Planning a trip to Armenia? Subscribe to learn when international visitors are once more allowed to enter! It may seem strange, but there is no straightforward answer to this question. We could approach it geographically, politically and culturally with different or unclear results each time. The rich and diverse history of the country dates back to at least 1, BC.
Its location at the gateway between Asia and Europe made it a strategically important territory and one of the main trade routes between the continents. Over the centuries, it has been ruled by many civilizations both from the East and the West, including Assyrians, Persians, Romans and Ottomans.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in , Armenia was finally able to declare independence. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory since the s. Strangely enough, the 2 countries are very similar in size; nonetheless, they are very different from almost every other point of view.
Armenia is a landlocked country dominated by mountains. In fact, it has no lowlands and the average elevation is 1, metres. To continue to grow her business, Nune is negotiating contracts with other stores in Yerevan and other nearby cities in Armenia.
Over a two-year period, the European Union-financed AGERS program is guiding gender-based violence GBV survivors as they enhance their employability and small business skills, and pursue new income-generating opportunities that promote independence and support decent living conditions for women and their families.
In parallel, the program is working with four civil society organizations that already work with GBV survivors to improve their capacity to deliver economic development programs that are supportive of gender equality, protective against GBV and engage the public, support groups, employers and other civil society and market actors across many sectors in joint actions, dialogue, and training around norms, safe workspaces, and protection strategies linked to economic opportunities.
Though she enjoyed her work, the low salary and long hours she worked at the bakery made her question whether she would do better to start her own business. Anna toyed with the idea for more than three years, but without start-up capital the likelihood that she could try and succeed at launching her own business seemed dim. Anna was referred to the AGERS project in June , and was selected to participate in enterprise-track trainings one month later.
Through the project, Anna learned that her business model was high risk, and to be successful she would need to anticipate common challenges faced by restaurants and plan ahead to avoid them or minimise their impact. The project team helped Anna to register her business, conduct risk assessments, negotiate a rental space, and understand tax law.
She used the small grant she was awarded through the project to stock her restaurant with tools and ingredients. Vardan had always struggled with health issues, but continued to work odd labour-intensive jobs to care for the family out of necessity. For Vardan, the bistro presented a welcome alternative to his then-physically-demanding line of work. Working together, Anna could focus on production while Vardan focused on advertising, sourcing fresh produce, and managing delivery logistics.
With business on the rise, her self-confidence continues to increase by leaps and bounds. I alone am responsible for both profits and losses. Thanks to the project, I gained the know-how, equipment, and materials to overcome my fear of failure and become an entrepreneur. The trainings helped Hasmik to become more confident and improved her decision-making ability, building her confidence in herself and her abilities.
With the support of a job development trainer, Hasmik developed her resume, a career development plan, and learned how to interview for jobs. The project helped her conduct a job screening and apply to a number of jobs relevant to her skills-set and background.
Her resume was sent to a number of employers in Yerevan and the surrounding regions. Soon, Hasmik was offered a job in a food factory as a quality manager. Her monthly salary is enough for her to rent a home, and take care of her child and herself without worry or relying on anyone else. Over a two-year period, the European Union-financed AGERS programme is guiding GBV survivors as they enhance their employability and small business skills, and pursue new income-generating opportunities that promote independence and support decent living conditions for women and their families.
In parallel, the programme is working with four civil society organisations that already work with GBV survivors to improve their capacity to deliver economic development programmes that are supportive of gender equality, protective against GBV and engage the public, support groups, employers and other civil society and market actors across many sectors in joint actions, dialogue, and training around norms, safe workspaces, and protection strategies linked to economic opportunities.
Vahan Safaryan is a fish farmer in Sarukhan, Armenia. He began his business in with a small pool of trout. Vahan needed more than just a few Dram to get his business to really flourish, however. GCCI provided business training, marketing training and market research training in our to facilitate Vahan's growing fish farm.
He currently grows sig, a kind of fish that used to be native to nearby Lake Sevan but is now endangered in Armenia sig are still plentiful in Russian lakes. This year, he hopes to begin producing another breed, Ishkhan , a trout native to the region and very important to to the cultural and culinary heritage of the people of Armenia. Victr Badalyan loves his work. He is an expert beekeeper from Vardenik, a beautiful hilly village near Lake Sevan. In December he called a snap election to remove the Republican Party majority in parliament, and his My Step Alliance won an overwhelming majority.
The Republicans won no seats. Mr Pashinyan promised to maintain Armenia's strategic alliance with Russia. But he faced calls for his resignation in late after agreeing to a Moscow-brokered ceasefire with Azerbaijan, which had made major gains in an offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh. President: Armen Sargsyan. Armen Sargsyan was elected president in March , when the country moved from a presidential system of government to a parliamentary one.
He briefly served as prime minister from November to March between stints as ambassador to the UK and other diplomatic posts in Europe. Voters in a referendum backed constitutional changes reducing the powers of the president in favour of the premiership, which critics saw as a ruse to allow outgoing president Serzh Sargsyan to continue to rule as prime minister.
Serzh Sargsyan duly became prime minister on the expiry of his second term as president in April , but sparked the largest street protests Armenia has seen for years.
He resigned after several days of unrest. The political changes in had a profound effect on the media, with the main TV stations becoming largely free of state control.
But the media remain prone to political polarisation and a lack of financial independence. TV is the leading medium, although less so among younger audiences.
0コメント