The ZANG Program continues to successfully establish links with new organizations and cooperate with them. One of the recent events was a good proof of collaboration between the ZANG Program, the Cross of Armenian Unity (CAU), an NGO hosting the Community Justice Center in Echmiadzin of Armavir region and the Alumni Council of Armenia of CABIR (Capacity Building in International Relations), an initiative sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Executive Education Department of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.
"Juveniles, Community and Open Police Day in Echmiadzin", a unique event organized on July 23 by PH International’s ZANG program in cooperation with the Armenian Police, the alumni of the CABIR program and the CAU, was first hosted in the garden of the CAU and them moved to the local police department. The juveniles engaged in the Open Police Day event were a mixed group of CAU beneficiaries involved in different CAU activities (Dance Club, Painting Club, Photojournalism Club, Theatre, etc.), children in conflict with the law and registered in the local police for preventive surveillance and offending children referred from police to the ZANG Community Justice Center which operates under the auspices of the CAU since April 2012.
The main purpose of the event was to boost leadership spirit among the participant youth and to expose them to the daily work of police injecting in them proper appreciation and respect towards the law enforcement officers’ work. Three of the CABIR alumni, who have achieved significant professional success in different ministries or other important structures, shared with the participants their personal successes, and gave them important pieces of advice on leadership and civic responsibility for the future of Armenia. Afterwards, Colonel Nelly Duryan, Deputy Head of the 3rd Department of Criminal Investigation of RA Police talked to the youth about the differences between a leader and a manager, shared her personal experience of successes and challenges, talked about how critical passion and enthusiasm are on the way of becoming a leader, especially for a female appointed as a high-rank supervisor in a traditionally male-dominated police structure.
There was also a very open, honest and interesting Q-&-A session, during which the young people asked a wide spectrum of challenging and important questions to the police officers and received from them honest and informative responses. The Police officers enthusiastically shared the details of their work, the difficulties they meet and the responsibility they assume when wearing the uniform. So, this informal atmosphere and the active exchange of information was an unprecedented opportunity for the young people, still registered in the Police Department, to know the Police Officers from perspectives very different from that of the investigator and the punisher alone. The most significant part of the event was the visit to Echmiadzin Police Department, where the young people were warmly welcomed by General Aram Zaqaryan, Head of Armavir regional Police Department and accompanied by other Police officials for a tour in the Police Department. The young people had an exceptional chance to see and test the arsenal of the police weapons, experience the taking of fingerprints, conduct role-plays in the investigation rooms and even have a short ride in Police cars using the megaphones.
It was the first event of the kind for the ZANG program, but definitely not the last one, as all the participants immensely enjoyed the event, and expressed their willingness and desire to cooperate in future for similar outreach and community initiatives.
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