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FREE HAPPY PEOPLE is an international network uniting experts and trainers engaged in the development of local communities and civic initiatives in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Experts of the organization work in the areas of peacebuilding, post-conflict development of the communities, post-trauma, empowering grassroots activism, promoting gender equality and women's rights.

ANALYTICS
We help local organizations and activists in analysing their most pressing community
problems and needs.
TRAININGS
We conduct trainings on organizational and personal development of activists, increasing
motivation and preventing professional burnout.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
We help develop social and community projects. Our projects contribute to personal growth,
sustainability and awareness of activists, strategic development of civil society organizations
and reshaping values of local communities.
OUR PROJECTS
CULTIVATING GENDER AND SOCIAL SENSIBILITY OF YOUNG MALE
LEADERS OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS
Implemented in 2016, the project targeted young men (under 35 years old) from four North-
Caucasian republics (Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan and Ingushetia).
Among the participants of the trainings there were activists, journalists, bloggers, religious
leaders, school teachers, and university professors.
The project was aimed at cultivating gender and social sensibility of the target group,
increasing their motivation to participate in social activism, as well as at developing personal
resources necessary for social work.
Each training included verbal-reflective practices, group work, forum theatre sessions,
lectures and body moving exercises.

PEACEBUILDING, THE ROLE OF WOMEN AND CONFLICT PREVENTION IN
CONFLICT ZONES
An interregional education and exchange project for activists, workers of non-profit
organizations and gender experts from North and South Caucasus.
The implementation of the project began in 2013. The project includes annual conferences for
social leaders, experts and activists working with gender issues and peacebuilding, which take
place in Yerevan and are supported by the non-profit organization Democracy Today. The
mains issues of the project are wars, conflicts, terrorism, fragile peace, and influence of these
processes on women; conflict regions and possibilities of peacebuilding activities.
COOPERATION BETWEEN NGOs OF KYRGYZSTAN AND THE NORTH
CAUCASUS
Experience exchange meetings between Kyrgyz and North Caucasian activists and NGO
workers.
The first meeting took place in August 2016 within the framework of the UNiTE network. It
was devoted to exchange of experience in prevention and eradication of violence.
A rehabilitation seminar for girl activists and feminists, as well as a training in Turkey, aimed
at experience exchange between the representatives of Kyrgyz and North Caucasian NGOs
working with issues of gender violence, were organized as part of the project.
A COLLECTION OF ARTICLES "A WOMAN AND ISLAM"
A collection of articles "A Woman and Islam" contains articles of the leading Russian Islam
scholars as well as an interview with Leila Ahmed, an Egyptian-American professor of the
Harvard University specializing in studying Islam and Islam feminism.
The book provides answers to the following questions: How do law scholars define the status
of a woman in Islamic society? How are these regulations implemented in practice? Does
Islam feminism really exist and what is it about? How was the image of a woman constructed
in Arab poetry? How was literature used by the reading Muslim women in a male-dominated
society? These and many other aspects are covered in the book, providing the reader with a
special focus on both past and present of female Russian Muslims.
A pdf-version of the book is available online.
.

REHABILITATION TRAININGS FOR NGOs AND ACTIVISTS
Prevention, rehabilitation and motivation trainings for representatives of civil society,
activists, human rights advocates, and journalists.
The trainings are run by psychotherapists and leading coaches who are experienced in
working with civil society and use their personal techniques (narrative practice, logotherapy,
psychodrama, body and art therapy).
The goal of the project is to give the participants an opportunity to elaborate on their problems
and to leave the training with a set of tools to help them stay motivated and cope with
stressful situations.
The participants report feeling better and having more energy and motivation to continue their
work. After the trainings we run peer support groups and provide individual consultations
with psychotherapists.
"WHY DO I DO THIS?", THE STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO HELP
The project "Why Do I Do This?" is a series of interviews with Russian civil and human
rights activists on the Colta.ru website that explains their motivation to engage in different
civil movements and to work for NGOs.
Russian civil society is going through a deep crisis nowadays. Many organizations and
activists are experiencing burnouts and decreased levels of motivation. At the same time, new
forms of civil activism arise. At this very moment it is crucial to reflect on and make sense of
"the altruistic" motives of those who have long been engaged in the work of the civil sector
and to understand what helps these people cope with disappointment, pressure and instability.
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OUR EXPERTS
IRINA KOSTERINA
Researcher, analyst, coach, director and executor of projects aimed at developing grassroots
activism and promoting gender equality in the North Caucasus; expert in civic development,
author and manager of the "Sustainable Activism" project, international organizations
consultant (e.g. IRC, Global Fund for Women, ILGA-Europe, Oxfam).
INNA AYRAPETYAN
Rehabilitation programme trainer, expert in forum-theatre technique, supervisor, personal and
social projects development trainer. Trauma and post-conflict specialist (North Caucasus,
Ukraine).
DMITRYI STEBAKOV
Clinical psychologist, individual and family therapist, coach in personal development, expert
in brief psychotherapy for children and adults.
A leading coach at rehabilitation and motivation trainings for Russian activists and human
rights advocates.
AKAZKAN ORMONOVA
Member of regional parliament of the Kara-Suu district in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan.
UNDP gender expert. Consultant-trainer of international projects, such as "Gender
Mainstreaming in Local Authorities", OSCE; UNDP Poverty Reduction Programs.
GULNARA SHAKHINYAN
Director of the NGO Democracy Today (Armenia). Expert in human trafficking and slavery
prevention, women rights defence and gender violence prevention.
JULIA BASHINOVA
Free Happy People project administrator. Member of public awareness raising campaigns on
human rights, public interests and anti-discriminatory initiatives. Journalist, activist. Vilnius,
Lithuania.
CONTACT US
WE ARE ALWAYS OPEN FOR COOPERATION AND HELP. YOU CAN CONTACT US
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE QUALIFICATIONS OF OUR
EXPERTS
E-mail: freehappypeople2016@gmail.com
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