Women Empowerment of Northern Shirak, Armenia

During the success stories that we were able to register with the ongoing project is the training and helping the branding works of a young woman who lives in a neighboring village close to Gyumri. There are different villages that are famous for their agricultural products and Violet, who had orchards of peaches and apples never thought of turning them into a business. We helped her come up with her own business idea, helped her create a small brand that will produce dried fruit in the area. Thanks to the project there are many more women who are showing their interest in creating their own brand and products that can help them both economically and will boost the growth of eco-products in the area.

As mentioned in previous reports we have been implementing research in the eastern rural communities around, in the eastern area of Shirak’s administrative center Gyumri. Short trainings organized by our NGO were also implemented in 2 northern villages of Shirak, which is closer to the Georgian border, Tsoghamarg and Toros. These areas are relatively closed compared with other areas of Armenia and since spring comes here a little late than usual, we have been using that time to complete the research in the area.

Our research aimed at finding the potential of these communities, where women live in and how to use the values and sites of interest as anchors for attracting tourists. We highly prioritize the existence of ancient monuments and the knowledge of ancient methods of cooking, which later will become the basis of the foundation of the pillars of the project.