1. Cover page THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD CIVIL SOCIETY … · Start” (J No. 104.N.376.b.5). ME also received funding from CISU for its ongoing project ‘The Right to Earn a Living”-

THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD CIVIL SOCIETY FUND – Major development project, rev. January 2016 0

1. Cover page THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD CIVIL SOCIETY FUND MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (budget between DKK 500,000 and 2 million) January 2016

Project title “Living Together, Learning Together: A Child’s Right To Quality Inclusive Education”

Danish applicant organisation Mission East E-mail: [email protected]

Other Danish partner(s), if any N/A

Contact person for the intervention Name: Vibeke Førrisdahl

E-mail: [email protected]

Local partner organisation(s) Country(-ies)

NGO ”Bridge of Hope” Armenia

Commencement date

01.07.2016

Completion date

31.12.2017 Number of months

18

Amount applied for (DKK) 2,000,000

Is this a re-submission? [ ] No [ ] Yes, please note the ref.no.(j.nr.):

Is this

[ ] a new project? [ ] a project in extension of another project previously supported (by the Civil Society Fund or others)?

Do you want a response letter in (choose one) [ ] Danish or [ X ] English

Do you want the Assessment Committee’s notes about the application in (choose one)

[ ] Danish or [X ] English

Synthesis (maximum 10 lines – must be written in Danish, even if the rest of the application is in English)

Dette 18 måneders projekt vil styrke rettighederne for børn med handicap og særlige uddannelsmæssige behov til at få inkluderende kvalitetsundervisning i Armenien. Med støtte fra civilsamfundet vil projektet samle og styrke de opnåede resultater fra tidligere faser af at udvikle inkluderende undervisning i hele Tavush-regionen. Dette gøres ved at videreføre kapacitetsopbygning af personale og specialpædagogisk støtte i alle Tavushs 77 offentlige skoler. Eksisterende støttegrupper for forældre til børn med handicap på disse skoler vil blive styrket, og et netværk af forældrestøttegrupper vil blive den drivende kraft i fortalervirksomhed for deres børns rettigheder i skolerne og i lokalsamfundet. Efter samråd med civilsamfundet og regeringen vil Tavush-modellen for inkluderende undervisning blive færdigudviklet, så den kan blive brugt i hele Armenien. 31. marts 2016

Date Person responsible (signature) Hellerup

KIM HARTZNER, GENERALSEKRETÆR

Place Person responsible and position (block letters)

mailto:[email protected]


2. Application text

A. THE PARTNERS

A.1 The Danish organisation

See also: Annex A. “Basic Information about the Danish Applicant Organisation”.

Mission East experience working in the field of inclusive education in the disability area.

Mission East has significant experience in the fields addressed: disability and inclusive education.

Regarding disability, this is one of Mission East’s (ME) core areas of expertise, with a substantial track record both globally and in Armenia. ME global programming includes a Tajikistan project “Equipped for Change: Building up Civil Society for Disability Advocacy” aiming to enable, organise, and increase the capacity of three Civil Society Organizations to advocate on disability rights in Kulyab District. Another project in Tajikistan ”Enabling Children With Disabilities and Women to Claim Their Human Rights” aims to improve the application of laws and policies supporting human rights of women and children with disabilities, by improving public services and strengthening civil society.

Disability inclusion is a key focus area for ME Armenia. We have worked in this area in Armenia for over thirteen years through local NGOs like Bridge of Hope (BoH), advocating for the rights of People with Disabilities (PWD). Since 1998 and until 2013, ME Armenia with partners BoH and Arabkir focused on development projects in the field of disability rights, special and inclusive education and early intervention for children with disabilities (CWD) through a Danida supported program “A Healthy Start” (J No. 104.N.376.b.5). ME also received funding from CISU for its ongoing project ‘The Right to Earn a Living”- Increased economic inclusion of youth with disabilities through enhanced livelihoods opportunities, Tavush, Armenia (July 2013 – June 2016). This project advocates for disability rights in inclusive education and social inclusion in Armenia. It builds on results achieved by our partner, BoH in a former CISU supported pilot project

ME has a long track record supporting inclusive education (IE). ME has 23 years of experience in Armenia, thereof 12 in disability and children's rights, building the capacities of civil society and state structures on inclusive education (IE); reform of teacher training; vocational training for young PWD; and the identification, prevention and rehabilitation of childhood disabilities. Thus, ME has a strong understanding of the proposed action and is highly respected by relevant ministries, local authorities and a broad spectrum of civil society organisations involved in disability and education, and is part of several working groups. ME, together with BoH, have achieved remarkable advances in IE in Armenia through the DANIDA funded ‘Towards Education for All’ project consisting of 3 major phases in between 2003-2011. Also through the 3 year Norwegian MFA funded project “Living Together, Learning Together: A Child's Right to Community Based Inclusive Education in Tavush Marz” (ARM-08/023), which laid the groundwork for this proposed project.

Link between Mission East’s field of activity in this project and in Denmark.

ME Denmark’s overall strategy has disability rights and rural community development as the 2 pillars of its development focus. This is reflected in ME’s vision which is ”To empower marginalized people and communities in crisis affected countries to lift themselves out of poverty and marginalization.” and our Mission ”To help vulnerable populations, supporting communities' capacities to organise and assist themselves, through activities ranging from disaster relief to development assistance”. ME helps local players to become a driving force for the human/ disability rights movement in their respective countries and advocate for better inclusion into education, employment and the society

ME Armenia’s strategic direction is focused on improved disability rights and rural livelihood development. ME Armenia had already considerable experience in vocational education and IE. This was done through close cooperation with government and non-governmental institutions, through capacity building and empowerment of local partners and grass roots organisations.

ME’s cooperative relations with other organisations, networks or stakeholders in Armenia.

Mission East has a wide network of cooperative relations in Armenia, both across the whole spectrum of civil society as well as with Government bodies at all levels and with International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) and International Organisations (IOs). Since 2006, ME promotes the


development of the Disability Advocacy Coalition (DAC) of NGOs to enhance constructive cooperation between a variety of disability organisations to advocate for disability rights. As the principal recipient of the Global Fund financed HIV/ AIDS prevention program, ME worked also with more than fourteen local organizations within the framework of National program on Prevention of HIV/AIDS in Armenia. Since 2003, through its education and health projects, ME has established close working relationships with the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), Ministry of Labour and Social Issues (MoLSI), Ministry of Health (MoH), local governments of the capital city and 5 Armenian provinces. In order to ensure greater co-ordination of development activities in Armenia, ME worked closely with UNICEF to spearhead co-ordination meetings of all INGOs and major donors in order to better target resources, avoiding duplication.

Mission East staff/ members/ volunteers qualifications

Building on 13 years of experience with projects on disability rights and IE, ME staff has acquired specialised knowledge and capacities, enabling them to understand the specific requirements in the implementation, management and coaching of partners in projects like this one.

Position Qualifications

Leadership, Networking and Empowerment Expert

Good knowledge of Armenian socio- economic context, working on disability, IE and VET projects. Strong experience of networking with local and national authorities, high level political advocacy, NGO’s and INGO’s. NGO capacity building and facilitation skills

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Located in Yerevan, but with frequent visit to Tavush Marz. The main responsibility of the M&E Officer will be to ensure adherence to donor regulations/requirements, evaluation of all activities of the local partner, as well as provision of technical support to project evaluation, situation analysis, reporting to the donor.

Desk officer Programme and strategies Management skills

HQ Finance Budget and finance management skills

(For further detail please see Annex A. Basic information about the Danish applicant organisation.

A.2 Other Danish partners - N/A

A.3. The local organisation

Bridge of Hope” (BoH), is an NGO established in Armenia in 1996. Its mission is to protect the fundamental human rights and dignity of children and youth with disabilities. The goal is to enhance inclusion and equal participation of children and youth with disabilities (CYWD) in Armenian society. For further detail, please see Annex B - Factsheet of the local partner.

BoH is the main implementing partner of ME projects in promotion of disability rights and inclusive education in Armenia. This long-standing cooperation with the local partner resulted in a strong civil society movement for inclusive education in Armenia.

Bridge of Hope previous experiences and capacity with regarding disability, Inclusive Education for Children with Disability

BoH sector specific expertise on disability:

BoH previous and current projects were based on a social model of disability targeting disability as a human rights issue and advocating for its mainstreaming in policies and development programs of civil society and government. The organization has a profound experience and know-how in disability and human rights, which are shared with larger network of disability organizations to advocate for basic human rights of PWDs in Armenia. Due to this advocacy, disability is mainstreamed in seven laws related to the social, economic and cultural right of PWD in Armenia.

BoH sector-specific expertise in inclusive education

The expansion of IE in Armenia has been pushed forward by advocacy and leadership role of BoH. Most of changes in Armenian legal framework, policies and practices in Armenia were achieved


through significant contribution of BoH inclusive education projects. Due to organization’s skills in mobilizing the voices of civil society and likeminded stakeholders the movement for IE was launched. This resulted in adoption of relevant legal framework to ensure the sustainable development of IE. Due to BoH advocacy and leadership in advancement of IE it became also an integrated part of Armenian Teachers’ in-service and pre-service Education and Training Program.

BoH with ME support, has an extensive track record through a plethora of projects in the IE area. The current 220 inclusive schools all over the Armenia have been directly or indirectly benefited from BoH and ME education projects. The project “Towards Education for All”, funded by DANIDA was realized in 3 phases during the period 2003 – 2010. This project had a major impact on situation of children with disabilities and special educational needs (CWD/SEN) in terms of their access to education and their education performance. The project gave the children equal opportunity to access Armenian mainstream education system through increasing the number of inclusive schools from 6 to 65 and to raise children’s level of educational achievements through adapting special education program based on mainstream program. It created resource rooms in inclusive schools and integrated an IE component in the general teacher training program of the National Institute of Education (NIE) of MoES. The project trained teachers of all-inclusive schools in mains aspects of IE. In addition, parents of CWD/SEN were empowered to establish parents supports groups in all-inclusive schools (53 parents support groups), which on its turn supported the establishment of National Network of Parents (www.parentSENtwork.am). This project was also about changing attitude of the society in working closely with national and local Mass Media; about establishing a coalition of disability organizations (DPOs), about training of teaching staff of Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) to prepare the future general teachers to be equipped with proper knowledge in teaching methods and theories to meet the diversity of needs of children in general classroom. Finally, university courses of teacher preparation were redesigned focusing on IE related issues and inclusion of 2 new compulsory and 2 new optional courses on IE at BA and MA degree levels of all general pedagogical faculties of the university. Currently, all 4 courses are delivered in all pedagogical faculties of ASPU and later will be replicated in all other pedagogical universities of Armenia.

In between 2009-2011, the project “Living Together, Learning Together”, funded by Norwegian MFA, was launched in Tavush Marz, an administrative unit of several regions in Armenia. The project was recognized by the Government of Armenia (GA) as pilot stage for transition of Armenia into a universal inclusive system of education. Hence, in 2009 the GA approved the decree on the “Pilot of Total Inclusive Education Program and New Financing Procedures on one Marz level”. The project has laid the ground for introducing these important changes on a national level by creating model of Universal Inclusive System of Education (UISE). Accordingly the state allocated additional funds to 14 schools for special educators and psychologists as well as funding the piloting of position of teacher’s assistant in all 77 schools. The IE resource rooms were provided in 50 out of the 77 schools.. All teachers from 77 mainstream schools of Tavush were trained in basics of the theory of IE. Parents from all 77 schools were encouraged to join school-based Parent Support Groups (PSGs). They were trained in overall principles of IE and in advocacy. The school administrations officially recognized the role of PSGs in provision of IE to CWDs/SEN. However, the project did not provide the same depth of of capacity building at all mainstream schools in Tavush – please see Annex 8- ME Achievements of 1st phase and justification for consolidation.

In 2008, BoH realized together with ME the project “Vocational Project for Youth with Mild and Moderate learning difficulties” (Reg. nr. 07-454-mp-jul). Experiences from this project strengthened BoH capacities and knowledge in various strategies in VET & employment for YWD due to trainings conducted by an international expert in VET. With direct involvement of BoH trained staff, standards and curricula for 2 vocations, gardening and carpet making, were developed along with methodological guidelines for VET teachers. They were introduced to 2 vocational schools. 87 youth with learning difficulties graduated the courses and were issued qualifications. Together with Armenian Association of Employers a range of awareness raising activities on disability rights and employment issues were organized to change perceptions of employers on the potential of YWD.

In 2013, BoH realized with ME support the project “The Right to Earn a Living- Increased economic inclusion of youth with a disability through enhanced livelihoods opportunities. The project aims to

http://www.parentsnetwork.am/


enhance economic inclusion of YWD in Tavush through improved access to training, information and livelihoods opportunities. 4 Regional Platforms for Civic Synergy were formed gathering key stakeholders in the field of VET and employment. 120 YWD/ SEN are empowered and mobilized in 4 regional advocacy groups, advocating for their rights to VET and employment, change the existing wrong stereotypes and traditional prejudice towards disability. Teaching staff of 8 VET schools and training centres in Tavush got trained and supported to provide individualized competency based vocational training to YWD. 120 YWD/ SEN got trained in 7 vocations, especially developed for them and they are assisted to get a job, internship or getting in Employment agencies as job seekers. Some of these youth get support to develop their business skills to be able to start their own small businesses. The project ends this year June.

For their contribution in development of IE in Armenia BoH and ME were awarded the Highest Award of the Ministry of Education of Armenia – Gold Medal.

BoH knowledge on local conditions in Tavush, through 4 BoH Regional Community Centres

Since 2001, BoH has 4 functioning community centres in 4 cities of Tavush Marz: Dilijan, Ijevan, Berd and Noyemberyan. These centres act as child and family support centres for children living in 4 cities and 12 rural catchment areas of the Marz. The centres are also active in raising the voice of children and families at Marz level through representation in the Regional Disability Council on behalf of BoH. Being established on the basis of parents’ advocacy groups these centres continue to be actively involved in raising awareness on the issues and rights of CWD in Tavush. The municipalities of 4 cities provided the centres with buildings for 99 years free of charge and cover 15% of running costs of the centres through the community budgets, 60% is covered by the budget from Ministry of Labour and Social Issues (MoLSI) and the remaining 25% is resources through different BoH projects. All 4 centres are equipped with necessary equipment, furniture, supplies. UNICEF donated the centres 4 vehicles with disability access. Since 2008, the MoLSI highly appreciated the role of BoH social and physical rehabilitation services in prevention of institutionalization of children living in hard life conditions and subsidizes the salaries of 84 employees of BoH centres.

Longstanding relationship with stakeholders:

BoH has set up strong cooperation with most of the key stakeholders in education, social protection and employment sectors. This cooperation has been institutionalized through involvement of BoH in different governmental and non-governmental commissions, boards and networks, such as: Board (Collegium) of Ministry of Education and Science (MoES); National Disability Council National Commission for the protection of children’s right; 2 Regional Disability Councils; Disability Advocacy Coalition of NGOs; Committee on the Rights of Children within the office of Human Rights Defender of Armenia; Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities within the office of Human Rights Defender of Armenia; Civil Society Partnership Network and Partnership for Open Society Initiative; Coordinator of the Board of Caucasian Network for Children. Since 2015, BoH has become member of European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities (EASPD).

Bridge of Hope qualifications of relevant staff/ members/ volunteers.

Overall BoH has 108 staff members: 12 staff based in Yerevan office and 96 staff based in 4 centres in Tavush (24 staff in each centre). Out of total number of BoH staff, 25 is administrative and 83 program staff, including program coordinators, psychologists, special and general educators, social workers, art therapists, ergo therapists, physical therapists, advocacy officers. The project will rely on non-paid support of BoH regional staff at various stages.

Find below the key positions for the project staff and their qualifications.

(See also Annex 3. Detailed Division of Roles and Responsibilities)

Position Qualifications

BoH Project director -25%

Responsible for overall project management. High level political advocacy. Skills in leadership management, coordination and supervision of the project, optimisation of performance and deliverables.

Project Responsible for overall project coordination and implementation. Works closely


Bridge of Hope working with other relevant organisations, networks, stakeholders

BoH has set up strong cooperation with most of key stakeholders of education, social protection and employment sectors. BoH cooperated with different governmental and non-governmental commissions, boards and networks, such as: Board of Ministry of Education and Science; National Disability Council National Commission for the protection of children’s right; 2 Regional Disability Councils; Disability Advocacy Coalition; Committee on the Rights of Children within the office of Human Rights Defender of Armenia; Civil Society Partnership Network and Partnership for Open Society Initiative; Coordinator of the Board of Caucasian Network for Children. In 2015, BoH became member of the European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities.

BOH works with UNICEF in USAID funded project to support the government of Armenia in reforming its child protection system and support the deinstitutionalization of children from institutions, to their biological families or foster families and their enrolment in education system. BOH also works with OSF ECP to pilot the expansion of IE in pre-education system.

A.1 The cooperative relationship and its prospects

Contact between partners

Mission East and Bridge of Hope have been collaborating closely since 2003, implementing several small and large scale development projects together.

Type of cooperation between the partners so far

BoH is ME main partner in disability rights focused projects. Since the start of ME and BoH cooperation the partners have realized together 7 large scale projects in inclusive education, VET, needs assessment, community based services, advocacy for disability rights and policy changes. ME support to BoH organizational development and advocacy work increased BoH engagement in active dialogue with national authorities to promote the sustainable development of inclusive policies, strategies and practices in the field of education and social living for CYWD and their families. In 2015, ME supported BoH to become members of European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities, which is another resource for the organization to further develop itself as influential actor in the field of disability right in Armenia.

coordinator -50%

with regional coordinators to synchronize project implementation in 4 regions. Skills in project coordination, supervision, reporting, participatory programming, activity based budget planning, working with different stakeholders..

Regional IE officers -1/ region for 100%

Responsible for fulfilment of the Result 1 of the project. Excellent knowledge in all aspects of IE, skills in adapting and planning education program, mentoring and coaching skills. Ensures maximum effectiveness of teachers’ training in 77 schools and coaching to schooling staff for better inclusion of children in classroom and school activities.

Regional PP coordinators -1 / region- for 100%

Responsible for fulfilment of Result 2 of the project. Excellent knowledge in contemporary approaches to needs assessment, understanding of philosophy of IE, mentoring and coaching skills, able to organize and lead the team work.

Regional PSG officer -1/ region for 100%

Responsible for fulfilment of Result 3 of the project. Experience in working with families of children, excellent communication and conflict resolution skills, ability to work with larger groups and able to convince and encourage to be mobilized for larger actions. Knowledge in advocacy and leadership.

Monitoring and Evaluation officer

Responsible for overall project M&E. Works closely with the project overall coordinator and 4 regional coordinators for planning and implementation of daily monitoring of the project, assessment of information and delivery within staff and stakeholders. Skill in M&E of Projects.

Project assistant

Responsible for fulfilment of technical and organizational tasks of the project in the specific project area. Knowledge and skills in assistance in coordination, organization events and training.


ME and BoH have a wish for a long-term partner relationship and their partnership may be described as value-based project partnership being developed in the following 4 phases:

Phase 1: start-up - From 2002 to 2004 this initial phase of the partnership was focused on the creation of service delivery and surviving. During this phase ME did ongoing capacity building of BoH in project implementation of specific parts of the project through the coaching of ME local staff still with more interference of ME in implementation of major activities of the project. A review showed that BoH was able to be engaged in bigger scale projects with more responsibilities in project implementation and with less coaching and involvement of ME. Accordingly, the amount of ME program staff was decreased but containing stills some capacity building actions to strengthen M&E, finance and budgeting advocacy and public relations. Phase 2: consolidation - From 2005 to 2008, the emphasis lays on development of a common purpose. Large scale projects like ‘Healthy Start’ and ‘Education for All’ were jointly developed with and implemented by BoH. During these projects, ME main role lay in M&E of the project and supervision and ongoing capacity building of BoH project- and financial management and own M&E capacity. The nature of the partnership and their capacity development was assessed yearly and joint decisions taken on the further appropriate development of the partnership.

Phase 3: Maturity - From 2009 to 2013 the emphasis lays on enhancing internal systems. ME and BoH recognized there were still gaps in some areas of BoH financial management, M&E and reporting. Together with BoH staff ME developed an Action Plan and worked to address most urgent gaps through the CISU funded project ”Bridging the Gap: Enabling BoH to grow further by enhancing technical capacity of key staff” (j.nr. 11-1022-PA-sep).

Phase 4: Sustainability - From 2014 to 2019, the emphasis lays on sustainable growth of BoH and its programs. ME and BoH are working jointly to transform the project and organizational interventions into real change. At this stage the partnership will develop a gradual process of phasing out of ME and handing over the responsibilities to its local partner. At the same time, as by the laws passed by the legislature, the government will assume full funding of inclusive education. BoH will play an important role in ensuring quality practice of inclusive teaching methodologies, proper implementation of inclusive laws, participation of parents in inclusive school decision making processes, ensuring participation of international organizations and agencies, such as UNICEF, in M&E the practice of IE and further consolidation of good practices in state decisions and legislation.

Development of partnership through the project applied for

The partnership has been developed into a final stage of sustainability of BoH and its programs along with a gradual diminishing ME role. However, the need for ME support in specific domains of project work still remains. At this stage, BoH achieves a final stage in its growth and recognition at national and international level and ME and BoH will jointly work on a phasing out strategy.

The proposed partnership will continue supporting BoH to enhance strategic thinking at all levels of the organization and the project. It will further the organizational development of BoH to enhance the sustainability of the organizations and its programs. With this proposed activity, ME will be more a mentor, transferring its long lasting experience in working with the GA, ensuring ongoing state financial support to the BoH PP centres. This 1-year partnership between BoH and ME will enable conceptualization and presentation of the model of a USIE at national and international levels. At the end of the proposed activity it is expected that BoH will become even more attractive to other donors and networks, enhancing sustainability of both BOH and IE in Armenia.

Contribution of each partner (in addition to money) to the project concerned

Bridge of Hope with its 4 regional Tavush branches will be the local implemenating partner. BoH will realize the overall management of the project including the financial management plus the monitoring and evaluation. BoH will take the primary responsibility for the capacity building of schools and support services and for the establishment of a replicable evidence-based model of IE. BoH will inspire parents of CWD and stakeholders with its wide-experience in IE. The local partner will contribute to the success of the project with its knowledge and experience in disability right issues, IE, national and international legal frameworks and policies as well as with its skills in working with media, developing public relations and leading advocacy campaigns. Building on to its extensive


experience of working with different civil society stakeholders, BoH will facilitate the formation of Parent Support Groups (PSG) and their networks. Together with these networks BoH will organize large scale campaigns to advocate for the right to IE. With mentoring support of ME, BoH will establish strong relations with key decision makers who will support further approval and replication of the model of USIE and Pedagogical-psychological support services.

Mission East takes full contractual responsibility for the project and overall supervision of the project implementation, including M&E. ME will ensure consistency with procurement, contracting, financial management, reporting and quality assurance standards and will provide oversight to ensure efficient and effective implementation. ME will further support BoH its cooperation with key national and international stakeholders like UNICEF, Minsitries and National Assembly who will provide technical assistance. Overall, ME will more act as a mentor for transferring its vast experience in working with the government in order to ensure ongoing state financial support to BoH PP centres.

Both ME and BoH will participate in the Project Coordination Committee (PCC) comprised of key stakeholders from national and local levels with BOH chairing the committee.

B. PROJECT ANALYSIS

B.1. How has the project been prepared?

Participants in the project planning The project was developed by BoH and ME Armenia in a consultative and participatory way. There was direct contribution of beneficiaries, national and regional authorities, the National Disability Advocacy Coalition of DPOs (DAC), other NGOs from Tavush and stakeholders from the education fields. Overall, 4 representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), National Institute of Education (NIE), 4 representatives of the Marz administration and 3 NGOs, 24 YWD from the targeted areas in Tavush and 45 parents from Tavush Parents’ Network, as well as principals and teachers of 20 schools directly contributed in planning parts of this project and helped develop project objectives and plans based on needs, a realistic timeframe and local context.

The role of the local organisation BoH and of the Danish organisation, Mission East.

The project planning process was facilitated by BoH program staff. ME cooperated with BoH on information gathering and organising consultations with beneficiaries and stakeholders during the planning phase. ME and BoH developed together a timetable for focus group discussions with beneficiaries and stakeholders and set internal dates as to when each part of the application need to be developed and discussed with stakeholders and beneficiaries. For each specific part a responsible person was assigned in BoH and ME. The goal, objective and the overall strategy of the project has been finalized after consultations with the MoES, NIE, Tavush Marz administration and beneficiaries.

Involvement of the target groups and participants in preparation of the project

The overall concept of the project has been developed in a consultative and participatory way with direct involvement of 45 parents of CWDs, 40 teachers, 60 children and youth with disabilities. The key issues raised by target groups were mainly related to: a) more capacity building needed of teachers in IE practice; b) need for improved parent-teacher cooperation, c) better resource and support services needed to children, teachers and parents for better inclusion, b) environmental issues – physical and attitudinal. Most of these issues are met by the project and will be reflected in all training and capacity building programs and advocacy campaigns

Local and/ or national authorities consent to the projects’ implementation The project plan has been shared with the following local and national authorities:

The head of the Department of Mainstream Education of MoES confirmed the MoES interest in consolidating the IE model already piloted in Tavush Marz. But despite the fact that this is a priority need for MoES, the government alone without international and CS support won’t be able to finalize the model of IE in Tavush due to expertise and budget. MoES will contribute to the successful implementation of the project with its participation in M&E processes and PCC meetings as well as support to the development of the model of USIE.


A meeting at MoES National Institute for Education (NIE): The NIE Director mentioned that IE training package is revised significantly since the time when Tavush schools were trained. It is important to update the training of teachers in order to ensure that the same understanding and values about inclusive education are equally shared between all schools of Tavush Marz. The Director of NIE confirmed that the project will get full support from NIE in training all the Tavush teachers.

The project concept was also shared with the Department of Education of Tavush Administration. The Tavush Deputy Governor and relevant officers expressed their satisfaction of the project concept. The stressed that what has been done between 2009- 2011 is a valuable result that we should not lose. But it is not realistic to say that with one training inclusion will happen properly. Tavush needs this follow-up support to consolidate earlier achieved results”, said the Deputy Governor. Thus the project will have full support from Tavush Marzpetaran in terms of organization of trainings, facilitation of teachers’ participation, M&E and any other issue they can help with.

Specific analyses carried out and fed into the project’s design (incl. gender-specific ones)

The preparatory process of this project was done through ME and BoH desk research and analyses of the local context, target groups through meetings and discussion with various stakeholders.

Project issues and design were also discussed with UNICEF, who is currently helping the GA in the deinstitutionalization process of CWD. UNICEF found this support to Tavush IE crucial as Tavush will be the first Marz that can act as a model for IE, replicable to the rest of Armenia. They recognise that without expansion of IE the deinstitutionalization process of CWD might fail. UNICEF will provide technical support and join the PCC.

The project concept and the participation in the project were discussed at the DAC board meeting. The board confirmed its interest towards expansion of IE throughout Armenia and its commitment to active participate in advocacy of the proposed model of UISE at higher government level. An initial project concept has been reviewed and discussed with 2 CISU consultants and most of their recommendations have been taken into account in this final proposal. We considered the CISU consultant’s recommendation to focus on smaller target groups or a smaller geography, but decided not to follow this recommendation as this model needs to cover one administrative geographical area (marz) and make it easily replicable to all other marzes. We therefore kept our original scope to Tavush and the 77 mainstream schools and beneficiaries which were part of the first phase.

How experience from the former IE project was used to improve the new project description

This project is an extension of the former implemented project: ”Living Together, Learning Together: A Child’s Right To Community-Based IE, in Tavush” funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway from 2009 to 2011. The external evaluation report of the project on which this action is based on is available upon request.

The key lesson learnt from the previous project was that support for further capacity building of the Tavush model of IE is highly needed. This due to serious issues which still exists in teaching and learning environments of schools, support services and systems, in parent-teacher cooperation and the overall mind-set of schools and communities towards CWD/SEN and their right to IE. This project is based on the evaluation of the former IE project an on issues brought forward by target groups and stakeholders involved in this project preparation. Below are key lessons learnt and recommendations from the former IE project and an explanation how they were used to improve this projects’ design (1) One-off training of teachers and specialists is not enough to change their old perceptions and

teaching methods. The experience showed that the school teachers, who for years have had traditional, deficit-oriented perceptions about CWD, do not easily accept the new inclusive approach to education of these children and often show a high resistance to this new approach. - The proposed project will organise refresher trainings, ongoing coaching and issue a practical manual for all teachers and PP staff from 77 schools on IE, curriculum based IEP development and needs assessments and hands-on trainings in the use of the database of CWD/SEN.

(2) Three year is a short period for schools, families of CWD/SEN, service providers and local authorities to fully ‘absorb’ the extremely high pace of changes of education legislation, IE standards, curriculum adaptation, social model based approach to needs assessment, new roles


and responsibilities of school staffing and parents. - This project responds to this ‘lesson learnt’ by building on earlier activities with more extended trainings to school and PP staff and extended support to civil society, parent support groups in order to make the Tavush model a replicable one

(3) Building up on previous results, while consolidation and replication is essential factor of sustainable development of IE efforts should continue to be focused on the same target groups, stakeholders and partners in the same project area to allow consolidation and expansion of best practices and lessons learnt.

(4) Teachers-parent cooperation is key for successful inclusion of CWD/ SEN in education. Through various interviews with teachers, parents and children, it was obvious that children who made most of the progress in learning and who were well included in schools were those whose parents demonstrated active participation in all aspects of education of their children. In this follow-up consolidation phase teacher-parents cooperation has been placed central again both in teacher/ PP staff trainings as through the empowerment of school-based PSGs.

(5) Parents to be organized in structured groups with elected parents as representatives and coordinators. The coordinators of PSGs have to be represented in Parent’s Councils of schools and as advocates to influence inclusive decisions of their school boards. With empowered leaders the PSGs and their network will become a strong platform for parents to raise their voices at schools and communities.

(6) The role of specialists is essential for better inclusion of children in education. The former phase of the project contributed in forming specialists’ (PP) teams in 14 schools and introducing the position of teacher’s assistants in all 77 schools. BoH 4 centres also were supported to act as resource centres for schools and families to provide specialized support services to children, parents and teachers. However the project time was not enough to enhance the capacities of school and BoH specialists to contribute properly to needs assessment of children, service provision and IEP development. With poor support services, the inclusive schools hardly can meet the challenges of IE and contribute to better learning outcomes of CWD/SEN. – The proposed action will strengthen again the PP service capacities of the 4 BoH centres and PP school staff.

(7) Education of the child should be concentrated on the strengths and opportunities. The former phase of the project laid basis for moving from medical approach to needs assessment to socio functional approach adopted by the International Classification of Functioning and Disability (ICF). One-off training is not enough to use this totally new knowledge in practice. This should be done through more intensive hand-on training and coaching before the specialists properly may use this new assessment mechanism and tools. – Additional training of BoH PP staff on SEN assessment and intervention based on the ICF framework and practice is included in this proposed action.

Complementarity of the intervention with other Danida/ CISU supported projects

This proposed intervention is highly complementary to previous ME “Towards Education for All” project that was funded by DANIDA and the currently realizing project “The Right to Earn a Living”- Increased economic inclusion of youth with disabilities through enhanced livelihoods opportunities, Tavush, Armenia, funded by the Civil Society Fund.

“Towards Education for All” project laid the basis for expansion of IE in Armenia through teacher’s in-service and pre-service systems and the system of mainstream education. The overall strategies of this project is based on the long-lasting results of this project and are complementary to its far reaching development goal of full protection of the right of CWD to education.

“The Right to Earn a Living” Vocational Education (VET) project in Tavush Marz : The proposed intervention for IE at secondary school level highly complements the ongoing project in Tavush targeting vocational education and employment opportunities for YWD. These two projects are complementary because the quality education received in secondary schools will help the child to become involved in the vocational education system in Tavush later on. At the same time the VET project, which contributed in creation of access for YWD to vocational and employment opportunities, has become another source of inspiration for the families and children. The children will look forward to graduate from their inclusive schools and be involved in the inclusive VET schools. Employment opportunities won’t be as big of an issue as it used to be before the VET project started.


Explanation why this intervention is not carried out within other Danida/ CISU projects This intervention could not be funded by Danida / CISU as the most recent GNI figures for Armenia in 2014 (USD 3,780) were too high to fall below the CISU threshold.

B.2 In what context is the project placed?

Geographical context The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked country in Southern Caucasus, bordering with Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan to the south. In 2011 the population is about 3.0 million. As of MoLSI January 1, 2016 data, 198,000 PWD are registered in Armenia, of which 8,000 CWD and 46.6% are girls/women.

The project will be implemented in Tavush Marz witch has 4 districts: Ijevan, Dilijan, Noyemberyan and Berd, with the administrative centre in Ijevan city. Tavush Marz is located in North –East Armenia in a boundary with Georgia and Azerbaijan. The Marz has four urban and 58 rural communities and has a total population of 134.400 people, of which 7,200 PWD. Out of the total number of PWD 680 are registered CWD. Tavush is the 2nd poorest Marz of Armenia, having suffered from the earthquake and war as well as widespread social and economic hardship.

Political situation Armenia is moving to parliamentary system of governance after more than a quarter of a century of semi-presidential system. The governance structure in Armenia consists of two levels: the republican government and local self-administration (localities, communities). The country is administratively divided into 11 regions (Marzes), each governed by territorial administrations which coordinate activities of the local self-administrations. Armenia became a republic after independence in 1991, with an elected president and parliament. But civil society does not have a strong voice and overall government accountability towards its’ citizens stays poor.

Socio-economic context In 2015 Armenia was ranked as lower middle-income country. Economic downturns in 2008 and 2014 indeed seriously affected the social life of the country, as well as the volume of government funds available for social programs. Funds specifically allocation to educations is about 2.2% of GNI. Poverty rate in the country remains high reaching to 34,8% in 2015. Unemployment rate in the country also remains high, 18.4% as per data of 2015.

Main area/ sector in which the project is operating The project operates within in the sectors of education and more specifically in the sector of inclusive education (IE) for children with a disability and special educational needs (CWD/SEN).

Local conditions within the mainstream education sector

According to the Armenian constitution every Armenian citizen has the right to education. Basic mainstream education is compulsory, with the exclusion of cases defined by the law. Citizens of the Republic of Armenia are provided with free mainstream education in all state educational institutions. According to the “Law on Education", mainstream education is a comprehensive teaching and learning process of an individual, that is carried out through preschool, primary, basic, secondary and supplementary education programmers. Currently, there are 1,450 mainstream schools in Armenia, of which 220 are inclusive. The total number of school children in these schools is 359,600, of which 3,800 are CWD/ SEN. In addition, there are 23 special schools in Armenia where about 3,300 CWD are enrolled. Special schools are mainly concentrated in big cities and function with boarding regime.

Local conditions within the IE sector

Armenian IE started in 2001 when BoH with mainstream school # 27 in Yerevan and in close cooperation with the MoES initiated the first pilot in IE. In 2003, ME signed the 1st MoU with MoES for more structural, systemic approach to education of CWD/SEN. Based on best practices and lessons learnt from ME and BoH joint project the GA developed the “Law about Education of People Needing Special Conditions in Education”, adopted in Parliament in 2005. This was the first time IE was stated in a law as a state policy creating an enabling legal environment for expansion of piloted best practices. Following the law of 2005 the GA adopted the “Regulation of financing the inclusive


schools”. In 2006, the first 5 mainstream schools were officially recognized as inclusive and received additional funds from the GA for special educators and support staff. Up to date the additional funding to inclusive schools is regulated by this law and allocated to 220 Armenian mainstream schools who are officially recognized as being inclusive. Over 1,500 CWD and 2,300 children with SEN are enrolled in these schools. However, as documented by the survey done by UINICEF in 2012, 57% out of 8,116 school aged CWD in Armenia have still no access to mainstream education. Only 15% of mainstream schools are inclusive (220 out of 1,450) of which all 77 in Tavush.

On 1 December 2014 the National Assembly of Armenia adopted new changes to the Law on Mainstream Education proclaiming universal/total IE as a guarantee for exercising the right to education for every child. IE policy aims at ensuring accessibility of education, equal participation opportunity and quality guarantee for every child. It indicates that by 2022 the special schools have to be transitioned into region-based PP support centres for inclusive mainstream schools, and by 2025 all mainstream schools in Armenia will become inclusive.

This political decison has created the right momentum for Armenian civil society to push forward the universal inclusive approach to the system of mainstream education and propose a model of UISE that is tested and evaluated to be replicable in all Marzes of Amenia. This will be done by this project.

Interventions done by local authorities, other organisations in IE

In 2009, UNICEF published the results of the evaluation of IE in Armenia. This report states that Armenian IE already reached a lot of successful practices but also identified several shortcomings and challenges still to be met in the future. Special emphasis is given to the collaboration between special and mainstream schools in the report. Thus the recommendations of the report as well as country program of UNICEF create basis for further engagements of special schools in the movement towards inclusion of all CWD in mainstream education settings. Since 2014, UNICEF undertook leadership in IE. In 2015, UNICEF, with support of USAID (BoH is partner in this program), launched “Toward social inclusion of vulnerable children: Expanding alternative care, family support, and IE services as a part of child-care reform” program with a primary target to deinstitutionalization of vulnerable children from institutions and through introduction of alternative day care centres in child protection system of Armenia.

B.3 Problem analysis

The main problem this project intends to address is the still existing barriers in Armenia for children with disabilities to inclusive and equitable quality education. Here below a further analysis of the main problem, supported by statistical data surveyed by UNICEF in 2012:

Low participation of CWD/SEN in the school system: 30% of CWD are not included in the system of education, not in mainstream or in special schools. The percentage of children with intellectual disabilities and hearing impairments in mainstream schools is much higher: 52% and 44% respectively. Approximately 1 out of 4 children with motor/ intellectual disabilities does not go to school. 72% of CWD living in institutions are not attending any type of school.

Higher risk of institutionalization of CWD/SEN: Out of almost 8,000 Armenian CWD, 15% are institutionalized. 23% of institutionalized CWD have never left the premises of the institution, or leave only when for visiting a doctor.

High level of gender inequalities among CWD/SEN: Girls with disabilities are more at risk of institutionalization than boys – 62% respectively. They are more likely to be left out of school than boys, especially in regional towns.

Significant inequalities among CWD/ SEN living in urban and rural areas: 23% of CWD living in rural areas do not attend school compared to an average of 18% of CWD in urban areas.

Weak local civil society representing the rights of CWD.

Analysis of the causes of the problem

Primary causes identified:

1. Lack of equal opportunities to access the IE system. This has following underlying causes:


1.1. Teachers lack enough knowledge and competencies: There is still resistance to include CWD/ SEN linked with the lack of confidence in mainstream schools that they have the commitment, and resources to change teaching methods and classroom organization to become inclusive.

1.2. Lack of cooperation between stakeholders: One of the barriers associated with IE is a lack of cooperation between key stakeholders like teachers, specialists, service providers, parents and children. The poor communication and non-coordinated planning between general and specialist teachers and with parents disturbs the real inclusion in the classroom. Their roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined and often confusing. Teachers in inclusive schools often consider the development and implementation of IEP the responsibility of special educators. This practice is became a norm in all schools and is worrying.

1.3. Inaccessible curricula: The mainstream education curricula remains rigid and often results in exclusion of CWD from mainstream education system. On the other hand teachers lack competences and even commitment to adapt curricula to the abilities of the child, to make modifications and accommodations in both teaching methods and classroom and homework assignments. Facing barriers to access the mainstream education curricula CWD often are left behind in terms of their learning outcomes. As a result, many parents prefer to take out their children from mainstream schools and keep the children at home.

2. Lack of community services and support structures for CWD, their families and schools: Community services for CWD do not exist and very few of these children have opportunities for normal social interaction and inclusion in education. The lack of any community support networks or other resources that families need for raising a child with a disability deepen the isolation. The parents of these children have very few resources to support them with monumental task of raising a child with a disability. Another challenge remains with support structures for proper inclusion of CWD in education settings. The inclusive schools are left for their own to organize the teaching and learning for CWD in mainstream classes.

3. Inaccessible environment: One of biggest causes of exclusion obviously, is the inaccessible environment for CWD. They often cannot learn in an inclusive school just because they have no physical access to enter school or classroom. More than 90% of mainstream schools are still inaccessible to CWD using wheelchairs or to those other mobility aides.

4. Attitude barriers and widespread stigmatization of CWD/SEN in society: This traditional, deficit-oriented perception of CWD still prevails in many parts of Armenia. Traditional prejudices among general public and often disability families, lack of promotion of positive image result in their further marginalization and discrimination. This also reinforces the negative self-esteem of CWD. The stigma is harder for girls with disabilities as they endure multi-layered discrimination based on gender expectations and stereotyping which results in perceiving them as counterfeit women not worthy to marry or have children. They are often excluded and isolated in their own families and grow up with the belief that that they are abnormal and burden for their families.

Prioritisation of causes In order to achieve better inclusion of CWD/ SEN in education and community life the current project has prioritized the following 3 root causes which create the problems faced by CWD: (1) Lack of equal opportunities to access IE; (2) Lack of community services and support structures for CWD, their families and schools; (3) Lack of enabling attitude in communities and schools. These 3 priority causes equally important came out of project planning meetings with the target group of teachers, children, their parents and the stakeholders from national and local authorities.

1. Lack of equal opportunities to access IE, has 3 aspects: trained and knowledgeable teachers, shared roles and understanding with and between the school and services, and access to mainstream education curricula. All these aspects are met by the project to improve the inclusive environment and learning for all children who meet these serious barriers for inclusion.

2. Many of the issues faced by CWD, their families and teachers are due to lack of support structures at schools and community. With this project the specialist staffs of 77 schools will receive refresher training and supported to act as part of the school team, and work collaboratively with teachers


and parents for better inclusion and learning outcomes of the CWD/SEN. On the other hand BoH centre’s will be strengthened to act as PP support services to schools, children and families.

3. Lack of enabling attitude: Attitude is key for inclusion. It is powerful when the process is led by those who are affected by the situation. The project will empower parents of CWD to take leadership in changing attitudes and malpractices at schools and communities that hampers their children’s inclusion. Parents’ empowerment is seen as a key factor for changing existing prejudice among educators, specialists and society and overcome exclusion and stigma of their children.

B.4 Stakeholder analysis

See also Annex 4- Stakeholder’s analysis

Primary Stakeholders (directly involved in the project)

School age girls and boys with disabilities (6-18) in Tavush: As key rights holders they have been involved in the earliest phase of the development of the current project and are intended to benefit from the project and will be directly involved in all awareness raising activities.

About 15,755 children, both with and without disabilities/ SEN attending 77 Tavush schools will benefit from project activities. They also have a valuable role in changing their school environment through friendship, cooperation and participation in campaigns and other project activities.

Families of CWD: Most of advocacy and awareness raising actions will be realized with direct leadership and participation of parents.

Staff of 77 mainstream schools in Tavush Marz: 1,786 teachers and 188 PP specialists of these schools will have a key role in the project. They are the duty bearers’ with a responsibility to ensure that every child is valued in their schools and get equal access to curricula and school activities.

Members of the Disability Advocacy Coalition (DAC): DAC member organizations are considered as secondary stakeholders as they will be invited to attend events and other specific activities related to advocacy and inclusive education. DAC will act as the best source of information for parents and also for YWDs in Tavush Marz when preparing advocacy actions. ME and BOH will share the model of USIE with the DAC and they will continue to present and advocate for the replication of the model in their respective Marzes/areas.

Secondary stakeholders (peripheral to the intervention)

Tavush Regional Government and local authorities: Regional government (Marzpeteran) is a duty bearer and is responsible to ensure the implementation of Armenian laws and legal obligations at Marz levels, including the right of every child to education. Representatives from Marzpetaran will be involved in the PCC of the project.

Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES) and its National Institute of Education (NIE) are key stakeholders. The MoES is a duty bearer and responsible for developing and implementing policies that fully protect the rights of all Armenian citizens to education. The Ministry will provide the project with advisory support in various phases of the Tavush school teacher’s trainings and involved when awarding the certificates to teachers. NIE is responsible structure of MoES for overall teachers’ in-service training program and delivery.

The Press/Media/Multi Media is an important stakeholders of the projects to support the dissemination of project messages through the Marz and have desired influence on strengthening the positive image of CWD/SEN and the profile of IE in society. The journalists from different media will be invited to trainings on the social model of disability and disability language and ethics.

Local Self-Governance bodies are important stakeholders and will support the project with providing schools and partner’s information and data about the vulnerable families and children who might be at risk of exclusion because of various social, economic and cultural issues. The project staff will use this information for early intervention and service provision.


C. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

C.1 Target group and participants See also Annex 5. Target Group Analysis

Primary Target Group

480 CWD and 920 children with SEN in Tavush is the primary target group of the project who will directly benefit from project activities. With improved knowledge and ongoing coaching their teachers will become competent to include them into all classroom activities and improve their learning outcomes, socialization and confidence. The empowerment of their parents will ensure their right to IE and active participation in their communities on equal basis of their peers. With the enhanced access to support services, CWD/SEN (about 40% girls) will develop their physical, emotional and mental functions to demonstrate better participation at schools and communities.

1,200 parents of CWD/ SEN as part of Parents’ Support Groups (PSG) will be supported to have a clear understanding on the rights of their children and their inclusion. They will be empowered to have a meaningful participation in all aspects of their children’s education and through Parents’ Councils will influence the school decisions. Parents (80% women) will form PSG to act as watch-dogs of IE in their schools. The project will develop their advocacy skills so that they become civil society actors and become driving forces in promoting their children’s rights.

1,786 teachers and 188 service providers in 77 schools of Tavush Marz: Through hands on training and ongoing coaching the teachers will benefit from the project through their increased understanding and competencies in inclusive teaching and learning methods, curricula based assessment and adaptation of IEPs, lesson planning and working in a team.

BoH centres with their 45 service providers are another target group of the project. They will benefit from the capacity building interventions of the project and will improve their skills to a level to act as support structure for all-inclusive schools and CWD/ SEN and their parents. With support of the project they will be able to meet the state standards of PP support services and will have higher probability that the state will delegate the package of services with relevant funding to BoH centres to continue as Regional PP Support services in Tavush Marz.

Secondary target group

All 15,755 children attending Tavush schools will be benefitting from the project. In the long term, all children, both with and without disabilities/ SEN attending the 77 Tavush schools will benefit. This project will create the capacity of Tavush to act as model of USIE for other Marzes.

On the longer term, all teacher and PP staff of all schools and CWD/ SEN will indirectly benefit from the project as the consolidated IE model will be presented to the GA for nationwide replication

How the project benefits poor sectors of society

The project will support 480 CWD and 920 children with SEN and their families. They will directly benefit from the project. Through improved capacities of their schools, accessibility and availability of support services, empowerment of parents and the removal of attitudinal barriers the level of their inclusion at schools and communities will be improved significantly. They will become more confident in their abilities and their self-esteem will be raised..

Local partner’s legitimacy vis-à-vis the target group BoH advocacy work has resulted in the formulation and adoption of amendments of seven laws directly related to the social, economic and cultural right of PWD in general and CWD specific. The organization receives a very high legitimacy ranking. As an organization focused on children and youth with disability, the parents of children are inevitably key players within the organizational structure. The organization is based on parent beneficiary involvement at all levels. These parents comprise 90 % of the General Assembly, 50% of the Board. There is a number of PWD and mothers of CWD on the staff. Since 2001 BoH via its 4 child development centre’s in Tavush Marz promotes inclusion of children and YWD into society.


C.2. The project’s objectives and success criteria (indicators)

The Overall development objective of the project is: The right of children with disabilities and special educational needs to quality inclusive education is secured in Armenia.

Immediate Objectives

Indicators Means of verification

1. By the end of the project, the right of CWD/ SEN to inclusive quality education is enhanced in Tavush both in schools and by strengthened support from psycho- pedagogical support services.

By the end of the project:

100% of CWD/SEN in Tavush have access to 77 mainstream schools with improved capacities.

100% of Tavush mainstream schools are evaluated to be fully inclusive-

100% of Tavush mainstream schools recognize civil society run centers as a key learning and support resource.

90% of CWD/SEN demonstrate improved learning outcomes and IEP objectives achieved.

School IE evaluation reports and records; Government’s decrees on replication of Tavush IE model and decrees recognizing the Bridge of Hope centers as PP support centers for Tavush schools. MoES orders; Records of Tavush Marz Child Protection Unit.

2. By the end of the project, the Network of 77 Tavush Parents’ Support Groups becomes a strong civil society actor in advancement of the basic human rights of CWD/SEN at school and community levels.


80% of parents in 77 PSGs are actively involved in parent-led advocacy action for inclusion of CWDS/SNE in schools and communities.

100% of “School Development programs” meet IE standards.

100% of PSGs have their voices heard at school management level.

50% improvement in community awareness and attitude towards CWD/ SEN and their rights.

Training records including pre- and post-evaluation of PSG; PSG meeting minutes; advocacy action plans, implementation reports; participant list of advocacy actions; Schools’ parents council membership records; Amendments to “School Development programs” lobbied by parents; periodic -final evaluation reports; School IE evaluation reports; audio-visual material; media archive.

3. By the end of the project, the consolidated model of Universal Inclusive System of Education (UISE) is promoted by civil society for replication in other Marzes of Armenia.


The consolidated model of UISE of Tavush is evaluated and accepted by civil society as replicable for the rest of Armenia.

The Armenian government officially recognizes Tavush school system as inclusive.

The MoES officially recognizes the eligibility of BoH PP services and allocates state funding.

The National Advocacy Coalition (DAC) advocates for the replication of Tavush UISE in Yerevan capital and the in the rest of Armenia

Meeting records, drafted model of UISE; minutes of meetings with PSGs and DAC; media publications on Tavush UISE; media materials shared through social networks; participant lists of stakeholder meetings and the conference; letters to MoES and Government; Government’s decrees on UISE and BOH PP services; periodic/ final evaluation reports; IE evaluation report of schools.


C.3 Outputs and activities

Outputs Activities

1.1. By 1 February 2017, all Tavush CWD/SEN receive quality inclusive education in the 77 mainstream Tavush schools, with staff trained and resource rooms adapted.

1.1.1. Organize refresher trainings and coach 1,786 teachers and 188

PP staff of 77 schools on IE.

1.1.2. Update a practical manual for teachers, parents, PP specialists

on roles and cooperation around IEPs.

1.1.3. Improve educational material of resource rooms in 77 schools,

adapted to the needs of CWD/SEN.

1.1.4. Asses needs of all CWD/SEN in the 77 schools and draft or

revise their IEP

1.1.5. Create a database of CWD/ SEN enrolled in all 77 schools.

1.1.6. Organize hands on training of PP staff of all 77 schools on how

to maintain the database.

1.1.7. Evaluate quality of inclusion in 77 Tavush mainstream schools.

1.2. By 1 December 2016, BoH centres have strengthened their PP service capacities and function as support and resource centres for all Tavush schools, CWD/SEN and their families.

1.2.1 Organize refresher training and coach all 48 PP service providers of 4 BoH centers on WHO ICF as framework for SEN assessment, registration and planning.

1.2.2 Upgrade the existing database of CWD/SEN benefitting from BoH PP services using the WHO ICF-CY.

1.2.3 Strengthen BoH 4 centers with assessment tools, supplies and rehabilitation items and training on assessment database use.

1.2.4 Provide specialized PP services to children, families and monitor IE practice at schools.

2.1. By 1 December 2016, parents of 77 Parents’ Support Groups are trained and empowered to become watchdogs of the rights of CWD/SEN to IE and community participation.

2.1.1. Organize refresher training for a core group of PSGs on advocacy and leadership.

2.1.2. Organize workshops for PSGs on latest IE practices, updated legal framework and MoES school monitoring standards.

2.1.3. Hands-on support to 77 PSGs to develop advocacy and awareness raising action plans.

1.2.5 Organize a Tavush PSG network of all PSGs to share actions plans and organize joint actions.

2.2. By the end of the project, 77 Parents’ Support Groups have influenced positive changes in attitudes and behavior towards the rights of CWD/SENs to IE and community participation.

2.2.1 PSG task groups review the “School Development programs” against the IE standards and advocate for changes through representatives of Parents’ Councils.

2.2.2 Conduct advocacy initiatives in schools and communities with active participation of PSG with participation of children, volunteers, community based organizations and BoH human rights activists.

2.2.3 Media publications of parents’ initiatives through social, national and local media, networks.

2.2.4 Conduct a pre- post-survey on community awareness and attitude towards CWD/ SEN.


3.1. By the end of the project, the model of Universal Inclusive System of Education in Tavush Marz is evaluated with active participation of representatives from civil society groups and networks.

3.1.1 Conduct an evaluation of the Tavush consolidated model of UISE with involvement of civil society including PSG and DAC.

3.1.2 Share the evaluation report with civil society partners and stakeholders through formal and non-formal meetings, national and local media, social networks and websites.

3.2: By the end of the project, model of UISE is completed and Armenian civil society is promoting the model for replication in the rest of Armenia.

3.2.1 Finalize the model of nationwide UISE in consultation with PSGs, DAC and MoES.

3.2.2 Present the final model of UISE to all 10 Regional Disability Councils, the National Disability Council, the Standing Committee of Education of NA, and in National conference.

3.2.3 Send the final model of UISE to MoES for government approval.

3.2.4 Organise advocacy through an Advocacy Group including DAC and Tavush PSGs to promote the final model of UISE and Tavush experience to other Marzes of Armenia.

C.4 Strategy: how does the project cohere?

Methods and modus operandi used by the project

The approach can be been summarized as a combination of capacity building, service delivery and advocacy. The following approaches sum up the key methodology chosen for this project:

1) Capacity building of state and civil society service providers: Human resources available at BoH 4 centre’s in Tavush Marz, teachers and staff of IE schools, within government and civil society groups (AGs, self-help groups, parents’ network or PSGs) are key to ensure sustainability of the project. Hence, the strong focus of capacity building and empowerment of both state- and civil society service providers. Their capacities will be built on IE practice. In this context all 48 staff in the 4 existing BoH PP service centres will receive refresher trainings on WHAO ICF as framework for SEN assessment, registration and planning. These 4 centres will be strengthened with the necessary assessment tools and both relevant state and civil society service providers will be trained in the use of the database of CWD/SEN. Added skills of the 4 BoH centres, other organisations and institutions based in the target Marz offers opportunities for multiplier effects as successful project outcomes can attract other donors to support these partners in implementing similar activities with target groups in other Marzes.

2) Building parent’s role in supporting their children’s rights: Parents of CWD/SEN participating in existing parent support groups will receive refresher trainings on their rights and the rights of their children, on advocacy and leadership, latest IE practices and MoES school monitoring standards. The parents will be supported to develop advocacy and awareness raising plans and will become key advocates to support their children’s rights at 2 levels: 1) the right for appropriate care at home; and 2) the right to education through local advocacy at school and community level.

3) Building up advocacy around the replication of the model of to the rest of Armenia: The Tavush parent support network together with Tavush civil society organisations will be supported to advocate of the Tavush model towards the MoES to finalise this model and replicate it in all other Marzes of Armenia.

ME always demonstrates a participatory approach to the development of its projects in order to ensure the enhancement of the high level results of interventions and strengthen the local ownership for sustainability of results. This participatory approach is rooted in every part of this current project.


The capacity building strategy was designed being based on recommendations and comments from parents of the target CWD/SEN. They will remain key actors also during the project.

Sequences or stages in which the project is divided

This project is based on a right based approach specifically targeting the right to education of CWD/SEN as well as of children whose long term development is hampered because of other forms of vulnerability. The proposed project will take 18 month with an anticipated start date of 1 July, 2016.

The project will have 3 main components: The 1st Component covers some 3-4 months and is focused on capacity building and resourcing of all 77 Tavush schools and PP support centres and applying this in school and community practice; A 2nd component focuses on capacity building the network of 77 school-based PSGs, making them a strong civil society actor in advancement of the basic rights of their children; In a last and 3rd phase, during the last months of the project implementation, The Tavush model of UISE will be taken forward and promoted by civil society toward MoES and the larger public for replication in other marzes of Armenia.

Through hands-on training sessions and coaching the teachers, PSGS and service providers will become skilful in specific aspects of their professional work and civic engagement directed to better inclusive quality education and participation of all children with a special focus on CWD and special educational needs. This approach will also ensure local ownership towards the final project outcomes.

How the project benefits poor or marginalised groups and how their ownership is promoted.

The primary target group of the project are CWD/SEN and the overall strategy is designed to build the capacity of all key actors in the life of children to be able to properly support their right to IE and community participation. Specifically: a) their inclusion in all classroom activities will be improved so that they may achieve to their maximum level of learning outcomes, social skills and participation in school activities; b) their parents will be empowered so they become watchdogs of their children’s rights at schools and communities is another big investment in the life of the child. It is true that investment in capacity building of parents is a direct support to child wellbeing and meaningfully protected life. In total 1,400 CWD/SEN and parents will benefit from the project.

How women’s and men’s equal participation and gain from the project will be secured

Being based on inclusive approach to education the project promotes equal participation of all girls and boys with disabilities and their parents at all levels of project. 58% of the targeted CWD/SEN are girls. They will be supported to feel confident and equal member of their schools and communities. They will equally enrolled in all activities on equal basis of boys and all of their peers with and without disabilities. The current project also considered this issue and prioritised parents’ empowerment as key precondition of better inclusion of CWD. An issue will be the equal participation of fathers together with mothers in the project. This is a challenge and the project staff will use the resource of those families where fathers on equal level of participation of mothers are involved in their children’s issues.

Capacity Building Strategy

Capacity building is a cross-cutting component throughout the project. The main approach is to ensure that civil society groups, in particular PSGs, as well as BoH centres and Tavush schools have enough capability to consolidate the results achieved during past phases of this IE project. By building the capacity of these actors, sustainability of the project will be strengthened in Tavush and the replication nationwide of the IE model will be carried and promoted by these actors.

Capacity building of 1,200 parent’s organisations will be use the best practices already used locally and others taken from international parents’ movements. They will be based on key aspects of advancing leadership at grass root levels. The knowledge and understanding of parents will be reflected in improved communication and cooperation with teachers, in improved participation in IEP planning and implementation, and in their advocacy targeting changes in attitudes.

Capacity building of BoH centres and their 45 PP specialists will be a sustainable investment in the establishment of a support system to inclusive schools, children and families. The capacity building knowledge builds on the overall concept of WHO ICF Children and Youth (CY) as the PP specialists will learn more about how to identify the key needs of CWD/SEN. This will help the schools, families


and service providers to plan specific interventions in child development, inclusive learning and participation.

Capacity building of 1,786 teachers 188 PP specialists of 77 schools, in Tavush. Through this strategy the project supports the professional growth of teachers and service providers to meet the challenges of quality IE, needs assessment and planning and implementation. The capacity building of teachers and school PP specialists will reflect international best practices in IE and will support them to apply the new knowledge of inclusive teaching and learning strategies in their daily classroom activities.

How the project strengthens local partner

ME will continue supporting BoH to carry out advocacy and lobby work, to participate in networks with like-minded organizations and to enter into dialogue with key authorities on IE policy and practice aimed to meet the immediate needs of CYWD and their families. In 2015, ME supported BoH to become member of the European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities. This is another resource for BoH to develop itself as influential actor in the field of disability right in Armenia.

A new partnership with CISU will be a valuable learning and networking opportunity for BoH to get information from international best practices, share with the project activities and results, join different international campaigns for disability rights. Through national and international networking BoH will significantly improve its advocacy capacities to promote the expansion and replication of the enhanced scheme of UISE and also advocate for quality IE at all education levels in Armenia.

How the project ensures support from important stakeholders, networks or alliances (See also section B.4. Stakeholders analysis)

National Disability Advocacy Coalition of DPOs (DAC): DAC board has officially committed to support the project when advocating for the replication of Tavush model of UISE in other Marzes. DAC will be actively involved in raising the awareness about the Tavush model in the country and together with BoH will advocate for GA’s approval for replication in other Marzes of Armenia.

MoES is highly committed to contribute to a successful project. The MoES representatives will be involved in M&E and PCC meetings and will support the development of the scheme of UISE. They have committed to take a final model proved in Tavush forward to the rest of Armenia and to assign the necessary budgets to schools who have become inclusive.

NIE: NIE experts will be directly involved in teachers’ training component of the project and will coach teachers to apply the knowledge in practice.

Department of Education of Tavush Marzpetaran: The project implementation phase will have full support from Tavush Marzpetaran in terms of organization issues of trainings, facilitation of full participation of teachers in trainings, M&E and any technical issue that might arise.

The Press/Media/Multi Media will support the dissemination of project advocacy messages in Tavush.

C.5 Phase-out and sustainability

Communication and openness between ME and BoH during the whole project period should be central. ME will continue its support to BoH emphasising the enhanced commitment of the partner to participatory knowledge management, systematization and dissemination of the learning to other civil society partners, groups and networks and look for synergies among similar projects initiated by other governmental and non-governmental actors. ME and BoH have mutually agreed on a set of principles for a phasing-out strategy: transparency, inclusion, predictability and sustainability.

Transparency: Ensure that the project activities and timelines are communicated transparently so that everyone that should be kept informed knows when, why and how we are phasing out.

Inclusion: ME and BoH to build effective relations with local and national authorities, schools and beneficiaries at all stages of the project. Their representatives will be invited to the PCC in order to ensure a common approach of all stakeholders. Besides key stakeholders the BoH will ensure that many other stakeholders will be involved in the discussions about the project phasing out process.


Predictability: ME and BoH will ensure that the phasing out process is evaluated on a timely basis. The project performance will be used as the basis for making justifiable decisions on changes in activities and on identifying and managing risks and opportunities associated with a changing project environment. This will be the basis for an anticipated phasing-out, carefully-considered during the lifetime of the project to ensuring long-term sustainability.

The phase-out strategy of the project is designed to ensure that local partner and the project target groups are well positioned in their communities to continue independently the sustainable development of IE and advocate for the basic human right to education for CWD/ SEN.

CWD/SEN: The project phase-out strategy builds on the belief that capacity building of parents and specialists working with CWD/SEN is a direct contribution to the child’s development, inclusion and rights protection. Through the improved inclusive learning environment of 77 schools, teacher-parent cooperation, parents’ leadership and advocacy at schools and communities, 1,400 CWD/ SEN will demonstrate better learning outcomes and social interaction, which will be continued after the project.

Teachers: Through training and on-job coaching 1,786 teachers will reinforce their know-how in inclusive teaching and learning strategies. After the end of the project, they will continue using the these strategies independently in their teaching practice to ensure that no child is left out or left behind because of disability, learning challenges or social hardships.

Parents: Through comprehensive trainings, empowerment and self-advocacy skills about 1,200 parent of PSGs will become a strong civil society voice in Tavush towards the rights of CWD/SEN to inclusion and participation in education and community life. The delegated members of PSGs will be represented in Parents’ Councils of 77 schools and will continue to raise the parents’ voice at the level of school management and influence inclusive improvements at schools. The network of PSGs will continue to be the watchdogs of the rights of CWDs and SEN at schools and communities after the project ends. They will continue the advocacy work under the umbrella of local partner and other civil society organizations thus reinforcing the legitimacy and the influence of civil society led advocacy.

Civil society partner: The local partner BoH will lead this final consolidation phase of the project in Tavush Marz. BoH PP centres will build their capacities to act independently as support organisations to inclusive schools, children and families after the phase-out of the project. The success of this final phase of the project in Tavush will strengthen the public trust and support to BoH advocacy work towards promotion the rights of CWD/ SEN to equitable quality IE. In larger civil society networks BoH will continue to advocate for the replication of the Tavush model of USIE in other regions of Armenia.

When expanding its advocacy work in other regions BoH will continue to use the strong resources of Tavush schools and PSGs for peer to peer exchange of knowledge, experiences and lessons learnt.

Sustainability: Organizational sustainability: With improved knowledge and competencies in IE, parent-teacher cooperation and team work, the 77 schools will continue to be inclusive to all Tavush children who face barriers to inclusion and participation in education. The generated knowledge and the advocacy capacities of parents within the PSGs ensures the sustainability of their network under the umbrella of BoH. The capacities of BoH PP services will reach a level that they will continue also after the project to act as supporting resource services to all schools and families of CWD/SEN.

Economic sustainability: 77 schools will continue to get additional funding from the state budget for the salaries of special educators, teacher’s assistants and psychologists. ME will support BoH in lobbying the government to recognize the eligibility of BoH PP services in accordance with the state PP service delivery standards and to allocate funding to BoH centres to sustain its role as support structure to inclusive schools. This will ensure the economic sustainability of the consolidated model of USIE in Tavush which is comprised of 3 main components: 1) inclusive schools; 2) PP support service at school level (special educators, teacher’s assistants and psychologists on the school staff) ; and 3) specialized PP BoH support centres at regional level.

Environmental Sustainability: The project won’t negatively impact natural resources or the environment. The project will have a significant positive impact on the removal of attitudinal barriers of the ‘social’ environment which is one of the main obstacles for CWD/SEN to fulfil their rights to equal


participation in education and community life. On the long term, the project will also have an impact on the accessibility of the ‘physical’ environment at schools which is still a major barrier for inclusion.

Systematisation and dissemination of experiences BoH will be responsible for gathering information to contribute towards best practice publication and learning dissemination on the finalised model of UISE. The systematisation of experiences will be done through ME and BoH project coordinators who will lead the process while working with different stakeholders when developing relevant documentation and sharing this with stakeholders.

The systematisation and dissemination of experiences of the final model of UISE will be done through different ways of information sharing:

On the marz level (Tavush), the evaluation report will be shared with civil society partners and stakeholders through formal and non-formal meetings, national and local media, BoH website and Facebook page; BoH monthly “Sunflower” magazine and other social networks.

On the national level, the final model of UISE will be presented to all 10 Regional Disability Councils, the National Disability Council, the Standing Committee of Education of NA, and in National conference.

C.6 Assumptions and risks

Assumptions,

Assumptions Immediate Objective 1: The Government allocates additional funding to inclusive schools; The Local authorities of Tavush Marz remain committed to further improve the level of inclusion at schools/ communities; Teachers will use the new knowledge and skills in their daily classroom activities; BoH PP services will maintain with support of State funding.

Assumptions Immediate Objective 2: Parents will use their advocacy knowledge and skills in schools and communities on daily basis; The inclusive environment of schools will be maintained by everyday watchdog role of parents and civil society organizations; Parents are interested in dedicating time and efforts to sharing and exchanging their experience with their peers

Assumptions Immediate Objective 3: The organizations of PWD will contribute to advocate the replication of UISE in all Marzes; DAC member DPOs will dedicate efforts to advocate for expansion of UISE through at different fora, networks and Regional and national Disability Councils: Government remains committed to expand best practice of IE nationwide and to allocate budget to UISE expansion; GA agrees to recognize the eligibility of PP services provided by civil society organizations

Risks: Risk1: Physical and cultural barriers continue to limit access of CWD to education and social inclusion Strategy to meet the risk: The project has planned a strategy that is able to reduce its negative impact on the project. Cooperation with MoES will help the schools to adapt their environments to the needs of CWD. Through the ongoing advocacy strategy, CWDs and their families will be empowered to overcome their isolation, lead the awareness raising campaign in their communities and break down the stereotypes towards their personalities among educators, peers and the community.

Risk 2: The impact of the financial/ economic crisis may undermine political commitment to UN CRPD Strategy to meet the risk: The empowerment of families of CWD and civil society actors is a factor to influence the GA to prioritize the rights of CWD and mainstream disability in its development agenda.

D. PROJECT ORGANISATION AND FOLLOW-UP

D.1 Division of roles in project implementation

Role of Bridge of Hope: BoH will be the main implementer of the project, both with regard to capacity building of teachers, parents and service providers, improving the school inclusive practices and empowerment of parents. BoH will cooperate with key stakeholders and the local civil society to transfer its technical expertise in the area of IE, advocacy and disability rights.


Role of Mission East: ME will provide oversight and input, ensuring efficient coordination and good practice in project, financial management and evaluation of project outcomes. Technical support will be provided to BoH regional program staff how to monitor the project and report on changes.

ME will assist BoH with meetings with government authorities, conduction of Marz forums, high level meetings and events as well as publication of information material. ME will carry out information activities with regards to the action in Denmark.

The financial/ administrative controls will be ensured by in-country and HQ ME administrative staff.

The following field staff structure is envisioned for ME: A Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, located in Yerevan, but with frequent visit to Tavush Marz. The main responsibility of the M&E Officer will be to ensure adherence to donor regulations/requirements, evaluation of activities of the local partner, as well as provision of technical support to project evaluation, situation analysis, reporting to the donor.

Mission East will ensure quality control of all deliverables to make sure appropriate methodology is used, documents are accessible for all groups, trainers have sufficient practices and training, and training material is adapted to target groups.

Overall coordination with government: As per obligations of the local and international NGOs, the regional and national government will be informed of the objectives of the project during coordination meetings. The representative from Tavush government and MoES will also be invited to participate in monitoring and evaluation activities. In addition, representatives from both government structures will have their places in the PCC and will have direct input in the overall strategic decisions on the project. Being part of PCC they will always have updated information about the project progresses.

Coordination among project partners: A MoU will be signed between BoH and ME? clarifying roles and responsibilities of each organization, expectations, rules and regulations specific this project. The MoU will incorporate a detailed work plan and budget based on project proposal and log frame. The partnership will be assessed during annual reviews that will also serve as a platform to raise issues of mutual concern and discuss possible adjustments in the project activities. A Project Coordination Committee (PCC), consisting of the directors of two organizations and project managers as well as a representative from MOES, NIE and Tavush Marzpetaran will be set up to meet quarterly and monitor progress of the project implementation. The PCC will also coordinate activities with external stakeholders. CISU guidelines and regulations will be taken into account in all partner agreements.

Funding management: BoH will be responsible for managing their respective share of the budget. They will report on a monthly basis to ME in line with the MoU obligations. Funds will be transferred by ME on a monthly basis, upon submission, review and approval of monthly financial reports. ME will ensure that funds are disbursed in a timely manner in line with the MoU.

Staff management: The project will be structured as shown in the chart attached in Annex 3. Detailed Division of Roles and Responsibilities of Staff. Each organisation is solely responsible for the management of their own staff.

D.2 Monitoring and evaluation in project implementation

ME and BoH will jointly draw up a Project Monitoring Workbook. The Workbook will ensure that the project continually collects information on the outputs and periodically analyses it to chart progress or indicate changes required. The Workbook will be based on indicators formed collectively as part of the log frame development but will include activity level indicators to chart progress. It will identify who will be responsible for data collection and analyses and who will use the resulting information.

Monitoring will be undertaken at several levels:

1. Daily monitoring: Project activity records will be kept by each implementing staff member to record action taken and observations. This data will be used for reporting and in project review on a monthly basis when project staffs meet as part of their monthly planning.

2. Periodic ‘Field’ Monitoring: ‘Field’ monitoring visits will be conducted by BOH and ME Project Coordinators with other relevant staff, as well as directors of partner organizations. Reports will be used at monthly planning and budgeting meetings for verification and for activity review.


3. Midterm monitoring review: There will be an internal project monitoring mechanism allowing all partners to undertake an objective review of the project in line with budget so as to realign the project accordingly. This will be conducted at the end of each half-year implementation period and will serve as supplementary feedback for mid-term work plan and budget planning/ review.

Final project evaluation will be conducted with external expertise, evaluating achievement of results, impact and process. The final evaluation will consider participatory and beneficiary monitoring and beneficiary accountability of the project, particularly as local partners will be receiving training in such.

Financial management and reporting

Implementation of this project will be accounted for in accordance with internationally accepted accounting principles following ME’s standard accounting procedures and local finance manual. These procedures follow Danish and Armenian accounting requirements and CISU guidelines. Monthly budget monitoring meetings will be conducted by ME and BoH to assist budget planning. Disbursement of funds will be done monthly upon receipt and approval of Monthly Financial Reports from the Partner Organization (PO). This will include: reconciliation of previous month expenditure and work plan and budget for the following month and will be submitted to the Country Director for approval. Disbursement will be by bank transfer in local currency. The PO Monthly Financial Reports will be approved by the Director of the PO and submitted to ME Country Director. PO expenditure and that of ME will be recorded in ME’s Monthly Financial Reporting system which is approved by the Country Representative and sent to ME Head Office for consolidating into DANIDA Financial Reporting Format each month. A system of internal check and balances is integrated into the project as part of the ME’s capacity building of local partners. These will be in the form of operational audits. The reports from this system will allow the PO to reinforce their finance and administrative procedures in line with donor requirements and standard organisational procedures. A project audit has also been budgeted for in line with CISU requirements.

E. INFORMATION WORK

E.1 Has project-related information work in Denmark been planned?

The subject of the chosen information work is to inform the Danish public about the project and its beneficiaries. In particular we will focus on the role of youth with disabilities attending mainstream schools and advocating for their rights to education. Information will target ME's constituency and readership of more than 8,000 readers. The information will be provided in two forms: one article in ME’s magazine reaching more than 8.000 readers and the other part on ME’s website reaching more than 5,000 unique visitors per year. ME’s communications department will be responsible for both retrieving the information in Armenia and for applying the information and communicating it in language understandable and accessible to the Danish public. This will raise awareness of how Danish aid is used in advocacy, empowerment and disability related issues and the impact on overall disability rights as well as more specifically on education issues for youth with a disability in Armenia.

4. Budget summary

Budget summary Currency Indicate total cost (i.e. contributions from the Civil Society Fund

as well as other sources) 2,000,000 DKK Of the total cost, the Civil Society Fund is to contribute 2,000,000 DKK Of the total cost, the amount to be contributed by other

sources of finance, including self-funding by the Danish organization or its local partner, if any 142,000,000 DKK

Indicate total cost in local currency

Indicate exchange rate applied 71 AMD per DKK


Main budget items Total amount From the Civil Society Fund

From other financial sources

1. Activities 874,042 874,042 0

2. Investments 0 0 0

3. Expatriate staff 21,127 21,127 0

4. Local staff 544,366 544,366 0

5. Local administration 142,409 142,409 0

6. Project monitoring 95,734 95,734 0

7. External evaluation 33,570 33,570 0

8. Information in Denmark (max. 2 % of items 1–7) 33,242 33,242 0

9. Budget margin (min. 6 % and max. 10 % of items 1-8) 104,669 104,669 0

10. Project expenses in total (items 1- 9) 1,849,159 1,849,159 0

11. Auditing in Denmark 20,000 20,000 0

12. Subtotal (item 10 + item 11) 1,869,159 1,869,159 0

13. Administration in Denmark (max. 7 % of item 12) 130,841 130,841 0

14. Total 2,000,000 2,000,000 0

4. ANNEXES

OBLIGATORY ANNEXES

A. Basic information about the Danish applicant organisation B. Factsheet about the local organisation C. Budget format

D. The organisation’s statutes E. The latest annual report F. The latest audited annual accounts (signed by the auditor and the management/board )

SUPPLEMENTARY ANNEXES (max 30 pages):

Annex 1 Logical Framework

Annex 2 Implementation plan

Annex 3 List of Abbreviations

Annex 4 Partnership Model Diagram

Annex 5 Detailed Division of Roles and Responsibilities of Staff Target

Annex 6 Stakeholders Analysis

Annex 7 Group Analysis

Annex 8 ME_Achievements of 1st phase and consolidation

1. Cover page THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD CIVIL SOCIETY … · Start” (J No. 104.N.376.b.5). ME also received funding from CISU for its ongoing project ‘The Right to Earn a Living”-

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