Final Evaluation: Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence in Armenia in the COVID-19 and Post-War Context (Armenia) 

Author(s)/editor(s)

Ani Kojoyan 

  Location: Armenia 

Grantee: Women’s Support Center 

Grant period: May 2021–May 2024 

Grant amount: $150,000 

Women’s Support Center, with the support of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, implemented the project “Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence in Armenia in the COVID-19 and Post-War Context” from May 2021 to May 2024 to address violence against women, with a focus on domestic violence and sexual exploitation. The project aimed to improve women and girls’ access to comprehensive services, economically empower women, and change the behaviour and attitudes of service providers. Activities included domestic violence training for service providers, vocational and employment training for women survivors, educational workshops for displaced women and girls in shelters, and comprehensive service provision. 

The final evaluation found that, despite initial difficulties engaging with women from conflict-affected Nagorno-Karabakh, the project significantly contributed to developing national policy for preventing domestic violence, economically empowering women, and increasing access to quality support services for women and children.

Key findings: 

1,666 women and children reached domestic violence services, significantly exceeding the project’s target, due to expanded outreach through regional centres and increased demand due to COVID-19 and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  
70% of women who completed the vocational programme said they had already found paid employment. 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs adopted the project’s economic empowerment model, which resulted in additional resources and expansion across Armenia.  
The project influenced amendments to national laws on domestic violence and key components into the Draft State Strategy for Gender Policy Implementation (2024-2028).

“The economic empowerment not only gave me a sufficient foundation to support my children and myself, but, most importantly, it granted me a chance to start over … It gave me the confidence to believe in a better future.” – Focus group discussion participant