Fellowship Programme
Country
Area of Interest
Topic
Updates coming soon!
| Country | Georgia |
| 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 |
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 |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The project: Elephant in the Room aimed to enhance the campaign planning capacity of the LGBTIQ groups and organizations in Georgia. The fellowship action comprised the international study trip, awareness-raising training and creative campaign. In the first stage of the project, Beka organized a study trip/internship at the ILGA World – International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association in Brussels, Belgium. Then, having learned new perspectives and approaches to the community outreach and anti-discrimination initiatives, he launched a series of training for the local LGBTIQ groups. On top of that, to raise the visibility of the basic problems faced by the Queer community, Beka started the social campaign – For the Equal Opportunities. Through the creative posters tailored to the various concerns affecting the universal rights of freedom of expression/education and access to healthcare, he enhanced the visibility of the Queer issues to the larger audiences.
The action increased awareness of the 24 beneficiaries from the Georgian LGTIQ communities in terms of planning and managing large-scale campaigns on the local level. Also, the project delivered 20 creative electronic and printed posters raising the understanding of the everyday challenges (tailored to the universal human rights) faced by the LGBTIQ communities. The above campaign served as a creative tool to empower the Queer community and tackle gender-based discrimination in Georgia. Finally, the action increased the capacity for the Beka himself, since he had an opportunity of traveling to the ILGA World Office and upgrading his skills in social and legal issues.
Project in media:
ქვიარ საფოსტო ბარათები – თანასწორობის იდეისთვის
საფოსტო ბარათები ქვიარ ადამიანების პრობლემებზე
საფოსტო ბარათები, რომლებზეც ილუსტრირებულია უმცირესობების უფლებები:
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Uliana’s action aimed to encourage gender mainstreaming in public security services in Ivano-Frankivsk city through monitoring and evaluation of public spaces in the city. To achieve the above objective, Uliana conducted a wide range of activities, including research, awareness-raising training, development of the online platform and community outreach. First, she developed the monitoring methodology to evaluate the safety of the public spaces. Then, Uliana researched the public places of Ivano-Frankivsk and prepared recommendations for the local authorities. Following this, she launched the development of a new web-section for the online map – Safe City to detect dangerous spaces/zones in Ivano-Frankivsk. To reach a larger audience of the city and educate them, the project team organized two online trainings on public safety. Finally, to disseminate the research findings broadly and creatively, they created a short animated video attracting the attention of hundreds of viewers on social media.
The project delivered the monitoring methodology and evaluation report on safety of Ivano-Frankivsk public spaces from a gender perspective; the research applied a participatory approach and informed the decision-makers about the issue through the list of recommendations. Also, the online map – Safe City developed within the action increased visibility of dangerous/safe public places, since any visitor is able to mark any place of the city. Therefore, two training reached 102 applicants and engaged 39 participants; the trainers – Natalia Tarasenko and Olena Ostapchuk discussed gender-sensitive urban planning and shared the case studies of the successful and unsuccessful solutions for public spaces, schools, kindergartens, youth clubs, parking lots, etc; they also covered the topic of safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, the public presentation and animated video summarizing the research deliverables raised awareness of the 8k stakeholders through Facebook, YouTube and other social media channels.
Monitoring Methodology to Evaluate the Safety of the Public Spaces (in Ukrainian):
Report of the Evaluation Results (in Ukrainian):
Project in media:
Як і навіщо робити громадські простори ґендерно безпечними?, Interview with Uliana Sydor in Hmarochos Media.
| Country | Ukraine |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The project Strong Women – Strong Family aimed to empower women in IDP (internally displaced people) communities of Azerbaijan residing at the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict line through awareness-raising activities. The first training on entrepreneurship was launched in the region of Terter and engaged 17 middle-aged women; the leading business mentors shared their expertise in managing microfinance loans and accounting in general. Following this, the second capacity-building training was held in Barda and involved 32 women from the local villages; the invited consultants delivered training on the state grants for the rural women and encouraged them to start or extend their businesses. Finally, the third workshop was conducted in Aghdam and engaged 21 women from the local settlements; the training included the presentation of success stories and information on micro-financing opportunities available in Azerbaijan.
The action empowered approximately 70 women from IDP communities of Azerbaijan through entrepreneurial and capacity-building training in Agdam, Barda, and Tartar (300 km westward from the capital Baku and close to the “line of contact”). The workshops enhanced the financial literacy of the IPD women and boosted their confidence in implementing their own initiatives. Also, the training contributed to tackling stereotypes about the social roles of women living in the IDP communities. Following this, the special training in microfinance, loan management and credit culture served played a crucial role in developing a business mindset in the target-audience and teaching them the best ways to access and manage finances.
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The project aimed to detect the obstacles in the major gender-specific areas for women-own enterprises and track the positive and negative trends. To achieve the above objective, Diana developed open-ended and structured questionnaires and conducted interviews with 100 women entrepreneurs. The respondents were either executives or business owners during the summer-autumn period of 2018, either from Yerevan (53,7%) or the other six regions (46,3%) of Armenia. The interviews were conducted in a face-to-face format. Diana collected the personal remarks, recommendations, and critics from the women entrepreneurs and finalized them in the assessment report.
The action explored the impediments for women-owned businesses in Armenia and defined further strategic activities to fill the gaps in the legislation and the business environment. The survey researched the business and sectoral diversification of the male-owned but female-managed and fully female-owned enterprises and revealed the trends; for example, businesswomen tend to operate in the field of services, retail trade, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, when the male-owned businesses cover the sectors of tourism, transportation, agricultural, and IT sectors. To raise awareness of the business, governmental and other strategic stakeholders, Diana organized a Public-Private Dialogue meeting and presented the survey results. Also, the research document incorporates a list of initiatives for improvement of the legal system, investment climate, and tax and customs services in Armenia.
Study on Major Impediments for Women Entrepreneurs and Explore Women’s Rights Gaps in Business Activity of Armenia 2018
| Country | Armenia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
