On Wednesday 25 July, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan announced a series of activities designed to encourage and increase the participation of women in Armenian public life. “Promoting women’s participation in economic and political spheres as well as inclusion in public life is an essential factor for ensuring democratic advancement. The positive effect women’s participation has on stability and security throughout society is undeniable,” said Sorokin. More…
Category Archives: Civil Society
Extracts from the response to Baramidze’s by opposition spokesman and former foreign minister, Tedo Japaridze, published by New Europe on 24 July 2012.
Tedo Japaridze was for a long time the Georgian Ambassador in Washington, serving there from 1994 -2002. In March 2002 he chaired the
Georgian National Security Council. His televised speech in that capacity in November 2003 at the height of the “Rose Revolution” probably
sealed the fate of the Shevardnadze government. Japaridze was appointed for a short time as Georgian foreign Minister after the revolution
but did not see eye to eye with many of the leaders that emerged after those events and was removed in March 2004.
He retains respect in key elements within the international community, particularly the US. In 2011 he became a member of the core team of
Bidzhina Ivanishvili’s party, and subsequently of the Georgian Dream coalition. More…
International Community calls on Georgia to ensure media freedom, says government is failing to protect journalists.
In light of recent violent incidents against journalists, both the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Amnesty International have called on the Georgian government to uphold the rights and freedom of the media, and investigate thoroughly acts of aggression, and intimidation against representatives of the media. More…
OPINION: Atom Mkhitaryan writes about the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Atom Mkhitaryan
The Armenian Centre for Electoral Systems (AC ES) monitored the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh held on 19 July. AC ES Director, Atom Mkhitaryan, shares his impressions of the process. More…
Tax inspection underway in Civilitas Foundation investigation.
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, Philippe Lefort, along with the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Traian Hristea, meeting Vartan Oscanian at the Civilitas Foundation in February 2012.
Maintaining the political nature of the charges laid against the Civilitas Foundation, an Armenian think tank, and its founder, former Foreign Minister and prominent member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK for its initials in Armenian) Vartan Oskanian, have requested the court end the criminal investigations into the organisation’s activities. More…
OSCE considers future of election observation.
The Irish Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), together with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), on 12 and 13 July convened in Vienna a supplementary Human Dimensions Meeting of the organisation, to discuss democratic elections and elections observation. The OSCE Human Dimension Meetings focus primarily on issues of human rights and democratisation, and are meant to provide a space for interaction between the fifty six member states of the organisation and their civil society. NGOs are invited to participate and speak in the meetings. More…