AWHHE Profile

Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) is a non – governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1999. The mission of AWHHE is to explore the issues of environment pollution and climate change in Armenia, to advocate the human right to live in a healthy environment, to promote the reduction of health risks from environmental pollution and hazards, to promote climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as healthy lifestyles focusing especially on children and women.

AWHHE promotes the sound solution of the problems related to health and the environment through advocacy and lobbying with decision-makers; education and awareness-raising campaigns about the environmental health threats and social injustice related to the environmental pollution; independent monitoring and investigations; capacity building of rural communities; promotion of balanced participation of women and men in decision-making and empowerment of women at all levels; organizing and participating in international and national conferences and forums.

AWHHE works towards long-term goals to reach the overarching goal, i.e. to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12 aimed at promoting sustainable development in rural areas; Goal 13 on climate change, and the Paris Agreement in frame of UNFCCC.

 AWHHE promotes sustainable development, protection of human health and environment and poverty reduction in partnership with international environmental and health networks. AWHHE is member of International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN, currently AWHHE is represented in the IPEN Steering Committee); Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF); Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe); Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG, currently AWHHE is represented in the Coordination Team); Health Environment Alliance (HEAL); Women for Water Partnership (WfWP); Health Care Without Harm (HCWH); Global Anti-Incineration Alliance (GAIA); Global Environmental Facility (GEF) NGO network; Break Free From Plastic (BFFP); associate member of the Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) and Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE). Since  2022, AWHHE is accredited to the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) of the UN Environment (UNEP – under the Women’s Major Group).

AWHHE believes that collaboration and effective partnership with all relevant stakeholders is a milestone for effective and successful implementation of the projects to improve and sustain human life and to reach our vision “Healthy Environment for our Children, Healthy Generation for Armenia”.

 

AWHHE’s major areas of work:

Chemicals and waste

Since its establishment, AWHHE has been actively involved in national policy discussions on chemical safety and promotion of safe alternatives in health care, waste management, water management and sustainable agriculture in Armenia.

AWHHE is national NGO focal point for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and national NGO focal point for the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) which includes issues of concern such as highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), lead in paint, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), etc. AWHHE is member of the National Steering Committees for the Stockholm Convention and Minamata Convention (on mercury). In 2023, AWHHE became observer to the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The main focus in the national advocacy and community work is harmful chemicals in products such as phthalates in children’s toys, PFAS in home products, heavy metals in cosmetic and other products, chemicals in plastic products for children and women, etc. The main concern is the endocrine disrupting, neurological and carcinogenic properties of these harmful substances.

Agriculture

AWHHE assists small-scale farmers, mainly women, to adapt to climate change through organization of trainings on adaptive technologies such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM),smart agriculture; support to small pilots by the trained small-scale women farmers; promotion of social entrepreneurship.

The special concern is the use of HHPs such as chlorpyrifos, acetochlor and others, in agriculture, which have endocrine disrupting, neurological and carcinogenic properties. The advocacy and community work focuses on the harms to the human health and the environment, and safe alternatives to these chemicals, including chemicals in plastic products used in agriculture.

 Water and Sanitation

AWHHE has been actively involved in the activities and discussions under the UNECE/WHO Protocol on Water and Health to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes since 2007, as a participant and active member of the Working Group on Water and Health, Task Force on Target Setting and Reporting, and Expert Group on equitable access to water and sanitation.

AWHHE has a representative in the Steering Committee of the National Policy Dialogue (NPD) on water-related issues in Armenia. The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia and the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe jointly undertakes the implementation of the NPD.

Also, AWHHE has a representative in the National Committee of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme and the Regulatory Board of the Water User Associations.

 

Renewable energy

In 2017, joined the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme of the One Planet Network contributing to the transition towards sustainable, resource efficient and low-carbon lifestyles at the rural community level, through a range of instruments: information sharing, the piloting for conducive policies, dialogues and partnerships with the relevant stakeholders for sustainable lifestyles and responsible marketing practices in rural Armenia.

Biodiversity

AWHHE works to advocate for protection of forests and for awareness raising of frontline communities.

Humanitarian assistance

AWHHE provides humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities. Examples include renovation of a secondary school and a kindergarten in Ditak village of Ararat province to ensure that the educational process is conducted in a healthy environment, and to help mothers have more free time for economic and other household activities. Following the recent armed conflict in 2020 and ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabagh in 2024 and resulting influx of refugees from Azerbaijan, AWHHE offers assistance to refugees by providing training on agriculture practices, identification and communication of needs to the authorities, provision of humanitarian aid, etc.