Helsinki Citizens Assembly of Vanadzor

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The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - Vanadzor office (HCAV) was established with the help and support of the national Armenian HCA committee on the 21st of March 1998. Mr. Arthur Sakunts, a long time activist with the HCA, has coordinated the office since its opening, and registered it in late 2000 as an independent NGO under Armenian law. Fifteen people, including two lawyers, volunteer for the organization; seven directors sit on the board, and our finances are overseen by a three-person commission. HCA Vanadzor also benefits from the support of two volunteers in the capital Yerevan. Our staff has participated in a lot of national and international trainings and seminars and now constitute one of the leading NGO's in Armenia.

Our mission clear and simple: to build civil society. The committee has worked jointly with numerous other organizations such as the Armenian Women's Association, the Helsinki Association, the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, the Armenian Centre to Defend the Constitution, the All-Armenian Women's Union and "Nor Seround“. Together with the HCA national committee and other HCA local initiatives, we prepared a study on "The Role of Youth and Women in the Development of Open Societies" (Westminster Foundation for Democracy). In the context of a capacity-building project supported by the Dutch organizations IKV and ICCO (links), our office was further integrated into the HCA Transcaucasus dialogue program, and now works jointly not only with the international HCA network, but with HCA committees in Georgia and Azerbaijan (Ganja, Telavi) . Besides our involvement in the “Missing Soldiers” – project, we are one of the participating organizations in the “Red Bridge – Trust Zone” initiative, and carry out the Armenian component of human-rights monitoring in this cross-border project with Georgia and Azerbaijan. Given the low voter turnout and blatant manipulation of public opinion through a mass media campaign during the last elections, we have developed a civic education initiative in anticipation of the Vanadzor municipal elections which will be held in September 2002. This initiative has received financial support from the Eurasia Foundation in Yerevan: we intend to inform the population about their rights and options as voters through a series of TV spots, and an accompanying print-media campaign. Our contact coordinates: HCA – Vanadzor, Tigran Mets 59, 377200 Vanadzor (Armenia ), (00371) 51-42268 Tel. c/o Mr. Arthur Sakunts hcav@hcav.am