Rosa Hakobyan. “I still have a way to go before the National Assembly”

Roza Hakobyan was first elected a member of the Anushavan community of Shirak province
in 2015, re-running in the upcoming local self-government elections because of unfinished
rural development plans. She, like other youth in the community, wants Anushavan to flourish
so that there will be jobs, men will not be forced to work abroad, leaving the burden of the
economy on the shoulders of women, so that young people's dreams come true in their native
village, so that the village will multiply.

Rosa was born and raised in a pedagogical family. After graduating from school, she chose to
pursue a pedagogical career and graduated from Yerevan State Pedagogical University after
Kh. Abovyan.

According to Rosa, there are more than 100 young people of different backgrounds in the
village. Although there are no recreational areas for them, young people can make the day
interesting. Thanks to cooperation with different NGOs, chess competitions, cycling,
weekends are organized for the village children. On the initiative of the Youth Active Group, meetings are held with the community leader, council members, and youth issues are discussed.

According to Roza Hakobyan, the unsolved problem of the community is the issue of
irrigation water. The reason is the open irrigation system coming from the neighboring
village, which stretches along the houses, damaging the foundations of the houses, and the
water floods the basements. With the money allocated from the community budget, the
construction of a closed irrigation system will begin next year.

A large part of the population of the village lives in poor conditions. During her years as a
member of the Council of Elders, Rosa Hakobyan has been able to solve the issue of textbook
rentals due to the community administration, and socially disadvantaged families have
received financial support.

Rosa has regularly participated in Council of Elders sessions, made educational and cultural
suggestions that have been incorporated into the community development program. For the
past four years, Rosa was not alone in the council, but another female member of the council
left the council to move to another country. And although Rosa is the only female councilor in
the sessions, she is not restrained.

Roza Hayobyan considers positive that the number of women in the National Assembly has
increased, that there are many young people, and that their bold and literate suggestions make
any discussion interesting. Naturally, she would also like to be in their ranks, though she
understands that she still has a long way to go to work on herself, fully master the Electoral
Code and other laws, overcome the constraint of being able to speak on her platform from a
high podium.