OSCE and international partners honour Armenia’s human rights advocates

The OSCE and international partners honoured individuals working to promote human rights, good governance, civic activism, local government reform, community service and free speech in Armenia at the Universal Rights Awards Ceremony on 19 June 2014 in Yerevan. 

Established in 2012, the Universal Rights Awards were the first multi-mission initiative to highlight the contributions of Armenia’s civil rights activists, government officials, and media and civil society representatives in the promotion of human rights.

William Hanlon, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, presented the Government Reformer Award to Davit Tonoyan, First Deputy Minister of Defence. "Mr. Tonoyan has been an ardent champion of human rights mainstreaming as well as democratic oversight of Armenia’s armed forces. We appreciate his commitment and efforts to reform the security sector of Armenia and to promote the universal values of security, prosperity and democracy that bind us together,” Hanlon said. 

Lawyers Artak Zeinalyan and Ara Ghazaryan were presented with the Freedom Defender Award for their human rights work, while a group of activists who organized a campaign against rising public transport prices received the Civic Activism Award for their efforts in ensuring transparency and accountability in public decision-making.  

The Woman of Courage Award went to the Women’s Resource Centre NGO and Hetq.am received the Media Excellence Award for their consistent investigative reporting and coverage of the human rights of life-term prisoners.

The Local Government Reformer Award was presented to Head of the Karahunj community Lusine Avetyan. Laura Movsisian, Director of the Paediatric Rehabilitation Centre in Yerevan received the Community Service Award for her outstanding efforts in working with children with disabilities in Armenia.

The event was co-organized with the United States Embassy, the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, the British Embassy, the Council of Europe’s Office in Yerevan, the UN Armenia Office and the NGO Counterpart International.

Armenian government officials, foreign diplomats, NGO representatives, and the press attended the Ceremony.