New Income Opportunities for vulnerable Armenians

THE STATE OF WOMEN IN ARMENIA. While change is underway, gender inequality and gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a problem in Armenia — negatively impacting social cohesion and economic development. The absence of gender equality in the workplace lowers women’s prospects of employment and earning compared to men. This inequality is most evident in rural areas, where the prospect of employment is even lower and women are increasingly vulnerable due to a lack of access to services that encourage gender equality and support for women at-risk of domestic violence or other forms of abuse. Armenian organizations actively trying to address these issues are heavily dependent on donor or government funding to operate. This means that they cannot plan their work in the long term, and during some periods they may not have the means to continue supporting women in need. The Near East Foundation aims to change this.

WE EMPOWER COMMUNITIES BY EMPOWERING WOMEN. NEF is working in partnership with the Women’s Resource Development Center to strengthen the capacity of Armenian civil society organizations (CSOs) to provide services focused on improving gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in Armenia. With a focus on rural communities in, these efforts build onto NEF’s past work in Armenia that helped at-risk women start their own businesses or find employment to secure financial independence through trainings in business development, vocational training, employability readiness, and financial literacy.

NEF is supporting 10 organizations in Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik, Lori and Syunik Marzes to launch or develop their ability to fund programs that benefit at-risk women and support 600 at-risk Armenian women (particularly survivors or woman at-risk of gender-based violence) safely earn an income and become involved in social enterprises. Main activities include:

• training in business operations to improve organizational capacity to effectively reach vulnerable women
• coaching from experts and financial support to test innovative project ideas
• developing relationships between local organizations and the private sector to create new opportunities for vulnerable women
• promoting information and sharing between like-minded organizations for cross-learning and the development of collaborative programs to support women

Thank you for your continued support!