* Discussing Health in Azerbaijan

Did you know that one in six individuals age 15-49 in Azerbaijan are classified as hypertensive? On April 15, 2009 CRRC hosted a presentation on the Results of Azerbaijan Demographic and Health Survey (AzDHS) conducted by Siraj Mahmudov (UNICEF), Mehriban Mammadova (USAID) and Saida Ismay­ilova (Macro International). The AzDHS is a part of the worldwide Demo­graphic and Health Surveys program, which was designed to assist developing countries to collect data on fertility, reproductive health, maternal and child health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS. The survey was carried out by the State Statis­tical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2006 with the support of USAID, UNICEF and Macro International Inc. According to the AzDHS, nearly half of Azerbaijani women age 15-49 weigh more than they should - 30% are overweight and 18% are obese, also 40% of men age 15-49 are over­weight or obese. For more survey results, contact Turana.

* CRRC Book of the Month

Uncertain Democracy: U.S. For­eign Policy and Georgia’s Rose Revolution by Lincoln A. Mitchell. According to the book review, Uncertain Democracy is the first scholarly examination of Geor­gia’s recent political past. Mitchell presents a compelling case study of the effect of U.S. policy of promoting democracy abroad. This book will be avail­able at CRRC-Georgia library shortly.

* Selected Upcoming Events

 Workshop: Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: a Key to Sustained Competitiveness, Yerevan, Armenia, May 6 – Theodore Panayotou (ENG).

 Workshop: Foundations of Social Inquiry: Variables, Hypotheses and Theo­ries, Baku, Azerbaijan, May 7 – Elnur Asgarli (ENG).

 Training: Data Analysis with SPSS, Baku, Azerbaijan, May 15 and 22 – Anar Valiyev (ENG).

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

* CRRC Contributes to the Training of Unemployed People

IREX in the framework of IATP program in cooperation with Tbilisi City Hall and CRRC organized a joint training course for the unem­ployed persons. The training sessions consisted of two steps: part one was in Internet Basics – MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Internet Usage, Web Design and Blog posts and the part two included sessions on CV writing and how to behave on an interview. There were twenty unemployed people recruited by the City Hall to participate in the training sessions. CRRC offered this training as a small contribution in response to the toughening economic climate in the country.

CRRC Regional Research Associate, Nana Papiashvili held a two-day session on CV writing. On the first day participants were introduced to the purpose of CV in general, the process of writing and CV formats; participants were given practical exercises as well. The second day of the training was devoted completely to peer review; participants had to present their CV in front of each other and come up with suggestions and improvements. All of the participants were very engaged and moti­vated to improve their CVs.

At the end of the training sessions, those twenty unemployed people were awarded certificates. CRRC wishes them good luck in their job search. The opening session of the event was featured on Imedi TV channel. Check it out.

* Crrc presents on youth employment in Greece

On May 11-14 CRRC-Armenia Coun­try Director, Dr. Heghine Manasyan will be presenting at the 3rd Interna­tional Conference on Sociology in Athens, Greece. Her paper entitled “Youth Employment in Armenia” ar­gues, that gender, parental class and education level of the respondents are highly correlated with their employ­ment status. For more details, please email Heghine.

Armenia www.crrc.am

Georgia www.crrc.ge