On November 5 and 6, the second meeting of the Women’s Professional Development Network took place within the framework of the “Strengthening Women’s Participation in the Workforce” project. Participating in the meeting were twenty network member women, including representatives of vulnerable groups. During the two days of the meeting, the participants improved their knowledge of labor rights and skills for job seeking, writing autobiographies, effective communication and team work, which later they will be able to apply for a successful entry into the labor market.
Greeting the participants, representative of Solidarity Center in Armenia Mariam Chibukhchyan emphasized the importance of the opportunity to meet in-person (the first meeting of the network was held online). “We anticipate having two interesting and productive days and I hope that we will try to learn not only from the facilitators, but also from each other and will try to find solutions to the problems,” she noted.
Attaching importance to the steps taken to create and develop the network, OxYGen Foundation’s Program Manager Kristine Hovhannessyan thanked everybody for their participation. She expressed hope that the network participants would share their gained knowledge of labor rights also with others becoming ambassadors of change, which will amplify the effectiveness of the project.
During the two-day interactive and inclusive training course, specialists from the Chaplin Corporate Center for Growth and Education Tatev Hovhannessyan, Asya Ayvazyan, and Tamar Palajyan helped the participants perform self-assessment, self-awareness exercises, familiarize with job seeking tools and platforms, learn to properly write autobiographies, as well as prepare for an interview, communicate effectively, and negotiate successfully. The Human Rights Research Center’s co-founder Anahit Simonyan and inclusiveness expert Mariam Vardanyan coordinated their discussions on gender discrimination in the labor market, problems with overcoming gaps in inclusiveness, as well as network cooperation issues and the importance of women solidarity.
“Thanks to the training course, I acquired new knowledge and made pleasant connections. I received a certificate, which qualifies me to conduct seminars. My expectations are fully justified. I thank our trainers and organizers for similar opportunity,” Gohar Levonyan, a participant, shared her impressions at the conclusion of the course.
The initiative is implemented in the frames of the ”Strengthening Women’s Participation in the Workforce” project implemented by OxYGen Foundation in partnership with Solidarity Center in Armenia.
