On January 25th, 2021, the “Right Side” HRD NGO celebrated its fifth birthday.The traditional annual meeting of the organisation was attended not only by the staff and board of the organisation, but also by the partners from the civil society sector, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Armenia Nico Schermers, Embassy staff, representatives from the trans community. The event was attended by the parents of the LGBTIQ community.

• It is a great honour for me to chair the first trans community-based organisation in Armenia and the South Caucasus. Today we celebrate the difficult, but productive five years of the organisation. This is a huge achievement for all of us: community, staff, volunteers and supporters. The existence of the organisation proves the existence of the needs of our community, for the solution of which we work diligently every day, and we will continue. Gender equality is the basis of the protection of human rights and democracy in the Republic of Armenia,- the president of the NGO Lilit Martirosyan opened the meeting.

During the event, Lilit Martirosyan presented the programmatic and financial reports of the previous year, which are already available on the organisation’s website. Mrs. Martirosyan also presented the draft versions of the recently conducted strategic and advocacy planning for the next five years, which will soon be available on the website.

The parents of the community expressed their gratitude from the NGO, personally to Lilit Martirosyan, for standing by their children and unselfishly supporting them. “The existence of the organisation is very important not only for us, our children, but it also makes an invaluable contribution to the change and development of our society” said one of the parents in their speech.

During the event, the president of the organisation handed special acknowledgments to the following groups and individuals:

• To the leader of the liberal, reformist movement “Dignity Movement” Ashot Gevrgyan for unconditionally supporting and strengthening the “Right Side” human rights defender NGO.
• To the trans activist Monika Sarkisyan for increasing the visibility of trans people and for breaking the stereotypes in 2020.
• To the trans activist Maria Atabekyan for standing on the front lines with “Right Side” human rights defender NGO and for fighting for the protection of the rights of LGBTQ people and sex workers.
• To the fundraising and communication officer of “Pink” human rights defender NGO Mamikon Hovsepyan, for effective cooperation with “Right Side” human rights defender NGO and for making efforts for the well-being of LGBTQ people.
• To the group of parents of LGBTIQ people for raising the domestic problems of LGBTQI people in 2020 and for finding effective solutions in 2020.
• To ally Olya Nalbandyan for the support to the LGBTQ community and for a positive impact on public opinion in 2020.

At the end of the event, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Armenia Niko Schmermers handed over the original of the “Human Rights Tulip 2020” statuette awarded to Lilit Martirosyan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

“Right Side” HRD NGO is thankful to all the organisations and individuals, who have contributed to the development of the organisation during these five years, and reaffirms the continuity of its programs addressing the needs and rights of trans people and sex workers in Armenia.

Feb 12, 2021 Armenia Yerevan