Twenty representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) from Yerevan and six provinces are participating in the new educational certification program of the American University of Armenia. Currently, the 7th round of the training is underway.
Ms Lilit Chichoyan, representative of the “Association of Accountants of SME of Armenia”, noted that the trainings are interesting; the trainers are experienced and aware of the issues that exist in the sector. According to her, the trainers provide sources, methods, tools, with which they would be able to carry out activity in a more literate manner in the future. “The objective that this course aims at is to be able to form coalitions and raise issues through coalitions, will give its positive results, because it is already likely that there is such possibility. There are matching interests, they can be coordinated and consolidated, and to become a powerful force. In the case of coalitions, our chances are stronger than separate NGOs might have, and this is the way to achieve results in building public policies,” Lilit Chichoyan said.
She also emphasized the fact that the courses are very practical and is not focused on theoretical knowledge: everything is presented based on the examples.
“There are discussions about the formation of coalition, there are groups that already understand each other, have certain ideas, which they will use to continue their activities in the future. I too, will discuss this with the leadership of our organisation and I believe that we will form a coalition,” said Ms Natalie Sinoryan, representative of the “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” NGO.
It should be noted that the training is organised in the framework of the“Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by a Consortium of civil society organisations, which are the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (lead organisation), Agora Central Europe (NGO based in the Czech Republic), the Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Centre for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia.
