such education for the schoolchildren,
many teachers expressed their concerns with the fact that very often
conflicts at schools are being caused by teachers, therefore “tolerance
education should begin from a teacher, who, in turn, should become
role model for the pupils”.
Meeting participants highly valued “Peace and Conflict Resolution
Education in Schools” handbook for teachers, which will significantly
ease the process of organization of such education in schools.
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“Peace and Conflict Resolution Education in Schools” Handbook for Teachers
One of the biggest achievements of the organization throughout the year was publishing “Peace and Conflict Resolution Education in Schools” handbook for teachers. |
Back in December 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between WFD NGO and the National Institute of Education. According to the Memorandum, the National Institute of Education would assign specialists to work jointly with WFD on the development of materials to be included in the “Peace and Conflict Resolution Education in Schools” handbook. Another article of the Memorandum was to support the organization in terms of organizing trainings for teachers. Immediately after signing the Memorandum a working group was formed with the goal of developing and editing the final version of the handbook; including WFD NGO President Gohar Markosyan, Education Department Officer Susanna Ghazaryan, a member of the same Department Julieta Chaloyan, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Education Vardan Ghandilyan and NIE Specialist Serob Khachatryan. In March 2008 the handbook was ready for printing. |
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Community Centers in Villages
Initial selection of project beneficiary villages was conducted back in June-July 2007. With this goal meetings were organized with village mayors, nurses and teachers from more than 12 villages and a survey was conducted among them. The goal of the survey was to find out the issues faced by the village, the willingness of local community to resolve those issues, the willingness of community members to cooperate with the organization, etc. Thus, as the result of the conducted survey, the following villages of Shirak province were selected: Lanjik, Goghovit, Musayelyan, Lusakert and Meghrashat. However, later Meghrashat and Lusakert villages were replaced with Krashen and Bayandur. In case of Meghrashat, the change was caused by the fact that The Union of Shirak NGOs initiated a similar project in this village and in case of Lusakert – difficulties were encountered in terms of selection of space for the community center.In Goghovit, Lanjik and Krashen villages,
community centers were allocated in the village administration buildings;
in Bayandur – in the building of former House of Culture. With the
support of the village mayor and school principal, school building of
Musayelyan village temporarily hosted the community center. Selection
of spaces was followed by renovation, which was implemented by WFD NGO
with a large stake of community contributions. During renovation stage
it seemed that village mayors became WFD staff members. It was a real
pleasure to watch how enthusiastically they were implementing renovation
works and how proud they were to tell their friends about inclusion of
their village in the project.
Trainings for Community Center Officers and Volunteers
Parallel to community center renovation works, it was necessary to appoint center officers and to establish volunteer groups in each target community to support in the processes of organizing community center activities and ensure community members’ active participation in the events. Taking into consideration the fact that medical workers have very good image among the population especially in the remote areas and had experience of working with our organization during the implementation of health projects, we decided to appoint them in the positions of community center officers. For nurses it would be very easy to ensure community members’ participation – especially in the events dedicated to health care topics. Mainly young women, housewives, teachers, kindergarten workers, medical workers, village administration staff members and elder women (in some villages) became volunteers.Special training course for community center officers and volunteers was organized and conducted in June. The main goal of the training was to spread light on the idea of “healthy and peaceful community”, to transfer necessary knowledge and skills, which would enable them to independently raise issues of community’s concern, to formulate those issues and seek for possible options to resolve them, to be able to protect rights and simultaneously care the responsibility for not only their problems, but also the problems being faced by their respective communities, and, most importantly, to be able to mobilize other members of the community. The training course contained both theory and practical activities. Special emphasize was given to the clarification of the role and objectives of the mobilization specialist (mobilizer) and MEPIF principle – Mobilize, Evaluate, Plan, Implement and Follow-up.
Training participants were very active and expressed high interest towards both training materials and the project itself. They were especially active during practical assignments when each group had the opportunity to present an issue faced by their community and come up with possible options to resolve it. For example: efficient usage of village children’s spare time, improvement of the quality of drinking water and other issues.
According to the participants, the training course
was very useful for them: “now I have a better understanding of
my future work in the capacity of community mobilization specialist”.
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