YEREVAN. – On December 19-20, 2011, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) will conduct a journalistic mission to the Gegharkunik Region of eastern Armenia.

The mission will focus on problems that women face in remote rural parts of the region. Around 40 per cent of Gegharkunik’s population live below the poverty line, making this one of the three poorest regions in Armenia, according to recent statistical data.

Female-led households are particularly vulnerable to falling into extreme poverty, as women are left alone to bear the burden of household and family care responsibilities. As a consequence of out-migration from the region, particularly of young men, the women who remain are increasingly under pressure from a combination of mutually-reinforcing social and especially health-related problems.

The aim of the IWPR mission is to draw on local expertise to identify specific concerns, to generate reporting on these themes, and to disseminate this information in Armenian media.

The journalists will have an opportunity to liaise between government and civil society through meetings with local officials, experts and NGO representatives, and they will visit those parts of the region where communities are most under pressure.

As an outcome of the mission, participating journalists will produce special reports on women’s issues in Gegharkunik Region, both for the media outlets they work for and also for a special IWPR-supported newspaper supplement to be printed in January 2012.

Six journalists, selected from the best proposals as set out in the application form, will be invited to form the mission team. 

IWPR Armenia office will cover all major expenses, including accommodation, food and transportation.

This journalistic mission is being organized within the framework of IWPR’s “Building Bridges/Building Capacity: Conflict Prevention in the South Caucasus” project, supported by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, IWPR Armenia office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.