During her working visit to the Gegharkunik region on May 11, the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan visited the “Little Prince” social day-care center operated by the “Armenian Caritas” benevolent NGO in Gavar. During the visit, the center’s coordinator, Sona Khachikyan, introduced the Defender to the history of the center’s activities, ongoing projects, as well as the daily lives and educational initiatives aimed at the development of the beneficiaries.   This was followed by a meeting with the children of the center and their parents, during which issues related to the protection of human rights,

The Social Integration NGO Forum officially kicked off in Armenia, hosting representatives from civil society organizations operating in the country. The forum presented its core ideas, principles, behavioral norms, functions, and collaboration formats.   The forum was established by 11 NGOs in response to the urgent social issues that emerged after the displacement of people from Artsakh. In response to the critical needs of thousands of individuals and families who were faced with life-threatening problems due to the displacement, the need for solutions to integration issues and the development of systemic approaches became the cornerstone of this initiative.

In the frames of the “Institutionalization of Voluntary First Response Service in the Republic of Armenia “(VolFiRe)” program, implemented by the Armenian Red Cross Society, within the “Inclusion and Gender Analysis of Persons with Disabilities” component, carried out by Armenian Caritas, a three-day training on the topic “Rights, Communication, and Accessibility of Information of Persons with Disabilities” was held. The training was facilitated by Mushegh Hovsepyan, the president of the ”Disability Rights Agenda” NGO. During the training, topics such as main disability models, effective communication and ethics, accessibility of information, and easy-to-read formats were discussed. The purpose of the training was to provide participants with knowledge about presenting the information in accessible formats,

During September, a roundtable discussion/kick-off meeting was held within the project “My Right. Next Level. Inclusive Education in Armenia and Kosovo” funded by the Austrian Development Agency and Caritas Austria. The aim of the roundtable discussion was the presentation of the results of the previous project on inclusive education at 6 target schools and 6 target kindergartens of the Shirak Region as well as the presentation on the new “My Right. Next Level” project and signing of Memorandums of Understanding. The event was attended by Mr. Klaus Kapper, the Head of the Yerevan Office of the Austrian Development Agency,

In the frames of the “Institutionalization of Voluntary First Response Service in the Republic of Armenia “(VolFiRe)” program, implemented by the Armenian Red Cross Society, within the “Inclusion and Gender Analysis of Persons with Disabilities” component, carried out by Armenian Caritas, on July 13th the presentation of the results of the “Inclusion and Gender Analysis of Persons with Disabilities” was held.   The purpose of the analysis is to create an information framework to support project implementation, emphasizing gender and disability aspects such as inclusion and equality. The event was organized by Armenian Caritas, which implements the component.