TBL-Promoting Women’s Participations Armenian Young Women’s Association (AYWA) was our Embassy’s partner in 2010. Under the MATRA KAP program, they implemented a project Enhancing Women’s Rights Protection through their Empowerment. As one of outputs, AYWA established Women’s Councils in 10 communities of Lori region “attached to local self-governing bodies” there. Most of the Councils are still active, and serve as a platform to voice local women’s concerns and propose women-friendly solutions. With such a track record, the Embassy thought that AYWA would be an interesting partner to develop a proposal for the Accountability Fund. The result is described below: AYWA proposes “to improve the participation of girls and women in social, political, and economic life through enhancing their skills and abilities, and endorsing their self-confidence and motivation.” The model that AYWA has opted for, is based on its yearlong experience results. Through its direct work in communities and with women, AYWA has revealed that women in regional communities are particularly vulnerable in terms of lack of opportunities and self-confidence. The project will be implemented in close partnership with regional governmental administrations, local self-governments, local NGOs, women entrepreneurs from Women Entrepreneurs Network of Armenia, local NGOs, and mass media. As AYWA puts it, “involvement of important stakeholders and collaboration with them will greatly promote to reach real outcomes for communities improvement, as this endeavor necessitates collaboration and teamwork to have lasting impact.”