Fellowship Programme
Country
Area of Interest
Topic
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
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| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
“I hope that one day, women in Armenia will not have to choose between family and work, proper childcare or sufficient income.’ This ‘hope’ has been the driving force for Astghik Karapetyan, an EaP Civil Society Fellow and co-founder and president of Point 33 NGO. Astghik sees that the workplace culture in Armenia, like in many places, faces challenges in supporting working parents, especially women. These gaps sparked her mission to foster Family-Friendly Workplaces (FFW). Her fellowship project, “Making Family-Friendly Workplaces Workable,” confronts the realities that many Armenian parents face: limited childcare support, rigid work hours, and a lack of policies that truly accommodate family life. “A family-friendly workplace allows employees to be close to and care for a family member in need while continuing to work and earn an income,” says Astghik․
Astghik is a human rights journalist. Since 2011, she has been reporting on topics covering human rights and the judiciary, including analytical and investigative pieces on state procurement and illegal enrichment.
Besides, Astghik is a mother of two. When her second child was born, she began to recall all the difficulties that she had gone through during the birth of her firstborn: labor rights violations, obstetric violence, depression, and other issues. However, she was a strong woman and was able to resist. But she kept thinking, how do other women who don’t know about their rights and don’t have enough strength to protect themselves settle all these problems? And this thought made her act and start advocating for women’s rights and family-friendly policies.
Astghik’s journey as an EaP Civil Society Fellow began with qualitative research on the Armenian legislative landscape and opportunities to have FFWs, and FFW models in Europe, including Czech and Hungarian examples where progressive policies have made balancing work and family more achievable. There, she observed pioneering approaches to workplace flexibility, affordable childcare, and parental support that have made balancing family and work more feasible. The research, Family-Friendly Workplaces: Armenian Opportunities (download report in Armenian language), includes legal and practice reform recommendations for the Government and parliament, as well as employers of Armenia.
Beyond research and policy recommendations, Astghik has engaged the public directly through her podcast series, Մեծ գործ (Metz Gorts, or “Big Thing”). The podcast addresses practical aspects of family life for Armenian working parents, covering crucial topics like mental health for working mothers, childcare accessibility, and perspectives on balancing work and family in Armenia. In less than a year, the podcast has gained thousands of listeners, amplifying discussions around family-inclusive workplace cultures in Armenia. The episode about the mental health of working parents is the most popular with our audience. One listener wrote that in her most exhausted moments, she remembers and follows the idea in the episode that you must give yourself time to be with yourself and “recharge” during the day.
Astghik’s advocacy reached a significant milestone at the final project’s event attended by Armenian government and parliament representatives and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Armenia, Petr Pirunčík. Ambassador Pirunčík expressed his gratitude for the project’s accomplishments, including the insights gained from visits to the Czech Republic and Hungary to study their family-friendly workplace models. He highlighted the complex challenges that remain, noting, “Many issues can be resolved through legislative changes, but often the solution depends on the goodwill of the employer. It is difficult when people believe that having a child means you shouldn’t return to work. The hardest part is addressing societal mindsets and customs.”
During the event, the representatives of Armenia’s parliament and government expressed strong interest in Astghik’s recommendations and commended her work as “ready material for legislative change,” indicating its practical value. For Astghik, this recognition represents a hopeful step toward an Armenian workplace culture that genuinely supports family life, encouraging both career and personal wellbeing.
“Through my project, I want to talk about the difficulties of women who combine family, childcare, and jobs and the means to solve these difficulties. We have the opportunity to achieve this. Specific legislative changes are, of course, essential and will have significant changes. However, the most important thing is for employers to take the first step to make the workplace family-friendly” – says Astghik.
Astghik envisions an Armenia where workplaces truly support family needs, empowering a stronger and more balanced workforce. Her work brings Armenia closer to a culture where parents can thrive both at work and at home, creating not only supportive environments but also a more resilient society.
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
In parallel with academic studies, with a MA in Social Work and a nearly completed Doctorate in Sociology, Gohar Khachatryan has charted her civic activism through a range of CSOs and Thinktanks in her native Armenia since 2016. She grew up in a provincial town and through voluntary work with a local CSO began to understand how vulnerable groups often have their rights ignored or abused. While pursuing her academic goals Gohar had the opportunity to study the dynamics of anti-discrimination. From 2018 to 2019 Gohar was a Research Fellow with the Public Policy Institute and under an EU-funded project ‘Pursuing Positive Change Through Empowering CSOs’ she analysed methods and toolkits for protecting against discrimination. Later, in 2022, Gohar spent time in Austria, supported by an Erasmus+ action, exploring mechanisms and practices for the prevention of gender-based violence and learning from challenges in the management of mental health services.
“When the call’ for applicants for the Civil Society Fellows came out in the second half of 2022, I saw a great opportunity for making a positive contribution to promote community-based approaches to mental healthcare in Armenia.”
Accordingly, Gohar set about to evaluate the policies and practices used in the establishment and operations of the first four innovative, post-Soviet ‘group homes’ in Armenia. These are residential homes for citizens who require support on specific mental health issues. The homes, in the regions of Ararat, Kotayk, Lori, and the capital Yerevan, were initially established though programmes of international organisations and now jointly run with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and cooperation with the local authorities. The long-term aim of the ‘homes’ is to support mental health sufferers to live independent lives in the community. As such, Gohar used her fellowship to look at the progress in a particular area – the extent to which the residents of the ‘group homes’ participate in local decision-making processes – and to facilitate a fully participatory research process involving the residents, the staff and management of the homes.
As a result of her fellowship, Gohar has helped to create a degree of momentum towards the goal of having ‘independent living’ as the guiding policy principle on mental healthcare provision. Having pioneered research on this subject, she has created a space for further research and investigation, and through debate on her research paper has ensured that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will endorse the paper’s recommendations. Furthermore, the Ministry for Territorial Infrastructure has agreed to disseminate the report to its local government communities in Armenia with the intention of inspiring them to take action to be more inclusive in their decision-making.
Download the Summary of the Research Report in English:
Are Community Decision-Making Processes Inclusive for a Person with a Disability?
With regard to the rights-holders in these ‘group homes’ Gohar has also noted positive changes. Residents are now aware of their rights and the management of the homes have a better understanding of how they can improve the protection of those rights. For example, there had been a previous practice for the management of the ‘group homes’ to confiscate and safeguard the passports of residents. But, through the consultative activities of Gohar’s research, residents and staff were able to learn about the importance and usefulness for residents to keep their own passports and consequently three of the ‘group homes’ have changed their policy on this issue.
Gohar also reported that there were other bright moments generated by the interaction with the residents. During the fellowship project Gohar wanted to create some visual products (posters and flyers) to raise awareness and promote the findings of the research.
“To do this we had a designer to come up with some visual drafts and then we showed these to the residents to ask for their opinions and ideas on how to finalize the products. The posters and flyers were duly made and at the fellowships final event the residents of the ‘group homes’ saw these outputs and were so pleased to see their ideas and suggestions incorporated. This was really empowerment in action.”
Gohar will be continuing her mission to support the protection of the rights of women and men with mental health issues and more broadly engage in the defence of rights of other vulnerable groups. “Being part of civil society is paramount to this process as it means that I can investigate and advocate without the restraints that may otherwise come if I was a State employee”. As part of this mission, Gohar, with other like-minded colleagues, set up a platform called ‘Change’. Gohar hopes that this organisation will be an effective addition to the rights protection architecture in Armenia and is proud that its first advocacy action was to promote the findings from her fellowship project.
| Country | Armenia |
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| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Grigor’s project was focused on exploring and enhancing youth participation in policy development and decision-making in Armenia. Its cornerstone is the publication of a bilingual Armenian-English Research Report “Youth Participation in Policy Development and Decision-Making”. (Download the Research Report in English here and in Armenian here). This comprehensive report sheds light on the political and civic involvement of young people at both the community and state levels. It identifies key issues and provides 22 recommendations for addressing gaps and needs, targeting national and local authorities, international organizations, and political parties.
The project engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including youth workers, youth policymakers, and national authorities responsible for youth, who were interviewed to gather valuable insights. Additionally, Grigor and his colleagues reached out to approximately 200 young people through an online survey and conducted five focus groups involving 50 participants in total, including young people and policymakers. This collaborative effort ensured that diverse perspectives were incorporated into the research. Furthermore, Grigor took a study trip to Brussels to learn about evidence-based youth policy development and implementation best practices.
The impact of the work is already evident, as its recommendations have been considered during the drafting of the Law on Youth and the Youth Policy Strategy and Action Plan of Armenia. Furthermore, the Armenian Progressive Youth NGO will utilize the methodology developed within the project to conduct the same study annually, monitoring changing patterns and emerging trends.
| Country | Armenia |
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| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Implemented by Emma Petrosyan, the Women Bike Camp in Vanadzor was an initiative aimed at empowering women and girls through cycling and fostering confidence in sports participation. This unique project marked the first event of its kind in the region, combining practical cycling lessons with skill-building workshops, all while providing participants with the opportunity to connect with nature and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
The bike camp welcomed 1o women from three different cities in Armenia, who participated in three cycling classes. These sessions not only helped participants learn to ride bicycles but also offered a hands-on workshop about bike mechanics, covering basic repairs and maintenance skills. For many participants, this was a first-time experience, boosting their self-confidence and expanding their perspectives on outdoor sports and recreational activities.
The impact of the bike camp extended far beyond the immediate participants. A significant partnership was established with Women Fund Armenia, which expressed strong interest in supporting the camp as an annual event. Additionally, the Municipality of Vanadzor recognized the potential of cycling as a recreational and transport activity.
With continued support from Women Fund Armenia and other donors, the bike camp plans to host future cycling classes for women and youth in Vanadzor, fostering inclusivity and empowerment through sports.
| Country | Armenia |
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| Type of solution | |
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| The budget development decisions | 0 |