EPF Armenia Impact Highlights November 2008-May 2009

EPF in Armenia is currently running five operating programs: Armenia-Turkey Dialogue and Cooperation, Corporate Social Investment, Media and Anti-Corruption, Migration, and Youth Bank. The following are examples of impact registered in these programs in the last six months:

The Migration Program Demonstrates Its Early Response Capacity

With an advancing economic crisis, EPF's Migration program turned to be the only available in Armenia system with an immediate capacity address the reintegration and other issues faced by returnees. The MRRCs' experience shows that even during times of economic crisis, EPF can help returnees in concrete ways. Pilot job fairs funded by Western Union Foundation in Gavar, Martuni, and Vanadzor in January and February 2009, with the participation of more than 550 jobless people, among them returned migrants, and 37 local businesses, helped to find jobs for 25 people.

The Youth Bank Movement Spreads across Provinces and Borders

The Youth Bank (YB) approach to civic philanthropy and youth leadership-building has generated interest and action among many organizations that have learned about it. Jinishian Memorial Fund has agreed to support the grants that EPF's YBs will make in their communities, a total of $25,000. A Turkish youth volunteer network, Toplum Gonulluleri (Public Volunteers), is partnering with EPF Armenia to develop YBs in Turkey, particularly in areas adjacent to the Armenian border. Project HOPE, a US NGO working globally on disaster relief, has included EPF Armenia in a proposal to the US State Department, to create two more YBs for about 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Armenia.

Pioneering Freedom of Expression Work Relevant Globally

EPF desk analysis of research conducted on Freedom of Expression (FoE) globally, and on media produced on that topic in recent years, demonstrates that, solely media-related issues of FoE (e.g. censorship, journalism ethics) are being taken into account. Much less work is done globally to address issues such as blasphemy or FoE in traditional families. Therefore, EPF is identifying gaps in FoE which supersede the Armenian agenda and are relevant internationally. FoE specialists whom contacted for prior research and documentary material (BBC, Article 19, and others) expressed genuine interest in the results of our research and documentary film contest on FoE. The results of the project will generate lively debate on FoE on a larger international scale. A French film festival devoted to the South Caucasus, which will take place in Douarnenez (Bretagne) in August 2009, has already booked for screening at the festival the six documentaries which are being produced this month as part of EPF's project.

USAID Democracy and Governance Working Group Calls an Innovative EPF Open Door Project on Alternative Media Vital for the Yerevan Mayoral Election Campaign

A1+, the media company which won a European Court of Human Rights case against the Armenian Government for prohibiting its participation in the competition for airwave frequencies, was awarded a grant by EPF to make voice and video news broadcasting available via SMS (text messaging). At a recent USAID Democracy and Governance working group meeting EPF was asked to ensure that during the May 2009 Yerevan Mayoral election campaign they make the broadcasts available in English for wider international access, particularly for international observers' benefit.

Promoting Transparency as a Major Anti-Corruption Tool

Building Partnerships in Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Despite the Economic Crisis

At the request of IREX Armenia, EPF held a seminar on CSI for Muskie Alumni in Armenia. The participants were graduates of US universities who have returned home and are now working in key positions in a variety of businesses and development agencies. The seminar, scheduled for two hours, went on for four hours, and the participants' feedback demonstrates that EPF acquired CSI supporters among management personnel of some key businesses such as the Armenian Eye Care Project, HSBC, and The Services Group.

Contributing to Breakthroughs in Armenian-Turkish Rapprochement

The joint concert of the multiethnic Kardes Turkuler (Brotherly Tunes) musical group and the ethnic Armenian Sayat-Nova chorus brought an audience of 900 to the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Yerevan in December 2008. One hundred guests arrived from Turkey to attend the event (more than the number who came in September to attend the historic football game, which Turkish President Abdulla Gul attended). The concert, opened by the US Ambassador, received wide coverage in the Armenian media. The event is mentioned in the International Crisis Group report "Opening Minds, Opening Borders." Following the event, EPF was approached with a wide range of ideas to contribute to cultural exchange and confidence-building, from rehabilitation of ancient Armenian monuments to mutual translation and publishing of the best Armenian and Turkish fiction.

Cross-Border: Innovations in Confidence-Building between Armenian and Azerbaijani Journalists

Armenian participants in EPF's media bias reduction project, supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, were selected via an open call. This is the first time in Armenia that an open call has been used to select participants for a confidence-building project of this type with Azerbaijan. This allowed for the group to represent a wide range of Armenian regions and all types of media. The group demonstrated exceptional motivation and commitment to work with their Azerbaijani counterparts at the first joint meeting in Tbilisi in March, despite the dividing issues. In addition, the in-country trainings on media bias reduction held in late February 2009 in Yerevan and Baku generated substantial high-quality material, which will become a manual on media bias reduction and will be offered to higher- and post-graduate journalism educational institutions.

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