The role of Armenian women as peacebuilders since the end of the Soviet era

The research conducted for this Capstone paper examines the peace building initiatives that have been occurring in the NGO sector in Armenia since the end of the Soviet era and discusses how Armenian women see their work in peace building initiatives through their accomplishments and on-going challenges. I decided to use questionnaires and informal interviews for my research methodology in order to present the voices of Armenian women, as well as to better understand the phenomenon of women peace builders. The questionnaires and informal interviews asked how women saw their participation as social change activists in peace building activities, their accomplishments and their challenges both for regional cooperation and future peace building. The insights and experiences of these 11 local NGOs, 4 international NGOs and 6 activists have provided reflections and lessons learned to be shared for future peace building activities in the southern Caucasus. The women who participated in this research shared their accomplishments in the peace building work being facilitated by women and acknowledged the need for two pertinent changes for future peace building in Armenia. First, women need to have greater involvement in the traditional decision-making realm of politics because without women's political participation, their work will remain in the Track II, NGO vacuum. Second, men and young people need to be involved in peace building initiatives in order to insure the future sustainability of peace building work. The practical applicability of this paper summarizes the accomplishment of past peace building programming achievements, shares insights and lessons learned in these activities and voices concerns and needs of peace builders for potential future funders and other practitioners