News and Events

Public discussions – “Domestic violence. The woman and the family”

Date: 25.01.08

On the 25th January APRA had organized public discussions – ““Domestic violence. The woman and the family”. The discussions were held in the frameworks of the project “Women and society”, implemented in cooperation with the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues (MLSI).
The first topic mainly concerned the family as an element of the society and the specific roles of each of its members, the traditional role of women in families and its change over time.
Passing on to the “Domestic violence”, the experts introduced the classification of types of violence, emphasizing the psychological and economical violence to be hard to measure, unlike the physical one, and thus being hardly ever punished.
“Even in the developed countries, where people have been able to achieve gender equality, there are no significant results in the field of violence prevention”, mentioned Armine Tanashyan, the chief of the department of women's issues at the RA MLSI, who was the host of discussions.
Among the participants of the discussions there were Hasmik Khachatryan - the chief of the PR department of MLSI, Eleonora Virapyan - a leading specialist of the department of women's issues of MLSI, Armine Mkhitaryan – the chief of the social support of the National Institute of Labor and Social Research (NILSR), Naira Sahakyan – a psychologist, Susanna Aslanyan – the head of the “Maternity Center of Armenia” NGO, as well as other specialists from the Ministry, NGO and mass media representatives, NILSR members, students.

Public Hearings 2007

Date: 27.12.07

APRA continues the “Strengthening civil society role in good governance development in Armenia” project. The vision of the project is to establish mechanisms for the continuous dialogue and cooperation in the target areas of governance and to promote principles of responsible governance.
In November-December 2007 a number of public hearings were conducted, dedicated to current actual problems the society faces. The hearings are aimed at increasing the role of the civil society in public decision-making process.
The first couple of hearings took place in the RA Ministry of Justice. One of them was on the RA Law “On the special investigative service”, which had been adopted by the Parliament in a first reading. The law is believed to be an important tool in fight against corruption. The topic of the second one were the forms of control in penitentiaries. The reports, presented by the Minister of Justice Gevorg Danielyan, were followed by discussions and suggestions.
The next hearings were organized in the Yerevan State University. The topic was presented by Jemma Baghdasaryan – the chief of the Disabled and Elderly Issues Department of RA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues. These hearings concerned the problems of the disabled, their integration to the society. It was mentioned, that the cooperation between the NGOs and the Ministry should be in the form of a partnership, which would produce notable positive results. Besides the representatives of NGOs and journalists, YSU students also participated in these hearings.
The next couple of hearings again concerned justice. This time the host was Hrayr Tovmasyan – PhD in Law. The RA Law “On the state of Yerevan”, adopted in first reading, and the notable results in constitutional reforms of 2005 were discussed with the participation of specialized NGO representatives. The discussions showed that the NGO sector is mainly worried about two problems: corruption and the public participation in democratic governance.
All the events were actively attended by journalists from different media outlets – newspapers, TV, news agencies. The public awareness on the importance of civil society role in decision making is implemented through broadcastings and publications.
To remind, APRA implements the “Strengthening civil society role in good governance development in Armenia” project in cooperation with “Youth for Achievements” NGO.

Seminar on educational reforms in Armenia

Date: 09.09.07

From 8 to 9 September APRA had organized a seminar on educational reforms in Armenia.
The representatives of governmental agencies (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Knowledge Assessment and Testing Center) and NGOs presented reports on recent reforms in Armenian educational system. The covered topics were the following:

• A vision for education. A program of educational development.
  
• Early childhood development.
  
• General education reforms.
  - General education.
  - The activities of the Knowledge Assessment and testing center.
  
• Inclusive education.
  
• Reforms in the higher educational system.
  

PR trainings for NGOs

Date: 01.07.07

In June 2007 with Eurasia Foundation support APRA conducted a special course of trainings “PR for Armenian NGOs” for the “Maternity Center of Armenia” NGO staff members. The project was aimed at providing the NGO members with theoretical and practical knowledge in the sphere of PR.
The trainings were conducted by leading PR specialists, they familiarized the participants with the general concept of PR and fundraising, donor relations and media relations, taught how to develop a corporative image etc.
Each topic was fallowed by a relevant assignment, contributing to its better comprehension and analysis. The assignments included media monitoring, writing of press releases, development of PR strategy etc.
On July 3th, after the last lesson, all the participants were awarded nominal certificates.
The project team, as well as the participants, believe the trainings were efficient and they hope for further cooperation.

«Refugees in Armenia - past and present» Round Table

Date: 13.06.07

On June 13th «Refugees in Armenia – past and present» round table took place. The former representative of the UNHCR Armenia Peter Nicolaus and the representative in charge Bushra Halepota greeted the participants.
In her opening speech Mrs. Halepota in particular, stated, that the activities of the UNHCR Armenia will follow the adopted strategy and henceforth the stress will be set on the refugees integration problem.
The UNHCR Assistant Protection Officer Armine Karakhanyan presented a general overview of Armenian asylum legal framework and the new draft law, which is being developed. She mentioned, that this aspect of legislation, which is full of gaps and lacunas, needs to be amended and modified, and that the NGOs should participate actively in the process.
Round table participants also touched the issues that government implemented Housing Purchase Certificates program faces. The event was initiated by the UNHCR Armenia, the Armenian Public Relations Association (APRA) and Panorama.am.

«The Man and the Nature» contest - exhibition for the orphanage children

Date: 05.06.07

On June 5th, in State Nature Museum 51 artworks of orphanage children were presented at «The Man and the Nature» contest –exhibition. The presented artworks were screened and chosen during the first round of contest and classified according to the different age brackets.

The event was organized by World Wild Fund Armenian office (WWF) and Armenian Public Relations Association.

In the “Best Artwork” category instituted by WWF Armenia several winners were recognized, namely 7 years old Hovhannes Chumaryan, 12 years old Inessa Mesropyan and 15 years old Margarita Saroyan. APRA, in its turn awarded the youngest participant, Argishti Geranyan. Mrs, Anush Beghloyan, executive director of APRA congratulated children with the Nature Protection Day.
«We should pass the nature on to our children and their next generations so that they could also enjoy and express it in such a beautiful way » she told particularly.
Before the awarding ceremony, the children got acquainted with the museum exhibits and watched the documentary about Armenian nature.
In the end of the event, the director of WWF Armenia handed souvenirs and certificates over to the participants of the contest.
To remind, Armenian PR Association is represented as PR official partner of WWF in Armenia.

Project Presentation - www.elections.panorama.am

Date: 04.05.07

On May 4th, in Armenia Mariott hotel the www.elections.panorama.am web – site was officially launched. more...

«PR for Non – Governmental Organizations» Manual Presentation

Date: 04.05.07

On May 4th, in Ani Plaza «PR for the Non – Governmental Organizations» manual presentation was held.
The manual was published by the «Team» Research Centre» Non – Governmental Organization with the assistance of Armenian PR Association and OSIAF- Armenia financial support. more...

APRA and WWF signed a Memorandum of Cooperation

Date: 10.04.07

On 10 April 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between APRA and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Armenian branch on the cooperation in the sphere of environmental protection in Armenia. more...

Armenian PR Association widens the area of its activities

Date: 01.08.06

Socium Research Center is a centre of sociological and marketing researches, which joined our Association in July of 2006 as a subdivision. The major specialization of the Centre is sociological accompanying of PR and advertising campaigns, implementation of sociological researches of various types.
The work of the Centre is coordinated by assistant of the chair of Sociology of Yerevan State University, head of PR school by the Department of Sociology of the YSU, Nvard Melkonyan, Ph.D. (thesis: «Shaping of image of a political leader in Armenia: sociological analysis») more...