OSCE, British Council organize course for female candidates in Armenia on election campaign management

GORIS, Armenia, 19 September 2008 - How to run an election campaign, manage media relations and give political speeches are among the topics of an OSCE-organized two-day course for women that started in the southern Syunik province today.

The course, jointly organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the British Council Armenia, targets women from Syunik who are running in the local elections.

A British consultant is teaching the course, which aims to help participants enhance their lobbying and public speaking skills as well as their ability to better formulate and communicate their messages to voters and the media.

"Lack of confidence is an obstacle for women to run effective campaigns and lobbying efforts," said Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "We hope that this training course will boost the participants' confidence and promote networking among women interested in becoming active in local politics. In the end, we hope that more women are elected to local bodies."

This course is part of an OSCE Office project aiming to empower women in Syunik in the economic and political fields. The OSCE Office opened a Programme Presence in the Syunik city of Kapan in 2006.

A similar course was held earlier this week in Yerevan. The training in the capital, which targeted women representing Armenia's leading political parties, was part of a British Council "Wo/Men in politics" project financed by the British Embassy Yerevan.