Five Pathways to Build Civic Engagement in Armenia
Youth leaders are showing their generation how to feel empowered and make lasting change in their communities
From Peaceful Revolution to Reform
If 2019 was the global “ year of the protest,” Armenia was early to the party and one of the few success stories. In spring 2018, a coalition of student movements and citizen groups coalesced into the “Velvet Revolution,” successfully ousting Serzh Sargsyan’s corrupt oligarchic regime and installing the new democratic government under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Pashinyan supported the political reforms, transparency, accountable governance, and civic engagement demanded by the young people who were among the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets.
However, young people’s fragile trust in the new government was at risk without increased digital literacy, civic education, and a broader sense of civic and economic opportunities. In response, USAID created a continuum of civic and economic opportunities, together with young champions for change. Read five of their stories below.
1. Engaging Local Governments
Lilit Aivazyan, 20, is a student at the American University of Armenia who is part of a group of young Armenians eager to invest in their communities and become more engaged in the local governance processes.
Her goal is to incentivize citizens to stay and return home instead of pursuing better paying jobs outside the country or their communities.
For Lilit, change in her hometown of Ararat — population 20,000 — began with her participation at the Ararat InfoTun, one of 10 USAID-established resource centers located throughout Armenia. These centers are spaces where youth and adults convene to identify priority activities for their towns and to organize civic engagement training.
They form part of two USAID civic engagement projects — one on local governance and the other on media — that support civil society organizations to increase engagement with, and oversight of, local governments and decentralization processes.
“Ararat InfoTun gave us [youth] an opportunity to have a vision, [and…] the tools to realize that vision, solve the issue, voice our opinions,” said Lilit. “It [has become] a connecting place with the municipality, and with local governing bodies overall…[it was] the first time my voice mattered.”
2. Promoting Elections and Accountability
Mkhitar Ghazaryan, 24, from Gyumri, the second largest city in the country, helped lead a USAID program that strengthened ties between the National Assembly and Armenian youth, exposing them to the nuts and bolts of parliamentary democracy.
“This internship is based on a win-win strategy as we can apply our knowledge by gaining new skills and widening our political horizons, while in the meantime the National Assembly might drastically benefit from young people’s views,” said Mkhitar.
3. Building Inclusive Economic Opportunity
Techpreneurs like Lilit Movsesyan are strengthening technology opportunities in several of Armenia’s higher education institutions. Lilit and a team of over 20 young leaders enhanced workforce skills, promoted technology solutions to other sectors, and supported curriculum upgrades. Among the innovations, Lilit’s team developed a model to take technological and environmental training to other parts of the country without strong science-related university programs.
4. Ensuring Social Inclusion and Access to Social Services
At age 25, Taghui Machkalyan became the only social worker in Ayrum, a town located in the northeast.
She provided services to 11,174 people in eight villages. Utilizing the revolution as her call to action, Taghui identified the biggest challenges for youth in her community: the lack of a central place to congregate and a need to improve educational and civic opportunities. Through a USAID-supported activity, Taghui is working to strengthen Armenia’s social protection system with a community-based approach that is improving the lives of vulnerable children and youth. USAID also taught social workers like Taghui to identify vulnerable children, support child well-being, and prevent and respond to abuse, exploitation, and neglect.
5. Responding to Environmental Priorities
Mane Minasyan, 19, helped to increase water productivity, efficiency, and quality in one of the largest valleys in the Armenian plateau, calling on lessons learned from a USAID project to energize her fellow citizens to act.
Along with other youth, she received training in journalism and water-conservation themes. Through an investigation of water management practices and policies, she raised awareness of groundwater loss in her town of Vedi, and published her findings. Ultimately this made the town’s water management more transparent and accountable, and contributed to improved water management by the municipal leadership.
In addition, with USAID support, she and others participated in the “Idea Harvest” forum for citizen scientists, in which youth brainstormed projects to solve water-related issues in their communities. Read more about these activities here.
“Before, people might see an issue and just complain about it,” said Mane. “Now, they see an issue, take a picture, and send it to me. I post it on the municipality’s webpage, and there’s a response in 15 minutes or less.”
A Promising Path Forward
Mane, Lilit, Taguhi, Lilit, and Mkhitar are just a few of the thousands of young Armenians who hunger for change. Through USAID, these and other members of the Velvet Revolution generation feel empowered and equipped to make lasting changes in their community.
“It’s not like before,” Lilit said. “Now your voice and those of others matter.”
About the Authors
Michael McCabe is the Agency Youth Coordinator. Melissa Burnes is the Development Outreach and Communications Advisor with USAID’s Mission in Armenia.
