From now on the Armenian Young Lawyers Association will be more active in promoting and defending women’s rights, particularly in Armenia’s regions.
Today, April 14th, at the German Embassy in Yerevan, the “Influencing the Women’s Rights Agenda” grant agreement was signed with the Armenian Young Lawyers Association.
In the scope of the project, the level of awareness and protection of women’s rights will be increased. In particular, AYLA will conduct training for lawyers, legal rights defenders, CSO and LSG representatives in Yerevan and in Shirak, Lori, Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces. In those same locations, free legal advice on women’s rights issues will be provided to the population. During the project it is also planned to conduct monitoring of Armenia’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The grant agreement was signed today by His Excellency Reiner Morell, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association.
Ambassador Reiner Morell stressed the importance of the project, he even joked that the funds would not be sufficient for such a complex and wide-ranging project. The Ambassador also had this to say about Armenia: “It seems that Armenia is more advanced than one would think. If you look through the eyes of a tourist, you are impressed everywhere you go. We diplomats change our postings every three years so we see a variety of societies, so we can judge the similarities between societies. I can say that many societies have not reached the level that you have reached.”
AYLA President, Karen Zadoyan, in presenting the components and the future work of the “Influencing the Women’s Rights Agenda” project, described the main issues that hinder the protection of women’s rights in Armenia, and also international conventions and Armenia’s obligations under them.
Under the grant agreement, approximately 33,000 Euro will be provided to AYLA. The project is due to begin in May 2015 and end in October 2015.
Gevorg Tosunyan
