On September 16, the first meeting of Women’s Professional Development Network was held online within the framework of the project “Strengthening Women’s Participation in the Workforce.” Participating in the meeting were twenty women members of the network, including representatives of vulnerable groups, OxYGen Foundation, Armenian and Georgian branches of Solidarity Center, and experts in the field.
Greeting the participants, Head of the Solidarity Center Armenian Branch Tatyana Solodovnik noted that the meeting was being held online because of the situation in the country. “I hope that the situation will soon come right and successive meetings will be held in-person. We are hopeful that the project, which is being implemented in Armenia and Georgia, will be helpful to you in terms of both helping your entry into the labor market and knowing your labor rights,” she stated.
Margarita Hakobyan, Executive Director of OxYGen Foundation, thanked everybody for their participation and emphasized that it was important that women members of the network pass on the gained skills and knowledge of the labor rights to others. “This way, the idea of the network will work in reality,” she noted.
Georgian representatives of the project “Strengthening Women’s Participation in the Workforce” also greeted the participants.
“I would like to express my thanks for your interest in joining the network. This project is especially important to our team and personally to me as a woman. Joining this network is important since it is important that women have access to decent work, be aware of their labor rights and be able to use them. Hope that the meeting will be both inspiring and informative,” said Coordinator of Georgia’s project Salome Kajaya, adding that a similar event is envisioned to be held also in Georgia in the upcoming days and that joint events are planned for the future. Her colleague Paata Beltadze added that the project would open new vistas for women in our countries in terms of their entry into work areas dominated traditionally by men.
Mary Mouradyan, person in charge of the OxYGen Foundation’s project, presented the project “Strengthening Women’s Participation in the Workforce.”
The project is based on the idea of strengthening full participation of women in the labor market and in Armenia’s economy, which is to be fulfilled also through the efforts of Women’s Professional Development Network. Forty women and girls will be engaged in the network and as a result of the project, they will become well aware of their labor rights and empowered to demand defense of both their labor rights and those of others. It will be a platform, through which members will have access to information about skills required in the labor market and will have the opportunity to develop those skills.
Working with the network members will be mentors and facilitators specialized in different fields, including women successful in their professions. They will help participants to better grasp their labor rights, to be prepared to enter the field of labor relations, and to identify training courses relevant for meeting their needs and developing their skills.
During the second part of the meeting, expert Sona Grigoryan coordinated an interactive discussion, during which the participants noted their needs and expectations from the project.
Below highlighted are some of them:
- To familiarize with legal regulations of workforce trafficking;
- To familiarize with new regulations in connection with labor rights violations;
- To acquire practical and theoretical skills;
- To learn of job opportunities for women with disabilities;
- To acquire practical knowledge and pass it on to others;
- To have opportunities for finding a better job;
- To acquire narrow specialization skills;
- To have actual programs for vulnerable groups, with an individualized approach;
- To contribute to a change in the situation in society;
- To acquire new contacts and connections.
During the final part of the meeting, experts Ellen Manaseryan and Mariam Vardanyan spoke about the basics of labor rights and the issue of inclusiveness in the labor market.
Summarizing the meeting, Margarita Hakobyan, Executive Director of OxYGen, noted that the first meeting laid important foundations for the future, touched upon very important topics, and that in the future there would be numerous other opportunities to expand on those topics and to address all voiced expectations in a targeted way. “Your expectations will serve as a basis for future discussions and everything will be done so that the network is a success,” she stated.
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.
