In order to prevent the burnout of the staff, board and activists, the “Right Side” HRD NGO organised a three-day outgoing activity in February for the organisation’s nine employees and board members. The activity was financially supported within the framework of “COVID-19. Civil Society Resilience and Sustainability” regional project, which is being implemented by IREX Europe (now Equal Rights & Independent Media, ERIM) and Human Rights House Yerevan (HRHY) and funded by the European Union (EU).

The activity aimed to promote the stabilisation of the emotional harmony of the activists and human rights defenders by practicing yoga and self-care. During the activity, in the calm atmosphere interpersonal discussions on the following topics took place:

• Organisation of recreational activities for activists to prevent burnout.
• Ensuring emotional, mental and spiritual balance and harmony.
• Drawing the borderlines between work and private life.
• Proper management of free time and leisure.
• Improving and clarifying working conditions.
• Motivation and focus on work and rest.
• Discussion on the policy of prevention of burnout among activists.

It should be noted that since the day of its foundation, the organisation has been working with a heavy workload, the employees of the organisation often take the problems of the community personally and even try to spend the time allotted for leisure on solving them. Given the fact, that the organisation represents the interests of trans and sex workers communities, the organisation’s activists are daily targets of stigma and discrimination. Many activists experienced emotional imbalance, nervous instability, some even visited doctors and psychologists regularly.

This recovery activity enabled the organisation to continue its work in a more motivated manner, stronger push forward the new strategic and advocacy plans, approved in the beginning of the year. Due to the difficult, dangerous and tense work environment, during the activity, it was decided that such preventive and recovery measures should be organised twice a year, taking into account the problems and the workload of the organisation. 

“Right Side” HRD NGO expresses its gratitude for the support provided within the framework of “COVID-19. Civil Society Resilience and Sustainability” regional project, which is being implemented by IREX Europe (now Equal Rights & Independent Media, ERIM) and Human Rights House Yerevan (HRHY) and funded by the European Union (EU).

It gave an opportunity to the organisation to review and re-evaluate the organisation’s human resource’s management, the working culture, to recover and to return with to the work with more power, for the new achievements and successes, for the benefit of the trans, sex workers and LGBIQ community, for equality, and for human rights protection.

Mar 4, 2021 Armenia Yerevan