Women’s Rooms at Work in Armenia
In 2019, the ALCP facilitated the establishment of a Women’s Room service in Alaverdi municipality, Armenia as part of the projects cross border activities and in 2021 Tashir and Tumanyan municipalities followed suit. In March 2022 the programme facilitated Women’s Room Union hosted an Armenian delegation in Kakheti to show how the rooms are working in practice in Georgia.
On February 1st and 2nd 2023, ALCP2 representatives visited these three working Women’s Rooms in Armenia for monitoring and for outlining further steps which will include in 2023, further facilitation (by the new SDC/Sida and ADA funded ALCP2 programme) of the Women’s Rooms Union to help develop their services and advocacy function, which will include further support to and networking with the Armenian Women’s Rooms.
The Women’s Rooms in Alaverdi, Tashir and Tumanyan municipalities are operational and open for visitors. The mayors of these three Armenian municipalities are interested in keeping the service and developing it for more effective outreach. The Alaverdi room, which is the longest running room, has risen above any potential pitfalls from local political shifts, with the newly elected mayor gladly receiving information about the room and its importance from the former mayor. As in Georgia, local and international NGOs are using the Women’s Rooms spaces and Women’s Rooms managers are helping locals to fill out grant applications and support rural women instigated initiatives regarding kindergartens.
‘We have the potential to develop rural tourism in our municipalities. Because most of the male population works abroad, the involvement of women in this business is very important for us. We would like to know more about the Georgian experience in tourism development. We also want to see more training and skills development courses in our Women’s Rooms, in which your support and help would be very necessary.’ – all three mayors stated.