In this issue:

- Work-in-Progress Series in Georgia

Would you like to participate in discussions of what is going on in Georgia and its neighborhood? Would you like to engage in vibrant academic community in Tbilisi? If yes, then the Work-in-Progress (WiP) series is for you! CRRC, together with American Councils and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) organize WiP meetings every Wednesday at the CRRC-Georgia office. The purpose of this series is twofold: we aim to engage interested citizens and the academic community with a discussion about ongoing research on topical issues. The participants in return provide constructive criticism to those developing their academic projects. This can help researchers, especially early in their projects - and also gives less experienced participants an insight into the "black box: of research. We speak about various research topics every Wednesday, so in order to receive regular event notifications join the Work-in-Progress group on Facebook!

- Selected upcoming events

* Lecture: The Attitudinal Differences Toward Political Participation for Azeris in Azerbaijan and Georgia, Baky, Azerbaijan, May 6 — Joshua Noonan (ENG).

* Fellowship Presentation: Comparative Mathematical Models of Ethno-Cultural Processes in the South Caucasus Societies, Yerevan, Armenia, May 20 — Samvel Manukyan (ARM).

* Fellowship Presentation: Toward the Result-Based Utility Sector in Armenia: the Case of Drinking Water Supply Services, Yerevan, Armenia, May 31 - Liana Mkhitaryan (ARM).

For more events, please go to our country websites listed below.

- CRRC in the News

* Investor.ge: Top Earners of Georgian Society: A Summary by Arpine Porsughyan and Nana Papiashvili.

* Investor.ge: Tracking Monetary Policy - One Big Mac and One Khachapuri at a Time by Therese Svensson.

- Blog Highlights

During the last year, the CRRC’s regional blog has been enriched with several new topics. You can find out about, for instance, abortion rates in the South Caucasus countries. You can also get information about CRRC and Saferworld’s ongoing project on community safety and citizens’ understandings of conflict near the South Ossetia. Visit our blog to read these and many other posts!

- Outcome-Based Evaluation Training at the CRRC-Azerbaijan Office

On April 7-8, the CRRC Azerbaijan hosted an Outcome-Based Evaluation Training. The training was held by Elena Krylova-Mueller, who is specialized in governance and development management. She has got 15 years of working experience in training, coaching, and development project design.

Fifteen participants, representing both governmental (Ministry of Health) and non-governmental (World Vision, UNFPA, and loval NGOs) agencies, participated in the two-day in-house training complemented by online activities on the CRRC Moodle platform.

The training was organized within the framework of the "Home Country Project" lead by Sabina Rustamova, with financial support of OSI. The project aims to provide a fundamental training in program evaluation for different stakeholders in Azerbaijan. The training participants were especially eager to be trained in program evaluation as many of the agencies in Azerbaijan rarely implement systematic outcome-based evaluation due to lack of qualified experts and finances.

As a follow-up, the participants agreed to expand the project by creating an association of evaluation in Azerbaijan, and to initiate joint projects and a network with other evaluation groups and associations. For more information, contact Yulia.

For further information: Armenia www.crrc.am - Azerbaijan www.crrc.az - Georgia www.crrc.ge