ACTIVITIES
Court of Cassation Overturns Decision in Soldier Death Case After Peace Dialogue NGO Appeal
Following multiple rejected appeals by the Prosecutor’s Office, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Gegharkunik Marz, and the Criminal Court of Appeal, Peace Dialogue NGO’s special appeal to the Court of Cassation was accepted on January 31, 2023. The Court of Cassation’s recent ruling annulled the 2022 decision of the Criminal Court of Appeal, upholding the victim’s legal successor’s complaint and highlighting procedural violations during the investigation.
Strengthening Security Sector Reform in Armenia: A Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Roundtable Dialogue
Armenia in Focus: Navigating the Eastern Partnership, Regional Security, and European Integration
“…Despite 58% of the Armenian population favoring EU membership, EU-Armenia relations remain vulnerable to Russian influence…”
Embarking on a new project Contact 3.0: International Reflection Meeting
From 8 to 12 May 2023 in Tbilisi, Peace Dialogue NGO in partnership with the German organization OWEN, implemented a kick-off International Reflection Meeting as part of its new project CONTACT 3.0. Involving young activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Germany, these series of workshops aimed at understanding personal and dominant national narratives through the lens of young civil society members in conflict-affected areas and striving to identify needs- and human-centered topics on which they would like to work in the future with the communities they are coming from.
Peace Dialogue’s Recommendations for Armenia’s Human Rights Action Plan 2023-2025: Ten out of Twenty-Four Included in First Draft
Peace Dialogue responded to an inquiry made by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, providing a package of 24 recommendations for the country’s 2023-2025 Action Plan for human rights protection. Out of the 24 recommendations, 10 have been included in the first draft of the Action Plan.
Legal Support Offered to Citizens Participating in Military Reserve Force Trainings
Stated in Article 17 of the RA Law “On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen”, citizens who are called to a military training undergo a medical check-up and expertise. As part of the medical care and service, the state provides check-up and expertise free of charge to the citizens.
Developing Inclusive Oversight of Security in Armenia: Overseeing Defence Strategizing and Classifying
In the framework of the project Developing Inclusive Oversight of Security implemented by the Dutch NGO Centre for European Security Studies in partnership with Peace Dialogue NGO, two expert lab discussions were conducted on 18-19 January, 2023 in Yerevan. The event on 18 January was aimed at initiating multi-stakeholder consultations on the key priorities in drafting Armenia’s new national security strategy. The topic of the discussion held on 19 January was the classification of defence and security information.
Joint Analysis of Contemporary Narratives and Dominant Discourses on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict
On 26-27 January 2023, Peace Dialogue NGO held a meeting entitled Joint Analysis of Contemporary Narratives and Dominant Discourses on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict. The event took place in Tbilisi, Georgia and brought together representatives of Armenian and Azerbaijani civil society organisations, expert communities, and peace practitioners.
Imaginary Narratives as Path to Resolve Real Conflicts
This course, which ran from October 13 to November 27, was aimed to enhance conflict resolution skills among the youth in the northern regions of Armenia by fostering a constructive approach and developing their capacity to find real and rational solutions to conflict situations on daily bases.
Peace Dialogue NGO intends to implement follow-up initiatives in the future. Currently, a manual is being developed summarising the techniques and tools applied to analyse the stories discussed during the course, as well as the methodology employed. Using the manual as a guide, Peace Dialogue will organise a training of trainers in the near future which will give the young participants an opportunity to conduct similar courses among their peers by applying the same tools and techniques.
Defence Governance and Oversight in Armenia: Roundtable Discussion
On 6-7 December 2022 in Yerevan, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) and Peace Dialogue jointly organised a Roundtable discussion on Defence Governance and Oversight in Armenia.
The event has been set up in close consultation with key stakeholders for defence and security sector reform in Armenia, as well as the RA Parliamentarians and the experts of the relevant commissions with the representatives of the interested public organisations in the field.
