The Eurasia Foundation
Representative Office in Armenia
4 Demirchyan Str., Yerevan 375019, Armenia
Contact: Alisa Alaverdyan, Outreach Coordinator
Tel: (374 10) 565478, 586059, 586159
E-mail: alisa@eurasia.am
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

Eurasia Foundation supports alternative dispute resolution mechanisms

Yerevan, Armenia- The Eurasia Foundation Representative Office in
Armenia recently awarded about $70,000 to three local organizations
for the advancement of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
mechanisms. Professional ADR mechanisms would provide businesses
with a range of arbitration services and ease the caseload on the
emergent court system. The grant recipients are the Armenian Young
Lawyers Association, the Defender of Rights Union and the Union of
Builders of Armenia. The organizations will:

Create a mediation institute and improve the abilities of facilitators
to establish mediation services throughout the country (Armenian
Young Lawyers Association).

Create an arbitration institute and introduce a learning course on
arbitration in higher education institutions (Defender of Rights
Union).

Establish a commercial disputes resolution center to provide mediation
services for the construction industry of Armenia (Union of Builders
of Armenia).

These organizations were selected through an open competition that
was publicly announced in April. The competition and three awards
were a follow-through on ADR research, which was initiated by the
Eurasia Foundation and conducted by the Advanced Social Technologies
NGO. The research results were presented at a round-table event to
officials, lawyers, businesspeople and other local and international
organizations.

“In many countries, professional mediation services are recognized
as effective mechanisms able to resolve a range of commercial disputes.

The Eurasia Foundation is encouraging ADR in Armenia in a way
that combines the traditional court system with alternative
dispute resolution methods. Through tolerance, mutual compromise
and professional facilitation, many commercial disagreements can
be solved efficiently, even amicably. Businesses can move forward
and a degree of overload in the court systems can be alleviated,”
said EF Armenia Country Director Ara Nazinyan.

Many individuals and companies in Armenia will benefit from
these projects, specifically businessmen of small- and medium-size
enterprises, entrepreneurs involved in the rapidly growing construction
industry and those involved in the field of law.

***

____________________________________________________________________________

Privately managed with support from USAID and other donors, the
Eurasia Foundation has made more than 7,500 grants totaling over $153
million in 12 countries of the former Soviet Union since 1993. The
Eurasia Foundation has operated in Armenia since 1995 encouraging
the development of civil society, public administration and private
enterprise. For additional information about Eurasia Foundation
activities in Armenia and a list of our independent advisory board
members, please visit or

____________________________________________________________________________

This press release was made possible through support provided by the
Office of Economic Growth, Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, U.S. Agency
for International Development, under the terms of Award No.

EMT-G-00-02-00008-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency
for International Development.