Internet Access and Training Program (IATP)

IATP News from the Caucasus

July 2005

AZERBAIJAN

alumni
Alumni and NGO representatives in
Ganja discussing human rights
classes at school

IATP Ganja Organizes Online Forum on Human Rights
On July 21 and 22, the IATP access site at the Ganja Education Information Center hosted a forum on integrating human rights into educational curriculum. This forum was organized by the IATP Alumni Advisory Council in Ganja and Dalga, a local nongovernmental organization, in hopes of increasing the support base for a human rights curriculum. Twenty-three educators, human rights advocates, and alumni of US government-sponsored programs from Ganja and Baku participated in the forum to discuss at what age to teach human rights and how to prepare teachers to teach human rights in schools and universities. The participants also discussed their plans for making their hopes of having human rights in the currculum become a reality. Turane Rasulova asked, “If the Ministry of Education does not respond to your application for including human rights, what are you going to do?” The director of Dalga, Tural Tagiyev, replied, “If the Ministry does not respond, we will apply to international organizations and plan to appeal to the President of Azerbaijan.” Online forums are an easy and economical way of bringing people from different communities together to discuss topics of great interest to the participants.

Guba Lawyers Learn to Use Azerbaijani Law Database
On July 30, American Bar Association Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) in cooperation with IATP conducted a one-day training for 11 lawyers and representatives of human rights organizations on how to use the Internet to perform legal research at the IATP Guba site. Fuad Eminov, who is the chief lawyer at the Azerbaijan National Bank, led the participants in exploring the intricacies of the national legal database and showed them how to access various online legal resources. Eminov also demonstrated how to search for information on law and legal precedent through the Internet. ABA/CEELI installed the database on one of the IATP site’s computers and it will continue to be available to any IATP user who wants to do legal research. As a result of the training, the lawyers in Guba will be able to use the Internet and the database to minimize their legal research at law libraries. At the end of the training the participants expressed their appreciation for the training that will help them in their daily professional life.

ARMENIA

Wireless Internet Available in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia
The IATP access site at the Writers’ Union Creative House in Tsakhkadzor recently began installing a wireless network around the city to make wireless Internet access available to 90% of the city for a modest fee. Last fall, IREX began working closely with the IATP partner institution, Writers’ Union Creative House, to develop a comprehensive sustainability plan outlining the access site’s future operation without funding support from the US government. The Writers’ Union Creative House researched the local market to find which services were in high demand and would bring the desired revenues. Thus, Tsakhkadzor become one of the few cities in Armenia where wireless Internet access is widely available. Wireless Internet is particularly popular in Tskahkadzor as it is one of Armenia’s most vibrant resort towns and it hosts numerous seminars and conferences. IATP Tsakhkadzor site’s sustainable operation has enabled it to cover an increasingly large portion of the site expenses and is currently operating without outside financial assistance.

IATP Users Complete Distance Learning Course on Economics
In July, twelve IATP users completed a distance learning course on economics that was offered through IATP’s Distance Learning (DL) Academy. IATP recognized the role that DL can play in providing educational opportunities that are normally inaccessible to the typical Armenian. Thus, IATP hired four consultants to create DL courses to offer free of charge on the IATP DL platform in Armenia. One of the consultants, Yegvegi Ponomaryov who is a DL instructor for Moscow Institute of Economics and teaches at various universities in Yerevan, created a course on the basics of economics. The participants learned about contemporary economics, marketing, and the economic situation in Armenia and neighboring countries.

GEORGIA

Robakidze’s website showcases
some of her best work

IATP User Updates Artistic Website
In July, Christina Robakidze finished updating her website at the IATP access site in Kutaisi, Georgia. Robakidze, who is a budding young artist, an accomplished pianist, and poet, posted the website last year but recently learned more advanced Web design. Using her artistic talents and skills from IATP trainings, Robakidze created a visually appealing and easily-navigable website. The website, which is in English and Georgian, contains information about the artist as well as a gallery of her best paintings.