Support for Civil Peace Initiatives

“Despite 58% of the Armenian population favoring EU membership, EU-Armenia relations remain vulnerable to Russian influence.”

From July 29 to August 3, 2024, Peace Dialogue NGO hosted the «Mind Puzzle» summer school in Gyumri, designed to cultivate creative, analytical, and critical thinking among 12 young individuals from the Shirak, Lori, and Tavush regions of northern Armenia. Among the participants were young people from families forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, who had found refuge in these regions. This initiative was part of the «Contact 3.0» project by Peace Dialogue, in partnership with the German organization OWEN.

On July 26, 2024, Peace Dialogue NGO hosted a multi-stakeholder discussion titled “Mapping and Addressing the Needs of Conflict-Affected Groups in Armenia: Hopes, Fears, and Expectations in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process.”

On March 14, 2024, a roundtable discussion was convened in Yerevan, featuring Dr. Markus Ritter, Head of Mission of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA), his team, and representatives from the Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF ANP). This meeting was initiated by Edgar Khachatryan, president of the Peace Dialogue NGO and national facilitator of the EaP CSF ANP, with the support of the EUMA team.

In places where tension is a constant backdrop and the threat of escalating conflict is always present, the need for initiatives that build peace is undeniable. Especially for the younger generation, stepping into the realm of peacebuilding is both a critical and daunting task. Their projects need to navigate the complex balance between doing no harm, staying relevant to their contexts, and overcoming societal pressures that might silence their calls for peace. This was the central theme of a workshop organized by Peace Dialogue NGO, part of the Contact 3.0 project, aimed at addressing these challenges. The workshop, titled “Obtaining Effective Methodology for Designing Peacebuilding Local Initiatives,” took place from March 2 to March 3, 2024, and focused on deepening young participants’ understanding of peacebuilding, its challenges, and strategies for creating impactful local initiatives.

Following the launch of the Contact 3.0 project on November 14-20, 2023, Peace Dialogue NGO, in collaboration with its German partner OWEN NGO, convened the second international reflection meeting in Potsdam, Germany. Participants of the event included team members from the project’s three countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Germany – along with young individuals who had implemented their own local initiatives in recent months. The meeting aimed to assess the small-scale projects fulfilled in each country. In Armenia, efforts centered on mitigating war-related repercussions, while in Azerbaijan, the focus was on preparing the society for peace. Meanwhile, in Germany, the initiative was devoted to addressing the challenges faced by refugees resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

In the summer of 2023, Peace Dialogue NGO embarked on an inspiring journey to empower young minds in Vanadzor, Armenia. Guided by Nikola Turière and Rima Galstyan, the Brainstorming Theater youth club became a dynamic platform for teenagers to explore their potential, engage in grassroots projects, and become active and informed citizens. This activity was part of a project CONTACT 3.0 that is implemented by Peace Dialogue NGO in partnership with the German partner OWEN eV.