IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 Final Narrative Report FINAL NARRATIVE REPORT CONFIDENCE IN RECOVERY 01.02.2014 - 30.11.2015 2013.1 Page 1 of 23 Confidence in Recovery_Final Narrative Report IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 Final Narrative Report Table of contents 1. Description 3 2. Assessment of implementation of Action activities 4 3. Beneficiaries/affiliated entities and other Cooperation 20 4. Visibility 22 5. Location of records, accounting and supporting documents 23 List of acronyms used in the report HCA-Armenia Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (project partner in Armenia) PLA Participatory Learning and Action WPRU Women’s Problems Research Union (project partner in Azerbaijan) 1325 project EC funded project “Strengthening Women’s Capacity for Peace-Building in South Caucasus” 2013.1 Page 2 of 23 Confidence in Recovery_Final Narrative Report IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 Final Narrative Report 1. Description 1.1. Name of Coordinator of the grant contract: CARE Österreich 1.2. Name and title of the Contact Person: Julia Weber (Program Officer), CARE Österreich Khatuna Madurashvili (Project Coordinator), CARE International in the Caucasus 1.3. Name of Partners in the Action: - Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, Armenia (Yerevan) - Women’s Problems Research Union, Azerbaijan (Baku) 1.4. Title of the Action: Confidence in Recovery 1.5. Contract number: IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 1.6. Start date and end date of the Action: 1 February 2014 – 30 November 2015 1.7. Target country(ies) or region(s): Armenia and Azerbaijan 1.8. Final beneficiaries &/or target groups (including numbers of women and men): Target group: Rural communities in Armenia and Azerbaijan populated by marginalised people that have been directly affected by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, incl. minority women, IDPs/refugees, returnees, widows, relatives of injured or missing persons, war invalids, ex- combatants and socially vulnerable women in areas that might be affected by renewed conflict. Final beneficiaries: - The two target communities (Goris in Armenia, Pirshagi in Azerbaijan), among them disadvantaged women in particular, benefitted from information and knowledge on gender equality and women’s rights, increased participation and public visibility of their needs and rights; - Coordination Teams of Educational Clubs and other Club members received different trainings and support for community mobilization on various issues. They have built their capacities as organisers, managers and leaders and also developed their analytical skills. - Target community members received soft and business skills training, information on civil rights and women’s rights and have improved their opportunities to find work. - Local decision-makers benefited from increased capacity of local civil society actors to provide information and input useful for decision-making; - Local media received human interest stories and quality information on gender issues which are usually under-researched and under-reported; - Broader society/other communities received information through the project; Actual numbers of beneficiaries: Total number of direct beneficiaries of the project is 1,491 (unique number). - 211 persons built their soft and business skills, among them 171 women and 40 men; - 1,346 individuals (1,121 in Armenia and 225 in Azerbaijan) took part in educational/cultural local events (community workshops, forums, roundtables, public lectures etc.) organized by Clubs, among them 70 % women and 30% men; - Educational Club members: 13 in Goris, among them 5 Coordination Teams and 8 activists (4 men). 2013.1 Page 3 of 23 Confidence in Recovery_Final Narrative Report IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 Final Narrative Report 18 in Pirshagi, among them 4 Coordination Teams and 14 activists of the Club (5 men). 1.9. Country(ies) in which the activities take place (if different from 1.7): Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan 2. Assessment of implementation of Action activities 2.1. Executive summary of the Action Confidence in recovery (hereafter CR) was a twenty–two-month project that focused on partnering with national NGOs in Armenia and Azerbaijan to establish two Educational Clubs in conflict-affected target communities and build the skills and confidence of community members, especially women, to defend their rights and advocate for community needs. CR was designed to widen the space within society for more people to become engaged in peace building initiatives by building cells of people within the society who have benefited from receiving direct information from the other side of the conflict and having had first-hand experience of exchanging and learning. In addition, the project aimed at broadening the range of people who were interested to take part in people to people diplomacy initiatives. The partner organisations, together with CARE, supported this work, brought attention to the successes of women’s activism, and advocated for the greater inclusion of women in public and political life. In this way, the project tried not only to make use of the largely untapped potential of women in dealing with local development issues, but also to develop new perspectives on cross- conflict dialogue initiatives and separate actions. This was achieved through connecting them with grassroots-level and including a wider range of topics that are of most concern to those people who feel the brunt of the unresolved conflicts. Engagement still needs to be raised in questions of civic activism, policy dialogue and protection of rights to enforce solidarity between people on strategic issues of wellbeing. There are few spaces available to discuss community affairs or even to create a sense of community. This not only obstructs people’s ability to imagine a common interest, but also prevents the flow of information. Conflict-affected populations in Armenia and Azerbaijan have suffered from, and continue to experience isolation from mainstream society, trauma, and a range of socio-economic issues, many of which stem from the lack of integration into their new communities. Therefore, this project aimed to raise the leadership of women in the community and increase the visibility of the contributions that women are making to community life. Initially, the project was planned to concentrate on three communities, one in Armenia (Goris / Sandi Dzor) and two in Azerbaijan (Pirshagi and Ramana). Goris and Pirshagi were selected by CARE and its partners. Raman community was added according to the request from the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan and executive authorities of Nagorni Karabakh Autonomous Republic in exile in order to share with them the experience from Pirshagi and Goris Clubs on how to activate the community and advocate for needs and interests of community members as well as to increase their capacity in this work. It was foreseen that some problems could arise during the initial stage of the project in Ramana. The project took into consideration the official requirements of Azerbaijan to register projects prior to the implementation and to receive permission to work with IDPs from the relevant authorities. All necessary procedures were covered and all permissions were obtained which took more than two months. The last challenge was to arrange proper buildings to establish the Educational Clubs. Clubs were established in Goris and in Pirshagi but there were difficulties to find a suitable building in Ramana. This IDP settlement was established near Baku. Beside the IDP houses in the community there are two administrative buildings, one public school and another musical school. There were no options to establish the Club, as according to the order of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan it is prohibited to use school facilities for any other reason except schooling. The project staff considered different alternatives and in agreement with the EU it was decided to change the target community. Thereafter, the project Team assessed the IDP settlements near Baku, and identified the community of Dan Ulduzu in Sumgait to replace Ramana community. Around 400 families are placed there (65% are 2013.1 Page 4 of 23 Confidence in Recovery_Final Narrative Report IFS-RRM/2013/332-010 Final Narrative Report women), and facilities for the establishment of the Educational Club were available. Local partners submitted all documents to receive the permission for work but in the meantime the situation in Azerbaijan deteriorated which made it impossible to include a different IDP settlement. Therefore, the project focused only on two communities of displaced people – Goris (Armenia) and Pirshagi (Azerbaijan). In these two communities Educational Clubs have been successfully established as focal points in the communities: for people to receive marketable skills to support their employment opportunities, to create space for debates and discussions on issues of importance to the community, and to establish a centre of cultural activity that builds not only a sense of communal life, but also targets people from the wider, mainstream society, thus including people who have been isolated. The Action contained three separate components: - Educational Courses to promote skills that are demanded by employers, such as English language, IT and business skills; - The Cultural/ Informational initiatives include a variety of activities to broaden the knowledge of dynamics in wider society, and give the opportunity to establish contacts with people from beyond their immediate surroundings; - Regional meetings and workshops to spread information across conflict lines by giving members