Annual Report of AEGEE-Yerevan 2011

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Dear Reader,

AEGEE-Europe brings together students with a common goal

since 1985: a unified Europe without prejudices, without

borders, a Europe “united in diversity” as the European

Institutions love to define.

One of the unofficial motto is: “Some call it Europe, we call it

home”. These words properly define what AEGEE stands for:

one Europe, from Urals to the Ocean, with several faces and

several stories. One Europe, with several ideas and different

ideals.One Europe, one soul.

In this context, AEGEE-Yerevan has been a discovery.

Besides expanding a bit more the borders of our Europe,

AEGEE-Yerevan,with all the activities realised, created a nice context in which Europe could

be debated in Yerevan, responding to the need of Europe of local students and contributing

to balance the Network increasing the activities and the possibilities for AEGEE members in

Caucasus.

Definitely, this success wouldn’t have been possible without the motivation of our members

that accepted the challenge to create a new structure and successfully managed to

implement it, being nowadays one of the most active locals in our Network.

Concluding, I am proud and happy for the foundation of AEGEE-Yerevan, and I wish all the

best for a long and successful experience in AEGEE.

Alfredo Sellitti,

President of AEGEE-Europe

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Dear Reader,

The year 2011 has been crucial for young people in

Armenia as finally AEGEE local was established in

Yerevan and started its activities. AEGEE is one of the

biggest interdisciplinary student organizations in Europe,

which was founded in 1985 in Paris. Today it counts 13

000 members in 240 cities in 40 European countries.

Already being present in Caucasus for many years finally

it was established in the capital city of Armenia-Yerevan.

In spite of very young age of AEGEE-Yerevan we have

been quite active. Focused on Active Citizenship more

than 30 local and international events have been

organized and around 500 young people already

benefited from these events.

Next year our priority will be Eastern Partnership Project and cooperation of young people

from Eastern Partnership Countries and EU member states.

We are working on boosting the cooperation and communication of young people in order

to build an open and tolerant society.

So enjoy reading our first report about implemented projects and events.

Shushan Khachatryan

Founder and President of AEGEE-Yerevan

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FIRST BOARD OF

AEGEE-YEREVAN

2010-2011

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What is AEGEE?

AEGEE (Association des EtatsGénéraux des

Etudiants de l’Europe / European Students’ Forum)

is youth organisation that promotes co-operation,

communication and integration amongst young

people in Europe. As a non-governmental,

politically independent, secular and non-profit

organisation AEGEE is open to students and young

people from all faculties and disciplines – today it

counts 13.000 members, active in more than 200

university cities in 40 European countries, making it

the biggest interdisciplinary student association in Europe.

AEGEE, which was founded in 1985 in Paris, puts the idea of a unified Europe into practice. A

widely spread student network provides the ideal platform where youth workers and young

volunteers from 40 European countries can work together on cross border activities such as

conferences, seminars, exchanges, training courses, Summer Universities, Case Study trips and

Working Group meetings.

By encouraging traveling and mobility, stimulating discussion and organising common projects

AEGEE attempts to overcome national, cultural and ethnic divisions and to create a vision of young

people’s Europe. The structure is based on an European level (a European Board of Directors

working in Brussels and 4 Commissions, 11 Working Groups and 9 multinational Project Teams) and

on a local level (the over 200 Antennae or local groups, forming the Network).

The association’s main aims are:

o Promoting a unified Europe without prejudices,

o Striving for creating an open and tolerant society of today and tomorrow,

o Fostering democracy, human rights, tolerance, cross boarder cooperation, mobility and

European dimension in education.

All the numerous events and projects run by the organisation are to be focused on our 4 Fields of

Action (Cultural Exchange, Active Citizenship, Higher Education, Peace& Stability) and 3 Focus Areas

(European Citizenship, Global Challenges and Intercultural Dialogue).

Among AEGEE’s most well-known achievements there are the effective lobbying for the Erasmus

Programme, which lead it to develop to its current state of development and recognition, and its

longest running project, the Summer University, gathering each summer thousands of volunteers

who contribute to open a new perspective to the participants over the multicultural dimension of

the European continent, providing high-content, high-quality and low-cost summer courses (ranging

from language courses to seminars about political, cultural, environmental issues).

AEGEE has participatory status in the activities of the Council of Europe, consultative status at the

United Nations, operational status at UNESCO and is at the same time a member of the European

Youth Forum. The organisation has also a number of illustrious personalities amongst its general

partners: Mikhael Gorbatchev, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; Vaclav Havel, former President

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of the Czech Republic; Eric Froment, former President of the European University Association,

Wolfgang Thierse, former President of the Bundestag and Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of

Italy and President of the European Commission.

COMITE DIRECTEUR 2011-2012

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Official Opening Ceremony of AEGEE-Yerevan

The official start of AEGEE-Yerevan was on November 2010, after signing contract with AEGEE-

Europe. Around 200 guests attended the event, people with various professions and age group. The

opening speech was made by Mrs Lana Karlova-the Tempus National Office Coordinator in Armenia.

She highlighted the importance of establishment of these kind of youth organizations in Armenia as

brilliant way of promoting mobility of young people. The President of European Movement in

Armenia Viktor Yengibaryan, Board Member 2010 of European Youth Forum Hamlet Ohanyan and

ex member of AEGEE-Prague, founder of YERITAC youth NGO Alexander Hakobyan also made

interesting speeches. One of inspiring ones was made by BurcuBecermen- the President of AEGEE-

Europe 2005 and ex member of AEGEE-Ankara. She mentioned AEGEE-Yerevan to be one more way

of cooperation of young people in Armenia and Turkey. After the inspiring opening ceremony

AEGEE-Yerevan started its first steps.

LOCAL PROJECTS

NOVEMBER 2010

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Local Training Course-Project Management

Right after the opening ceremony it was time to train our members. The 3 day training was made

by Anna Yeghoyan, the vice president of AEGEE-Gyumri (Now unfortunately AEGEE-Gyumri is

deactivated). 25 new AEGEE members were selected to participate in the training. Various aspects

of project management were discussed, among them PR and HR management, Fundraising etc. The

non-formal way it was organized helped the participants to be more active and involved.

LOCAL PROJECTS

DECEMBER 2010

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Youth unemployment Action Day

Under the umbrella of Youth Unemployment Project a group of enthusiastic members of AEGEE-

Yerevan undertook the challenge to be involved for the first time in AEGEE European level project.

Nowadays students often have to face a trade-off between their academic and non-academic

commitment. They contribute to the society as volunteers and through being involved in workshops

following the foundations of Non Formal Education. Unfortunately, their work often remains

unrecognised by their University and their future employers.

The Youth UnEmployment project wants to tackle these problems with implementing a series of

activities that will help young people to increase their employability and will lobby for the

recognition of voluntary work and non-formal education as work experience. On 28th of January

“Employment Action Day” a day-long event was organized, which was covering the different

aspects of youth employability and professional growth.

The event was attended by around 200 students and young professionals from the capital and other

cities of the country.

Based on the survey results and positive feedbacks from the participants we can conclude that the

event had a great success and positive impact.

Over 35 media hit on TV, radio youth channels and online news portals highlighted the event.

Thanks to EAD wide public exposure AEGEE-Yerevan have caught the attention of Armenian Youth.

Many of them for the first time learned about AEGEE.

The Action Day was organized also in Barcelona, Sofia, Tbilisi, Moscow, Skopje, Istanbul, Napoli and

many other European cities.

LOCAL PROJECTS

JANUARY 2011

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EU Awareness Action Day

AEGEE-Yerevan together with International Politics Working Group of AEGEE-Europe

organized an event- EU Awareness Action Day which was held on 19 February 2011 at Best

Western Congress Hotel. The workshop was dedicated to the “Overview of EU Institutions

and Opportunities Given by the EU to non-EU Member States”.

AEGEE-Yerevan received more than 180

applications for the participation in this

event. After very hard selection of the

participants, at last there were chosen 50

participants, who together with 30 AEGEE-

Yerevan members took part in this event.

Many officials from different state

institutions attended the event. There were

guests from the Constitutional Court of the

Republic of Armenia, Delegation of the

European Union to Armenia, the National

Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Eurasia International

University and journalists from 10 online newspapers.

During the workshop the speakers presented the history and development of the EU

institutions, functions and activities of the main institutions, as well as cultural, economical

and educational opportunities given by the EU to non-EU member states and Eastern

Partnership program. At the opening of the event Coordinator of the event

ArmenakMinasyants and President of AEGEE-Yerevan ShushanKhachatryan presented the

main purpose of organization of the respective event and made little presentation of

AEGEE.

During the EU Awareness Action Day, Eurasia Partnership Foundation made the presentation

of the book “Hello Europe” and the book was distributed to all participants of the event.

At the end of the workshop participants were divided into 4 groups, political, economic,

educational, cultural, and discussions were made about the advantages and disadvantages

of possible EU Integration. AEGEE-Yerevan would like to thank all the participants for their

active contribution and IPWG of AEGEE-Europe for outstanding support during the

organization of this project. We would also like to thank the EU Delegation to Armenia for

the technical support.

LOCAL PROJECTS

FEBRUARY 2011

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Participation in Youth Job Fairs and Europe Day, Yerevan, Armenia

In May several job fairs were held in Yerevan and AEGEE-Yerevan did its best to participate in all of

them. One of them was organized by Yerevan State Linguistic University after Valery Brusov. There

were presented both Armenian NGOs and representatives of international organizations in Armenia.

That is the first job fair in the history where AEGEE-Yerevan participated and it acquitted all

expectations. Many young people were informed about AEGEE-Yerevan and, later, part of them

became members of AEGEE-Yerevan.

Second fair was held at Armenia Marriott Hotel. There were presented not only non-governmental

organizations but also potential employers from Armenian companies. Too many people attended

this fair as employers and NGOs made presentations on different subjects: volunteering work,

education, entering job market, etc. AEGEE-Yerevan made presentation on “Volunteering in Europe”

and the opportunities it gives the youth.

AEGEE-Yerevan considers important participating in such fairs, as here employee and employer meet

directly, get much information and, it is worth mentioning, that there is a possibility to find a dream

job.

May was a month of youth fairs. In Particular AEGEE had an active participation and partnership

with the following events and job fairs:

Youth Job Fair by USAID at Marriott Hotel

Annual Youth Job Fair organized by the University of Brusov

Europe Day organized by the Delegation of EU in Armenia

LOCAL PROJECTS

MAY 2011

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Higher Education Day

(HED)

On 14th

May, 2011, AEGEE-Yerevan

officially shook its HED...

The project started in the AEGEE–

Education Working Group with the

idea that students should have an

active role in the process of improving

their educational system. So, they

should be offered a platform for

identifying the problems, but, even

more important, they should be

encouraged to find solutions.

So as planned Higher Education Days were implemented in several European cities like Groningen,

Delft, Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest and finally in Yerevan.

The event organized in Yerevan enabled around 100 students to share their ideas on

improving higher education, discuss problems and offer solutions. Any student could find

answers to his/her questions as they were representatives from almost any sphere of higher

education: Tempus National Office in Armenia, Ministry of Education and Science, Union of

Employers of RA, Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Association and ARMACAD

association etc.

The “hottest” topics of HED-Yerevan were internships for Armenian students and

cooperation of the university and potential employers. Students complained about quality

and duration of provided internships. They said that they need an efficient internship, and

not just a stamp on the certificate. Transition from the university to labor market remains

one of the weak-points of our higher education system.

The other concern was implementation of Bologna system in Armenia. There were some

questions whether the implementation of Bologna process is satisfactory, do students have

clear information what and for what Bologna system is.

Also there were discussions about the visibility of European Student exchange programs,

e.g. Erasmus Mundus program, and what should be done to make it more accessible for

students.

So generally the event was successful in terms of creating a common platform for all the

Higher education representatives to discuss the problems of Higher Education and seek for

solutions.

LOCAL PROJECTS

MAY 2011

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European Summer University in Yerevan-City of Rocks, City that

Rocks

The month July was not only significant for its hot…very hot weather in Yerevan, but for AEGEEans

it was a way to new challenges. AEGEE-Yerevan organized the first ever and the famous Summer

The aim of the Summer University was to bring young people from Armenia and Europe closer, do

discuss cultural differences and explore each others’ culture.

The participants came out to be from many different European countries such as the Netherlands,

Greece, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Italy and Finland. The first

day after the arrival started with AEGEE presentation, city tour and character party.

LOCAL PROJECTS

JULY 2011

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During the next days the participants had tours to some of the beautiful places of Armenia-Lake

Sevan, they saw the only preserved pagan temple Garni and Geghard Monastery. The tours followed

also by Etchmiajin-the religious center of Armenia as well as Zvartnots.

One of the important events in frames of the project was the Armenian National evening with

typical Armenian food, music and dances.

The next one was the European Cultural Evening which was an open event at the Youth Foundation

of Armenia hall. Each participant made a presentation of their country, presented national food and

drinks.

Our friend, Sebastiano Perale from AEGEE-Venezia says, "AEGEE-Yerevan has organized a very good

Summer University. But considering the fact that AEGEE-Yerevan was born yesterday, I think they

have organized an excellent Summer University!! The programme was

full but not tiring, the places were interesting and diverse, the lodging was perfect and the

organizers were very helpful and always at our disposal. They never let anybody get lost in town,

anytime a group split in two parts, in both parts there was at least one organizer.

At the moment, I am really missing Armenia and all organizers and participants there!!"

The most and extreme part of the SU was the 2 days trip to Tatev-one of the most amazing places

in Armenia where is located the worlds’ longest ropeway.

On the way to Tatev we visited the Areni Wine Factory and Noravank Monastery. It was already late

evening when we arrived to Tatev and quickly set the tents where we were going to spend all the

night. The multicultural night was very interesting with fire and guitar, nice songs and games. But

after the heavy rain everyone ran to the tents and got wet in the morning :D hopefully nobody

caught cold after this crazy experience!

During the Summer university we did the most different and the first Eastern Partnership team

meeting in the bus from Yerevan to Tatev in the 40C temperature, which was very productive.

The last day as always was not the best one because of saying bye but with the big hope to see

each other soon somewhere in Europe.

For organizing this Summer University we had support from the Youth Foundation of Armenia,

Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, Ashtarak Kat Company, Hayastan All-Armenia Fund, Tour

Info Magazine and Sima Tours Travel Agency and many thanks for supporting us.

The Summer University Project is going to be annual in Yerevan, so wait for next year!!!

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Birthday of AEGEE-Yerevan!!!

September 16 is a very special day for AEGEE-

Yerevan. On 2010 the first board of AEGEE-

Yerevan was formed so the day is market as

the official start of our activities. On

September 16 all members of AEGEE-Yerevan

gathered in a cozy pub to celebrate the first

anniversary of baby AEGEE-Yerevan with a

huge cake with the logo. The day was special

especially for founders of AEGEE-Yerevan as

after 1 year they could see a really established

organization. AEGEE locals from various

European countries including the Head Office

in Brussels prepared a surprise by

congratulating, recording videos and sending to

our mailing list.

Read more on our blog

www.aegeeyerevan.wordpress.com

Find us on Facebook

http://facebook.com/AEGEE.Yerevan

Follow us on Twitter

http://twitter.com/AEGEE_Yerevan

LOCAL PROJECTS

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Model EU 2011

On 22 October AEGEE-Yerevan Youth NGO and the EU Delegation to Armenia organized the “Model

European Union 2011” (MEU 2011). Around 35 Armenian students were selected to participate in the

event through competitive procedure from various regions of Armenia. The aim of the conference

was to stimulate civic activism and improve EU knowledge among young people.

During the Conference the participants undertook the roles of Heads of State and Government of

the 27 EU Member States as well as the EU high-level officials. The delegates made their decisions in

the context of the current political forces and pressures within the EU member states, taking into

account the national interests of the states they were representing.

Mr. Onno Simons, the Head of the Political, Economic, Press and Information Section of the EU

Delegation to Armenia, who participated in the official opening and closing ceremonies of the

conference, emphasized in his welcoming speech the importance of organizing such kind of events

and asked the participants to be constructive and actively participate in all activities of the

conference. The event was organized in Armenia for the first time and is planned to become

annual.

At the end of the conference the participants were awarded with the certificates of honour for

active participation and contributive work.

LOCAL PROJECTS

OCTOBER 2011

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Local Training Course-Becoming Active in AEGEE

On 20th of November 2011 at the Best Western Congress Hotel AEGEE-Yerevan held a two day LTC

– Local Training Course, a unique event during which 25 newcomers to the Organization got a

unique possibility to get acquainted in details with the internal structure, activities and functions of

AEGEE-Europe. As it is known for each NGO internal awareness of its members about the activities

of the Organization can be a real key to the success. So taking into account this important

statement AEGEE-Yerevan together with the HRC of AEGEE-Europe initiated already for the second

time this important event.

During the LTC participants had a chance to get a lot of new information about AEGEE. The

experienced members of AEGEE-Yerevan, who also hold European level positions in AEGEE

presented the European level of AEGEE, its structure, working groups and project team and ongoing

big projects. All presentations were accompanied with interactive questions and answers.

At the official closing ceremony of the 2 day LTC all participants of the course were awarded with

the certificates of honour for participation in the event.

Culture Action Day-Visit to Parajanov home museum

On 18th of November AEGEE-Yerevan organized CAD - Cultural Action Day - unique action day and

event in the frames of which the members of the Organization got a specific possibility to organize

and participate in a big European action day project of the Cultural Working Group of AEGEE-

Europe.

So, after a long observation and discussions

AEGEE-Yerevan decided to visit the museum

of the one of the greatest film director's of

the 20th century Sergey Paranjov. A good

friend of Fellini and speaker of freedom in

USSR, Sergey Parajanov left unique heritage in

the modern filmography, as even during the

strict years of communism and totalitarian

regime in the USSR he managed to create a

film which got 26 international awards!

He also spent 5 years in the prisons where he

started to paint and made many masterpieces

of art. So cultural events are going to be part

of the activity of AEGEE-Yerevan.

LOCAL PROJECTS

NOVEMBER 2011

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Autumn Agora in Istanbul, Turkey

Agora is the general assembly of

AEGEE gathering 700-1000 young

people for four days which takes

place twice a year (Autumn and

Spring) hosted by different AEGEE

locals every time. This is a place to

ratify reports, make and discuss the

future plans of the association. Each

AEGEE locals have to send delegates

to the Agora. The Autumn Agora

2010 was crucial for AEGEE-Yerevan

as the main document for becoming

AEGEE local-Convensiond’ Adhesion

was signed. Three founders of

AEGEE-Yerevan were present at the

Agora (Shushan Khachatryan-

President, Gayane Merdinyan-Vice President and Gayane Grigoryan-PR Coordinator).

Human Resources European School, Budapest, Hungary

Twice a year AEGEE locals together with AEGEE Academy are organizing European schools-one week

trainings about Fundraising, HR, PR, IT etc. The aim of the training is to train members of AEGEE,

develop project management skills. The human resources coordinator of AEGEE-Yerevan participated

at the European School in Budapest.

PARTICIPATION IN EUROPEAN EVENTS

OCTOBER 2010


NOVEMBER 2010

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European Board’s Meeting (EBM) in Riga, Latvia

The EBM (200-400 participants) involves AEGEE Antennae in

the projects and activities of the European Bodies of AEGEE,

providing a platform for interaction. At the EBM the Action

Agenda for the whole year is prepared. The activities

contained in the AA, which must relate to at least one of the

Focus Areas, are discussed and finally voted upon in the

plenary session. The president of AEGEE-Yerevan Shushan

Khachatryan and the previous Human Resources coordinator

Nane Mkrtchyan participated at the EBM.

Youth for peace Local Training Course (LTC), Tbilisi, Georgia

Local Training Course is organized by various

AEGEE locals in cooperation with AEGEE

Academy. It is a training addressing various

topics in particular AEGEE structure. 6 AEGEE-

Yerevan members participated in the LTC

organized by AEGEE-Tbilisi together with

participants from AEGEE-Trabzon, AEGEE-Baki

and of course AEGEE-Tbilisi. The training was

about overcoming conflicts.


FEBRUARY 2011


MARCH 2011

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EurPrivacy Symposium

As a representative of AEGEE-Yerevan Artur Grigoryan participated in a EurPrivacy Symposium,

which was a two-day conference on privacy in the digital era. The symposium was organised by

AEGEE-Nijmegen for their 25th anniversary. It took place on the Radboud University campus in

Nijmegen (The Netherlands).

The issue is of an ever-increasing importance due to the growing role that the internet has in our

lives and society as a whole. Technology opened a new era of communication, where a message

may reach millions. Technology has given governments, corporations and individuals alike the

opportunity to express them and society as a whole.

The main goal of symposium was to seek to address the sociological, philosocophical, legal and

cultural aspects of the issue of internet privacy, with participants and speakers from all over Europe.

Summer Universities of AEGEE, everywhere in Europe

The Summer University project is one

of the most successful projects of

AEGEE starting from 1988. Each year

around 80 summer universities are

organized in different European cities

with more than 4000 applicants and

around 2000 participants. The

Summer Universities are organized

addressing various topics and mostly

concentrating on cultural exchange

and foreign languages.

AEGEE-Yerevan members participated

in Summer Universities organized by

AEGEE locals in Spain, Germany,

France, Italy and Ukraine.


JUNE-AUGUST 2011

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EU-Youth Conference, Warsaw, Poland

Around 230 participants from all over Europe gathered in Warsaw from 5 to 7 September for the

next structured dialogue organized by the EU Polish Presidency. The conference is a chance for

young people to make their voice heard in the European Union.

The structured dialogue is a platform for young people to participate in policy making in the EU and

in their respective national governments. Every six months, as the presidency of the EU is passed on

to another EU country, the president takes on the role of organizing and managing the structured

dialogue. The youth conference is a part of this structured dialogue process. It brings together the

input of all youth representatives and a statement with recommendations is formulated, which is

then presented to the Council of the EU, the EU commission and EU parliament.

This year for the first time the topic of the dialogue was “Youth and the World” especially targeting

Eastern Europe and Caucasus. Apart from young people, Commissioner for Education, Culture,

Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth – Androulla Vassiliou, minister of education in Poland –

Katarzyna Hall and Peter Matjašič – president of European Youth Forum, took part. 10

representatives of International NGO-s were present including selected representatives from AEGEE

ShushanKhachatryan (AEGEE-Yerevan) and Rene Janssen (AEGEE-Leuven).

During joint workshops, perspectives on cooperation with targeted countries were discussed. Youth

delegates and Representatives of Commission and Ministries were divided into working groups in

order to discuss various subtopics of Cooperation with Eastern European and Caucasian countries.

Topics of discussion were: barriers and obstacles in youth cooperation between the EU and EU

neighbouring countries, programmes and grant schemes to support mobility and participation and so

on.

The most actively discussed topic was free Schengen visa category for youth worker and a strong

independent youth programme of the EU Youth Conference put forward to the EU and the Member

States.

“I am glad to see youth participation in democratic life in practice, and, indeed flourishing.

Commission will put forward a single programme for reasons of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

But make no mistake, in substance the Commission will propose to continue and develop the actions

of Youth in Action programme in favour of non-formal learning trough the participation and the

mobility of all young people” - stated Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture,

Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth.

AEGEE-the European Students’ Forum, as one of the biggest student organizations which is present

in Eastern European and Caucasus countries as well, strongly encourages the cooperation and

highlighting it even more after selecting Bridging Europe a focus area for the next years.

The next EU Youth Conference will take place in Denmark and we could use your input so we can

represent AEGEE and its members. Stay tuned for more information on this next year!


SEPTEMBER 2011

25

II Convention on Volunteering, Brussels, Belgium

As 2011 was declared to be

the “European Year of

Volunteering” by EU, the

European Youth Forum

organized a big event in

Brussels in participation of

around 500 young people.

Most workshops were

about Volunteering. 15

AEGEE members from

different AEGEE locals

including AEGEE-Yerevan

were part of the event.

Various workshops about

volunteering took place, as

well as movie screening of

“Caucasus Triangle” took

place involving young

people from many

European Countries.

September 2011-Event in Alushta, Crimea, Ukraine

Vahagn Keshishyan Head of Public Relations

Committee of AEGEE-Yerevan participated in a

project which took place in Alushta, Ukraine in

September and aimed to promote cultural

exchange. There were participants from Armenia,

Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. Most of them were

rather experienced in NGO work and participated

in different exchange programs. Some of the

participants heard about AEGEE before, some of

them just got acquainted to it and already

expressed their willingness to join us.

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Fostering Civil Society Role in Eastern Partnership Countries, Yerevan,

Armenia

From 20-21 October 2011 society delegates and decision makers from the Eastern Partnership and EU

countries gathered in Yerevan, Armenia at the Congress organized by the European Movement

International (EMI) to discuss the topic “Fostering Civil Society’s role for further European

integration in the Eastern Partnership”. With a strong will to deepen the network and roots of civil

society, Alfredo Sellitti, President of AEGEE Europe, and Eastern Partnership Project team members –

Daryna Skryl (AEGEE-Dnipropetrovsk) and Shushan Khachaturyan (AEGEE-Yerevan), as well as Yulia

Barmakova (AEGEE-Kyiv) and AEGEE-Yerevan members participated in the Congress, actively

contributing to working out the conclusions.

Issues related to aims and objectives of Eastern Partnership Project launched by AEGEE members

were intensively discussed during three parallel workshops at the Congress with the following

outcome:

-Non-formal education provided by youth NGOs should be considered as an important

element in bridging the gaps in the formal education system, fully recognized and adequately

supported both financially and legally.

-It was admitted that there are still obstacles during registration of youth NGOs, operation

and expression of their opinions, and the difficulties in generating interest among young people

who have been raised in totally state-led systems. A Possible solution to these problems lies in

alliance-building among NGOs working on similar projects, which would increase their efficiency and

contribute to foster a dialogue with the Government.

-Participants proposed a set of recommendations towards a fight against visa restrictions,

namely encouragement of information exchange on established practices; encouraging youth NGOs

to establish/join alliances advocating visa-free actions; asking the European Union member states to

grant “home student status” to all students coming from the European Partnership countries; asking

Armenia and Azerbaijan to abolish visa restrictions for EU citizens.

During the Congress AEGEE members used this opportunity to inform participants about Eastern

Partnership Project and presented all their prospectives and on-going actions. Meanwhile in

discussions with possible partners and stakeholders it was concluded that Eastern Partnership Project

needs to be a part of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in order to bring more efficiency to

active citizenship development and visa-facilitation for young people. Cooperation with Eastern

Partnership Civil Society Forum could be a great achievement for the Project because of the

opportunity to lobby for its aims and this issue was supposed to be discussed at the third meeting

of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in Poznan, Poland on 28-30th of November 2011.


OCTOBER 2011

27

Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, Poznan, Poland

The third Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum took place in Poznan, Poland from 28 to 30

November. The president of AEGEE-Europe Alfredo Sellitti and the President of AEGEE-Yerevan

Shushan Khachatryan participated in the forum for the first time on behalf of AEGEE.

The Civil Society Forum is an integral part of the Eastern Partnership programme. Every year it is

held in a country currently presiding over the Council of the European Union. The main task of the

event was to discuss problems of non-governmental organisations and civil societies in the Eastern

Partnership countries. The discussion was held in a large circle of activists, community workers,

experts and politicians.

This year the speakers and participants highlighted the importance of the efforts the EU Polish

Presidency invests in Eastern Partnership in general and the respective Civil Society Forum in

particular. Over 300 delegates from 150 organisations

assembled.

Four working groups currently exist in frames of the

forum and they are:

WG 1. Democracy, human rights, good governance and

stability

WG 2. Economic integration and convergence with EU

policies

WG 3. Environment, climate change and energy security

WG 4. Contacts between people

AEGEE was involved in the forth Working Group. One of

the progresses of this working group was the formation

of Youth subgroup, where there have been many

discussions about the future activities mainly addressing

the cooperation of youth in Eastern Partnership Countries

and EU member states.

The forum elected the new steering committee which would coordinate the forum until November

2012.

AEGEE emphasises the importance of participation in this forum as AEGEE locals in Eastern

Partnership Countries are an integral part of our AEGEE network. Furthermore, AEGEE plans a

number of activities to address young people in these countries of its focus area (Bridging Europe)

and the new “Eastern Partnership Project” initiated by AEGEE members. Consequently, as a part of

the forum we think that more youth NGO-s should be given the opportunity to be involved in the

forum and contribute to the discussions of the working group both on local and European level.


NOVEMBER 2011

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Forum "Eastern Dimension of Volunteering"

The member of AEGEE-Yerevan Ani Janyan on behalf of AEGEE-Yerevan took part at the Forum

“Eastern Dimension of Volunteering”. 100 stakeholders of different international volunteering

programmes active in the countries of Eastern Europe and Caucasus (i.e., Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine) including the representatives of donor

institutions (e.g. European Commission, National Agencies, national governments, non-governmental

institutions etc.) and project beneficiaries (e.g. project coordinators, volunteers) came together to

share their experiences and to discuss together the challenges and opportunities of the Eastern

Dimension of Volunteering.

The Forum "Eastern Dimension of Volunteering" focused on the following objectives:

1. Analysing current practice and resources of different programmes of international volunteering

available for beneficiaries from Eastern Europe and Caucasus

2. Reflecting and discussing different understandings of the international volunteering

3. Exploring the impact of the international volunteering on the different stakeholders involved

4. Highliting challenges for international volunteering specific for the region of the Eastern Europe

and Caucasus

5. Defining the opportunities of development of international volunteering in the Eastern Europe

and Caucasus region

6. Celebrating the International Volunteer Day

Taking into consideration the European Year of Volunteering there was a ceremonial opening of the

EVS Photo Exhibition and after that celebration of the International Volunteer Day.

During a very short time all the participants had a chance to take part in discussions, be aware of

the upcoming projects and have a great time. Workshops and panel discussions aimed to share

experiences of different spheres related to the international volunteering. Participants had

experience in international volunteering issues in context of the Eastern Europe and Caucasus and

contributed actively to discussions in various workshops and working groups.

The Forum was co-organized by Polish National Agency of the Youth in Action (YiA) Programme

together with SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus (SALTO EECA) Resource Centre.


DECEMBER 2011

29

Network Meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia

Network Meeting/NWM/ is an event in

AEGEE, which is being organized twice a year

in various cities around Europe. The main aim

is to gather regional AEGEE locals, train the

members, discuss the specific region related

issues and try to find solutions. On December

the first NWM in Caucasus was organized

with the motivational theme “Lights, Camera,

Action!”. AEGEE members from Armenia,

Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary

and Italy were present at the NWM. The

presentation of Eastern Partnership Project,

Youth unemployment Project as well as Visa

Freedom working group of AEGEE took place. In parallel thematic workshops were carried out. The

NWM was closed by the traditional AEGEEan European Night where the countries presented their

national cuisine, songs and dances.

Youth Project on Volunteering-From Roots to Fruits, Las-Palmas,

Spain

From the 11th

to the 18th

of December 2011 6 members of AEGEE-Yerevan were participating in the

youth exchange programme “Preserving our Future: From the Roots to the Fruits” organized by

AEGEE-Las Palmas. Besides Armenian and Spanish Participants there were Latvian (AEGEE-Riga) and

Greece (AEGEE-Peiraias) delegations.

The project aimed to raise awareness about several types of volunteering, and to create

social awareness and motivate young people to become involved in volunteer projects in their local

communities. Workshops and group discussions about social and economic reality of the

participating countries were included in the agenda of the project.

During the event, representatives of local NGOs explained how to contribute in similar organizations

and gave informative talks about European AEGEE projects related to volunteering.

Activities were focused on three types of volunteering: with people with Down syndrome, with

immigrants and with young people who live in shelters.

Moreover, even the pastime was together with the target group: there were entertaining activities

such as bowling and dancing with Down syndrome children and sport activities with Foster kids.

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AEGEE Contact in Stepanakert

We, a group of like-

minded persons, from

the city of Stepanakert,

decided to begin the

process of establishment

of the AEGEE-Europe`s

contact in Stepanakert.

We find it very

important and necessary

to be involved in the

networking between the

students from all parts

of Europe. Our country,

without being

recognized by any state,

nevertheless is willing to

increase its links with

the outside world at the

civil society level. We are deeply convinced that every person, no matter where he lives, should be

aware of his essential rights and have chance to protect them. That is why we think and hope, that

AEGEE can become a good platform for raising people’s awareness of their rights, by realizing

different kinds of projects and initiatives. I suppose that becoming a member of International

students` forum, we shall have opportunity to get familiar with the European experience in the

sphere of education and particularly in the field of non-formal education and share this experience

with other young people in our country. We are interested in promoting values of democracy,

human rights and tolerance. Speaking honestly, a lot of people in our country still are not able to

get rid of the influence of Soviet era on their mentality, which is actually multiplied by the horrible

memories from the years of war and ongoing blockade of our country by Azerbaijan. That`s why,

overcoming prejudices and stereotypes is another issue which we would like to focus on , in this

respect we think that cooperation with other AEGEE contacts and Antennas in organizing different

kinds of seminars , conferences ,summer camps etc. will foster our progress in the above

mentioned spheres of activity. Besides, we believe that we can really contribute to the successful

realization of the aims and objectives of AEGEE, and we will do our best to correspond its high

criterion.

Tigran Grigoryan

President of AEGEE Contact in Stepanakert

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People do not have equal opportunities in Europe. Young people cannot participate in the European

events simply because of the visa border resulting in frequent rejections. They cannot take part in

European Educational programs because of limited places, there are still frozen conflicts and closed

borders…

Some areas in Europe still suffer from exclusion in many different aspects, and this impedes the

creation of a common, Europe-wide society, in which borders are not barriers.

The Eastern Partnership (EAP) is a project initiated by the European Union to strengthen relations

with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Among the main fields of

cooperation are the reinforcement of common values (human rights, democracy, rule of law), the

improvement of economic relations and the perspective of creating a visa-free area in the future.

The Eastern Partnership was inaugurated in Prague on 7 May 2009.

Taking into account the limited opportunities of young people in the mentioned countries, and

considering that the efforts of the European Union do not sufficiently target these limitations of

young people, we think that AEGEE-Europe as the European Students’ Forum should make a case

for the inclusion of young people from the East – especially since they are already part of AEGEE

network.

So the objectives of the program are to raise awareness in both EU member states and in EAP

countries of the limitations and problems young people have, prepare Position Papers proposing

concrete solutions for the future, promote active participation of young people, and encourage

them to take action.

The activities would be structured according to three main pillars which are identified to be among

the most important issues for young people in EAP countries:

Youth Mobility in Education-Educational is a National Competence of a country. The Bologna

Process aims to create a European Higher Education Area, in which students can choose from a

wide and transparent range of high quality courses and benefit from smooth recognition

procedures. The Bologna Process is already being implemented in EAP countries, but is the current

status of implementation satisfactory? Does this give an opportunity for students from EAP

countries to participate in European Student Exchange Programs without any problem? And from

the other hand are European Exchange Programs visible and accessible enough for students from

EAP countries? And what about the powerful tool called Non-Formal education? Is it recognized in

32

these countries? These are the row of questions which this pillar will be addressing and together

with the stakeholders’ try to find possible solutions.

Conflict Resolution- There are still frozen conflicts in the Caucasus region. Furthermore the

interaction stage between young people from conflict sides is very low. The aim of this pillar would

be bringing young people from conflict zones together and try to understand the other sides. That

is why several actions such as cultural exchange projects are planned to promote mutual

understanding and peace. Multiplying the results of such of such meetings will allow the growing

generation to influence the society in the near future and prevent further conflicts with an ethnical

background to rise.

Active Citizenship- The state of development of the Civil Society in each country seems to be

directly interconnected with the level of freedom in each country. Some of the EAP countries has

already made a significant step forward, nevertheless there is still a huge margin for improvement.

We want to promote the idea of active citizenship and the responsibility of youth towards the

society, promoting cooperation in the field and stimulating visa facilitation for active youth,

resulting in following objectives:

The row of the objectives already shows how much work is to be done. A big team of enthusiastic

and motivated members was recently formed who are ready to welcome these challenges. After

long online meetings the concept of the project is finally developed and the project will have its first

outcomes soon.

We should strive for eliminating obstacles, involving every young person in Europe on equal terms,

but also in a wider perspective, building a common Europe.

Team-Currently an international team of 25 members from different countries are working on the

project

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PARTNERS OF AEGEE-YEREVAN

SUPPORTERS OF AEGEE-YEREVAN

www.aegeeyerevan.am | [email protected]

Annual Report of AEGEE-Yerevan 2011

Documents

Transcript of Annual Report of AEGEE-Yerevan 2011