The Armenian regions bordering Azerbaijan have faced many challenges. While many had already struggled with depopulation, as young people often leave for the capital, which offers more opportunities and services, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh and the influx of Armenian refugees only added new difficulties.
The staff of the Civil Youth Center in Ijevan, a city in the northeast Tavush region with a population of around 18,000 citizens, knows all about these challenges. The Civil Youth Center is an NGO focused on active citizenship and youth education.
Arpine Yeritsyan
“Our mission is to make young people more engaged in civic and political processes happening in Armenia,” says Arpine Yeritsyan, the organisation’s director. Arpine is an expert in local governance and has dedicated her career to promoting citizen participation in politics and transparent governance.
“We started in 2015. Our core work was public watchdog activity — overseeing how municipal funds are managed and taking part in election observation missions,” Arpine says.
In 2018, after the revolution in Armenia ousted the previous semi-autocratic regime and civic activism rapidly rose throughout the country, the Civil Youth Center’s team grew big enough to establish an independent organisation. Their official mission is to promote active citizenship, but the scope of their activities is broad.
“Our programmes are dedicated to youth participation, education, community development, and human rights promotion. We also continue to monitor governmental and local councils and provide them with recommendations on public policies,” Arpine explains. She adds that young people in the Tavush region still lack a space for non-formal education and community activities, which is something that the organisation is trying to change.
One of the successful initiatives organised by local students with the support of the Civil Youth Center was the advocacy to change the bus schedules in Ijevan. The buses used to operate only twice a day, and at times that were inconvenient for students who commuted to the Ijevan university from more remote villages. Many of them had to skip classes in order to catch the last bus home. After five months of collecting data, raising public awareness, mobilising the local community, and speaking with public transport authorities, the buses finally started running to accommodate students’ needs. This relatively small change significantly improved the public services and, therefore, life in remote areas.
On a different occasion, the Civil Youth Center helped to organise a community event focused on the issue of the pollution of the river Aghstev, which flows through Ijevan. Together with art students from the Ijevan university, they organised a public painting of the river to raise awareness of river contamination and advocate for a cleaner environment.
The NGO also promotes participatory budgeting — this means including community members in the decision-making process of how public money will be spent. “This can be a dry subject and it takes a lot of explaining. But we are seeing interest in young people who come up with their own initiatives on how to change things in our community,” Arpine adds.
In 2023, the organisation started providing assistance to displaced Armenians who fled from Nagorno-Karabakh. “This became a whole new working area for us. These people can be vulnerable due to the trauma from the war and having to leave their homes behind. They sometimes face marginalisation or prejudice,” the director says. The Civil Youth Center provides support and community integration, as well as education focused on disinformation and media literacy.
When asked about the biggest challenges that the NGO faces, Arpine mentions financial sustainability and public awareness. “The cut in USAID meant that there is now less money in the sector and smaller organisations must compete for grants with big competitors,” she says.
“Another problem is that people often struggle to understand what our organisation does. We just have to keep explaining that locals are at the core of our mission — we defend their rights, we monitor the transparency of public money, and we are working to put their needs in the centre of local policy-making,” the director concludes.