Civic Activism as a Novel Component of Armenian Civil Society

The mother of another activist originally discouraged her daughter from participating.
However, once the mother received positive feedback on the initiative from a colleague, her
attitude changed into pride that her daughter was a core member of a popular campaign.
Regarding the perceptions of relatives and others, it is also important to distinguish
among the different issues addressed by the initiatives. For example, a female activist who was
been involved in the Maternity Leave initiative says that the perceptions of all of her relatives
and friends were positive. However, she relates this positive perception to the subject of the
initiative, which is very much culturally accepted by the population. It would be difficult to find
anyone with a negative perception of the specific subject because motherhood as a value is so
widely and positively accepted in society. In her words, “For example, I believe, if let’s say, I
had shaved my head and joined an environmental movement, the perceptions of my relatives
would have been much different.” Activist, Female, 33
9.6. Public Perceptions of NGOs
Although negative perceptions still exist, we observe increasing numbers of NGOs being
established to pursue real change. Years ago, NGOs were established to generate profit. Now, the
tendency seems to be reorienting towards contributing to making change in pursuit of the public
good.
While the older population remains somewhat distrustful of NGOs, the youth sees
potential in these organisations, in terms of achieving goals with their help.
The difference between the public perceptions of NGOs and initiatives is that when an
NGO organises a rally, for example, one question that comes to mind is, “who are they doing this
for?” By contrast, such questions regarding financial support are not asked about the civic
initiatives. There is an inherent suspicion towards the activities of formal entities and informal
groups of self-organising people.
For reasons that are unclear, NGOs are regarded as ‘grant-eaters’, resulting in negative
public perceptions of these organisations. However, it is important to make the public understand
that the most genuine and largest grant recipient is the Armenian government and many of its
agencies, such as the police. They also receive many grants from international donors, but the
group that is regarded as ‘eating grants’ (defined as not delivering an impact but operating for
themselves) is for some reason NGOs. This misunderstanding and confusion should change. In
the words of an NGO member, “The greatest ‘grant-eater’ is the Armenian government. But
nobody seems to be paying attention to that.” Male, 45
To conclude with a quote from a leader of NGO working and succeeding in making
societal impact, “People don’t know what ‘gender’ is, which is why are sceptical about it. The
same way they don’t know what a ‘grant’ is, which is why there are negative stereotypes
advocating the notion of NGOs being ‘grant-eaters’.” Female, 60
82