Unless something extraordinary happens before I leave for England tomorrow morning, this will be my last post on this blog. I will be travelling back home for a workshop sponsored by Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Oxford Internet Institute on the role of the internet in civic participation and democratic conversations in the new democracies of Eastern Europe, and also attending the Second Annual Global Voices Summit in London.

I shall also be holding an event in London to which everyone interested in Armenia and the South Caucasus is invited. Details can be found below.

POVERTY, TRANSITION AND DEMOCRACY IN ARMENIA: An Update

AGBU London lecture Series

PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Armenian House, 25 Cheniston Gardens, London W8
9 December 2005, 7 pm.
Nearest tube High Street Kensington.

AGBU London and the Gomidas Institute (UK) are pleased to host a presentation on some of the most pressing issues facing the Republic of Armenia fourteen years after declaring its independence. The speaker, Onnik Krikorian is a British photojournalist who has lived in Armenia for the past seven years. The presentation follows a similar event held in London in June 2004.

The purpose of Krikorian’s presentation is to share information, to cultivate a better understanding of everyday realities in Armenia, and to foster informed discussions when considering the future of Armenia and Armenians. The AGBU, the largest Armenian philanthropic organization in the world, and the Gomidas Institute (UK) has a vested interest in promoting such an understanding of Armenia.

Krikorian will share his insights through his experience working with international organizations and NGOs operating in the Republic, as well as his every-day interaction with ordinary people in Armenia. His talk will be illustrated with probing photographs and commentaries. He will also address other related issues such as corruption and the democratization process in the Republic of Armenia today.

Finally, Krikorian will present his book, Armenia: Poverty, Transition & Democracy. The book was partly supported by AGBU London and the Gomidas Institute (UK). It has been received with great acclaim by senior representatives of international organizations working in Armenia. Copies will be available at the event. Another book of Krikorian’s articles and photographs commissioned by UNICEF will also be presented.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: While in Armenia Krikorian has written and photographed for the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), Médecins Sans Frontières (France), USAID’s Armenian Social Transition Program-PADCO, Transitions Online, New Internationalist, Fox News, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, The Los Angeles Times, Eurasianet, as well as Armenian Forum (Gomidas Institute), The Armenian Weekly, and others.

He is currently working for the Association of Investigative Journalists of Armenia / HETQ Online and is visiting the UK to attend a workshop and conference organized by Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Oxford Internet Institute on the role of the internet in civic participation and democratic conversations in the new democracies of Eastern Europe.

For more information about the above presentation or AGBU (London) please contact Ara Sarafian at (020) 7602 7990 or email ara@gomidas.org.uk

I’ll also use the occasion to find new contacts within the media and international organizations working in Armenia so if you’re interested in making contact, please email me at onewmphoto@yahoo.com.