4.9 Office in Yerevan Gender and Ethnic Mainstreaming From October 2-3, the Office, in association with the Armenian Police and DCAF, organized a series of roundtables dedicated to the issue of human rights and gender in the Police. The first of the round tables was targeted at police leadership, policy-makers, and human resource managers, while the second one, conducted at the Police Educational Complex, was tailored for police educators and trainers. The DCAF experts, who made presentations during the roundtables, covered the general aspects of human rights and gender equality and the relevance of these topics to the field of policing. The overall number of participants from both events was approx. 60. During the roundtables, the audience was presented the DCAF Toolkit on Police Reform and Gender, translated and published by the Office. The Toolkit is intended for use by various actors working on police reform. It contains a combination of background information and practical examples and tips to assist in the design and implementation of the reform process. Community Policing and Police-Public Relations In March and April, the Office and the NGO National Centre for Legal Researches launched the project “Facilitation of Community Policing Development in Armenia”. A series of meetings and sports events were organized in the town of Artashat in the Ararat region to inform and involve local communities. The meetings included representatives of local police, communities, and NGOs. Discussion focused on the concept of community policing, the establishment of Citizen Advisory Groups (CAGs), and the need for participation from civil society and local communities. In addition, NGO experts conducted training for police officers on communication skills and conflict management. On 1 June, a police-public relations event was organized in the Ararat region with the support of the Office to celebrate International Children’s Day. The purpose was to bring the local police and children together to improve relations and to raise mutual understanding. Police representatives presented their activities to the children, which was followed by a question and answer session. On 4 June, the Office, DCAF and the Armenian police organized a conference on police-public relations. Over 55 representatives from the police leadership, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs, the Ombudsman Office and civil society organizations participated in the event. Discussions focused on international and local approaches to strengthening police-public partnership and police co- 98 operation with other stakeholders being effective tools for building public trust in the police. From September 14-October 16, an intensive training on community policing for cadets of the Police College of the Police Education Complex was co-organized by the Office and the NGO National Centre for Legal Researches, who was in charge of its implementation. The training improved the professional skills of ten future community police officers through practical exercises in the fields of administrative problem solving and communication with CAGs. From 2-3 November, the Office co-operated with the police in organizing a roundtable on the challenges and perspectives of community policing in Armenia. The activity focused on reviewing the results and lessons learned over the twoyear period of a joint community policing project. The event brought together 45 participants from police leadership as well as police college cadets and community policing officers. On 24 November, the Office donated 35 computers to the Police to help enhance the professional capacities of regional community policing units. From December 2-4, the Office organized a study visit to Georgia in the scope of its project on Supporting Future Community Police Officers Project. Among the participants were two cadets of the Police College, Deputy Head of the Armenian Police Educational Complex, and an expert from the NGO National Centre for Legal Researches. The delegation held meetings with the leadership of the Georgian Police and Police Academy to get acquainted with the present situation and future prospects of the reform process. Gender-Based and Domestic Violence On 21 April, the Office organized a seminar involving key stakeholders to formally launch the year-long project “Strengthening Police Units on Domestic Violence”. The event aimed at raising awareness among police officers and other relevant actors on issues of domestic violence. In particular, representatives of the Department for Protection of Juvenile Rights and Prevention of Domestic Violence, regional police departments, relevant ministries, local NGOs and communities were brought together to discuss models for partnership and co-operation in preventing and combating domestic violence. From 7-10 July, the Office and the NGO Social Justice organized a joint two-day training course on domestic violence in Tsakhkadzor. The course was attended by 55 school inspectors from Juvenile Case Units of the Armenian Police and aimed at raising awareness on domestic violence, outlining the role of school inspectors in combating this