“Civic Mechanics” – Five out of Five Thousand Examples

There are over five thousand NGOs and civic initiatives in Armenia – rigorous and powerful, small and making their first steps. The film entitled “Civic Mechanics,” the first public screening of which took place on March 7, tells about five of them.

The film co-authors Gegham Vardanyan from the Media Initiatives Center, and Isabella Sargsyan from Eurasia Partnership Foundation have extensive experience in Armenian NGOs. This was an opportunity for them to look at the field from aside, understand and present the role of CSO-s in the life of the society.

“Public organizations do things that are not noticeable at a first glance but are very important. They often do what the State should do but fails to, or does badly,” Gegham Vardanyan says.

Isabella Sargsyan believes there is a wrong impression among the public about the CSOs and their activities.

“Although each of the public organization has its area of activity and own focus, in reality, they do thousands of things. If someone knocks on their door with any question, the NGOs either try to find the one that can help, or they start solving the issue. Sometimes people find about this activities and give a positive reaction, but are not aware that this is the result of work of this or that CSO”, Isabella tells.

The authors made a difficult choice from an extensive list of organizations: Mission Armenia NGO, Mayri Center, Regional Cooperation Center (formerly Support for Noyemberyan NGO), Save Teghut Civic Initiative and Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office.
Through small stories about these structures, the film tries to present the big picture of Civil Society Organizations in Armenia.

This initiative was launched within the framework of “CSO DePo: CSO Development Program” financed by the USAID.

“Civic Mechanics” film of the Media Initiatives Center is already available on-line.  It tells about five public organizations operating in Armenia, about their role in the life of the society and their successes, failures, achievements, and problems. Through small stories, the authors try to present the general picture of Armenia’s Civil Society Organizations (CSO).

This initiative was realized within the scope of the USAID financed “CSO DePo: CSO Development Program.”