by Molly Stuart, Greengrants Intern
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ARMENIAN WOMEN FOR HEALTH AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT (AWHHE)
Greengrants has provided three grants to this organization, most recently to fund travel costs for a representative to attend a key meeting of Pesticide Action Network – Europe, and to support AWHHE’s efforts to strengthen regional networks and share information and strategies.
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In Armenia, widespread pesticide use for agriculture and malaria control has led to pollution of that country’s soil, its water and its agricultural products. Until the late 1980s, the Armenian agricultural economy was one of the USSRís most developed and pesticide intensive. Today, many thousands of tons of pesticides, including organochlorine chemicals, are still applied annually, despite abundant evidence that intensive, long term use of pesticides leads to toxic build-up in ecosystems. Even DDT was found to be in use as recently as 2005, although it had been officially banned in 1972.
Agriculture is a key sector of the Armenian economy, and one-third of the population lives and works in rural areas. Rural populations are unaware of the health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use, which increases the adverse impacts of those chemicals. In response, Armenian women who are epidemiologists, environmentalists, hygienists, pediatricians and teachers formed Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE), to promote a sustainable and healthy lifestyle for rural populations, especially women and children.
AWHHE was formed in 1999, in Yerevan, Armenia. Since its formation, the women involved worked to raise the rural population’s awareness of the dangers of organochlorine chemicals, which can cause damage to almost all human systems and organs, and to encourage the use of alternative fertilizers and non-chemical forms of pest control. The group has mobilized rural communities to advocate for decreased use of pesticides, and it has encouraged the government to adopt the priorities for sustainable agriculture from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
In May of 2004, AWHHE received a $4,500 grant from Global Greengrants Fund — made in collaboration with the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) — to help disseminate their “Alarm of Pesticides” project. This project was designed to raise the rural population’s awareness of the dangers of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and provide education on alternative pest control. In addition to raising government and public awareness of POP pollution, the group organized discussions with environmental NGOs and conducted a series of studies to test pesticide contamination.
The GGF grant helped AWHHE accomplish many of their goals. In 2004, the group conducted seminars in the rural Kotayk and Ararat regions entitled, “Usage of Pesticides in Armenia; Sound Alternatives and PURE Policy.” Another seminar on the relationship between pesticides and women’s reproductive health was conducted in the Ararat region. To inform the rural public, the group created leaflets and posters about organic farming and the health dangers of pesticides. AWHHE also used newspaper articles and television broadcasts, as well as an impressive English-language website, to convey its message. The group also conducted tests of breast milk from 42 different women, from different regions, to detect pesticide contamination based on the National Institute of Standards and Quality. It found DDT and its metabolites, DDD and DDE, in each sample.
With the help of another grant from Greengrants, members of AWHHE were also able to attend international pesticide events like the annual Pesticide Action Network (PAN Europe) Conference in 2004 in Barcelona. International meetings helped to strengthen the capacity of the organization and allowed the women to make international contacts. Now the group is recognized regionally and internationally as a leader in pesticide action.
There is no shortage of challenges facing AWHHE in the years ahead, as the Armenian government has yet to recognize the importance of the threat that pesticides pose to its people. Happily, there is also no shortage of energy on the part of AWHHE’s members, who remain dedicated to improving the health of the Armenian people. The coming years will see AWHHE continue to work on its advocacy programs, educate the rural population, and collaborate with allied groups as part of the PURE (Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe) Campaign.