User:Armineh Arakelian

Armineh Arakelian is a Politist, International lawyer, Diplomat, Independent Rights Defender, Advisor, Instructor/Mentor, Artist.

She was born in Tehran, Iran on 21 March 1962. She is Citizen of Iran and France and resident of Armenia. She lives in a village in Armenia since 2009.

She is the Founder of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights- IDHR, 1999 (www.idhr.am) and the Founder of the Movement for Sovereign Armenia- MFSA (1/11/2017.

Armineh has received two MAs and one DESS degrees from Sorbonne University Paris I and Paris Descartes University Paris V, France in Political Science - International Relations and International Law.

She has over 20 years of proven professional experience in democracy support, human rights, civil society development, governance, development aid, justice and rule of law, media development and freedom of speech; gender mainstreaming, women empowerment, capacity development; results based management.

She has worked extensively with civil society organizations (CSOs) and international inter-governmental organizations including the United Nations, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the European Union in the Middle East, Europe, the South Caucasus and Africa.

As Lawyer and Senior Policy and Program Advisor she cooperated with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees headquarters in Geneva and field operations for a period of four years. As the Head of the Human Rights Promotion Section, she cooperated with the European Union and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda and African Great Lakes for a number of years following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda (Africa)until December 1998. She cooperated with International IDEA from 1999-2001 as the Head of Europe/CIS Program for democratic development and 2001-2008 as the Resident Representative in the South Caucasus and Head of Offices in Georgia and Armenia. Since 2009 she has been working as an independent expert with United Nations, European Union and other organizations.

She has proven multiple knowledge mainly in the followings: martial arts, chess, basketball, swimming, dancing, singing, sewing and knitting, cooking, drawing & painting, interior designing, making love, gardening, animal world, natural healing arts, reiki, shiatsu, team & resource building, advocacy & lobbying, agenda setting, public speaking, writing, teaching, advising, journalism, investigating, profiling, negotiation, arbitrage, dialogue, politics, rehabilitation of justice, etc.

Armineh loves life, creativity, nature, animals & the Universe and she lives her creative and passionate life every day.

She contributed to the following publications:

 Exchange of Populations, UNHCR, Geneva 1994.  Handbook on "Women in Parliament: Beyond the Numbers, International IDEA, 2000, contributed and supervised.  Designing for Equality, International IDEA, 2005, contributed.  Advancing Democracy in Slovakia through Local Self-Governance, International IDEA, 2000, supervised.  Democracy in the Arab World- Challenges, Achievements and Prospects, International IDEA, 2000, contributed.  Democracy at the Local Level: A Guide for the South Caucuses, International IDEA, 2003, contributed and supervised.  POMEGRANATE, Democracy & Diversity in the Caucasus, International IDEA and CIMERA, 2003, contributed and supervised.  Democratic Development Assessment in Georgia, International IDEA, 2004, coordinated and supervised.  Election Assessment in the South Caucasus, International IDEA, 2004, contributed and supervised.  BRIDGE Armenia, International IDEA and National Institute of Education of the Republic of Armenia, 2007, contributed and supervised.  Poverty Reduction and development in Armenia, Research and Policy Papers series, IDHR from 2000-2003, contributed and supervised.  Democracy, Education and Multiculturalism: Dilemmas of Citizenship in a Global World, IDHR, Armenia 2005, Supervised and edited the translated version from English into Armenia.  “Tesaket- IDHR”, Chief Editor, Armenia, from 2000-2009.  Final Evaluation of the EU Advisory Group to the Republic of Armenia, III Phase, European Commission, Armenia, 2014-2015.