Society Without Violence NGO (SWV) has been actively engaged in the process of amendments in the state standards of general education and curriculum initiated by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (MESCS) of Republic of Armenia.

Since its foundation, SWV prioritized the role of education in promoting gender equality. In the course of the 19 years of experience, SWV contributed to the formation of democratic society through centralizing formal and informal education. The huge work was implemented by the tight cooperation with the MESCS in the scope of the following areas:

• Monitoring various strategies regarding gender policy.
• Textbook analysis from the viewpoint of gender sensitivity.
• Teacher training to increase gender sensitivity.
• The publication of theoretical and practical training guide “Man and Woman: Different but Equal”. The guidebook has been handed over to 1358 teachers of basic and high schools in Armenia.
• Inclusion of gender component in "Social Science" subject.

Currently, the organization is a member of the Public Council to the Minister of MESCS.

Based on its longstanding practice, SWV submitted its observations and suggestions on the state standards of general education, particularly on expected competencies of a secondary school graduate, and expected learning outcomes of an elementary, middle, and high school graduate, as well as on “Social Science” and “Me and the Surrounding World” subjects.

SWV suggests to include gender component in the state standard of general education and in the above mentioned subjects, based on the 2019-2013 gender strategy, as well as on the need to overcome gender stereotypes, gender-based discrimination and inequality between boys and girls at school.

We highlight the presentation of equal rights and opportunities of men and women and the introduction to the concept of gender equality. In this scope, it is necessary to clarify the idea of gender, the difference between gender and sex, promote the formation of gender-sensitive attitudes, address gender issues, gender stereotypes, discrimination, and its consequences. It is necessary to introduce the term - “sexism” to students, its manifestations, and most importantly, its consequences.

Several researches suggest that gender stereotypes formed at an early age are the root of gender inequality which leads to a wage gap, low representation of women in politics, gender-based discrimination and violence, high level of domestic violence among women, etc. Therefore, starting from general education institutions to overcome gender stereotypes is quite urgent and essential.

We thank the expert groups for their efforts to bring qualitative changes to the education system of Armenia.

We are assured that the inclusion of professional observations and suggestions in the ongoing project of state standards of general education and curriculum is fundamental for achieving tangible results. We will keep monitoring the processes, provide support and cooperate to ensure the desired outcome. 

Society Without Violence NGO 

Society Without Violence NGO (SWV) is a women’s rights defender organization founded in 2001. Since its establishment the organization is implementing projects focusing on women’s empowerment, awareness raising, promotion of social activism and leadership skills among women. Our mission is to contribute to women’s participation in the socio-economic and political life of Armenia.  

Since 2004 SWV has been working with Kvinna Till Kvinna (KTK) Swedish Foundation that promotes women’s rights in more than 20 countries and during the recent years the partnership has been focused on contributing to the establishment of gender sensitive educational system in Armenia. The evaluation of the previous projects revealed that teachers and students do not fully succeed at internalizing gender knowledge within short training sessions. To tackle this gap SWV launches a new project “Enabling accessible and sustained gender education in Armenia(n)” with the financial support of KTK. The main objective of the project is to develop and construct gender education courses with the aim to create online academic platform on gender studies.  

Within the framework of the above presented project, SWV announces a call for experts in women and gender studies.        

Experts fulfilling the competence requirements listed below are invited to submit their applications. 

Required qualifications 

• Advanced university degree in gender and women studies, social sciences, development studies or any related discipline; 

• A minimum of 3 years of relevant working experience in gender/women studies at national and/or international level, including a minimum of two years of academic research background; 

• Familiarity with policy, legal, regulatory frameworks in relevant fields and good understanding of the context; 

• Professional fluency in English and Armenian with excellent writing and oral skills; 

• Excellent interpersonal and analytical skills; 

• Proven ability to work as a member of a team consisting of both local and international experts; 

• Demonstrated awareness on gender matters and sensitivity. 

Responsibilities and key results expected  

• To conduct extensive research on gender and women’s studies and subsequently develop and design educational materials;  

• To participate in meetings with beneficiaries and stakeholders (round table discussions); 

• To adapt educational material on women and gender related topics to the Armenian context;  

• To develop and design the outline and the syllabus of an academic course. 

Terms and conditions  

The experts will be paid highly competitive salary. In addition, travel costs and daily subsistence allowance for attending meetings or undertaking research assignments will be paid.  The period of consultancy is one year (with the possible extension). 

How to apply 

All interested and qualified applicants are requested to submit a CV, a letter of interest and a research paper (maximum of 10 pages) in English by April 10 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Successful candidates would be contacted further for an interview.  

Georgia’s capital Tbilisi hosted the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (Eap CSF) named “Leading the Way Towards a Democratic European Future”, from 10-12 December 2018. The Society Without Violence (SWV) representative Anna Karapetyan participated in the forum and brought her valuable input to the first working group, under the shelter of “Democracy, Human Rights, Good Governance and Stability”. Ms. Karapetyan was appointed as a rapporteur of the “Gender” subgroup.

Welcome reception of the forum was hosted by the Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze. Alongside with regional issues and challenges, The Velvet Revolution in Armenia got exceptional highlights throughout the conference withthe Minister of the Foreign Affairs of the RA, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, being one of the pivotal speakers of the forum. The Forum also commenced the 10^th Anniversary of the Eastern Partnership Initiative establishment.