Our involvement in Armenia began in the early 2000s. Between 2006-2009, we collaborated with UNDP Armenia to implement a Sida-funded project to strengthen the capacity of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender’s Office to promote and protect human rights. In 2019 we re-engaged in Armenia aiming to support the country’s democratic transition and since 2020 we are implementing a Sida-supported human rights programme and other smaller projects.

We currently engage with our Armenian partners to increase the capacity of representatives from the judiciary, state agencies, academia, and civil society, to apply international human rights standards in ongoing and future reforms in the country. We work together with a range of local and international stakeholders.

Since August 2023, our cooperation in Armenia has been managed from our office in Yerevan.

Armenia Programme Staff

Laura Milne

Laura Milne

Country Director, Yerevan Office

E-mail: laura.milne@rwi.lu.se

Laura Milne is a senior human rights and rule of law professional with over 15 years of international experience advancing access to justice, labour rights, and gender equality. She currently serves as Country Director for the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Armenia.

Before joining RWI, Laura was Country Director for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in Jordan, where she led both the country and regional offices. In that role, she partnered with government and civil society to strengthen labour protections, combat trafficking in persons, and address sexual and gender-based violence.

Previously, Laura spent over four years in Myanmar, first as Senior Legal Advisor to a USAID-funded civil society and media strengthening programme, and later with the International Development Law Organization, where she advised on the design and implementation of rule of law initiatives. She has also lived and worked in Vietnam and India, managing projects on anti-corruption, clinical legal education, and counter-trafficking. In addition, she has contributed to programmes in Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Bahrain.

Laura qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2009 and began her career with Liberty, the UK’s leading civil liberties organisation. She also serves on the board of Justice Base, a UK-registered organisation supporting community-led democracy and governance in Southeast Asia.

She holds a BA from King’s College, London and postgraduate qualifications in law from BPP University, London.

Meline Avagyan

Meline Avagyan

Programme Officer, Yerevan Office

E-mail: meline.avagyan@rwi.lu.se

Meline Avagyan joined the RWI Armenia office as Junior Programme Officer starting on August 1, 2023. Previously, she has been working at international organizations as well as local NGOs in Armenia (UNDP, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Embassy of Armenia to Germany, University of Tartu). She was mainly involved in projects related to conflict resolution/peacebuilding, migration, and climate change. She also has an extensive educational background, holding a master’s degrees from Yerevan State University (Human Rights and Democratisation) and the University of Tartu (Political Science). Currently, she is about to finish her master’s degree from the American University of Armenia (Political Science and International Affairs).

Passionate about research and the development of her skills, Meline’s curiosity drives her to constantly learn and delve into new areas of social sciences.

Meline Avagyan would be happy to connect via Linkedin and Academia

Arman Gasparian

Arman Gasparian

Deputy Country Director, Yerevan Office

E-mail: arman.gasparyan@rwi.lu.se

Arman Gasparian joined the RWI Armenia Office in August 2023. He has a solid track record in the international development field, most notably with the UN and the Council of Europe, and has experience with project and team management, event organisation, fundraising and advocacy, and data collection and analysis. Alongside his work at RWI, Arman is also pursuing a PhD focusing on Public Governance from KU Leuven. Arman has authored close to ten academic articles, the most recent being “From paperwork to pixels: Workload and digital governance in Armenian local authorities” published by Frontiers in Political Science.

Nona Galstyan

Nona Galstyan

Senior Programme Associate, Yerevan Office

E-mail: nona.galstyan@rwi.lu.se

Nona Galstyan joins RWI as Senior Programme Associate at the RWI Armenia Office.

Nona has an experience in Programme Management with a demonstrated history of work with international NGOs, coordinating Human Resources section, managing and assisting different programmes. Nona is skilled in human recourses, public administration, governmental networking, data collection and analysing, youth participation, community development and more. Her latest work experience with UNICEF Armenia office, expanded her experience in Climate Change and resilience actions.

Nona can be reached at: nona.galstyan@rwi.lu.se

Contact the Yerevan Office

Address

106/1 Nalbandyan Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Email: office.yerevan@rwi.lu.se