Amalia Kostanyan award giving ceremony was held during an event “Engaged Citizens Against Corruption: TIAC and Partner Activities Fighting Against Corruption - 2016” organized by Transparency International Anticorruption Center (TIAC) on December 9, 2016, International Anti-corruption Day. Sona Ayvazyan, Executive Director of TIAC and Larisa Minasyan, Executive Director of Open Society Foundations- Armenia made speeches, presenting the significance of the award.

The winner of Amalia Kostanyan Award 2015 was Tehmine Yenokyan, journalist of “Lragir” news and analytical website, who in 2015 covering #ElectricYerevan civic movement, was distinguished by her high professional skills, courage and principle stand, which made possible to record in history one of the most striking examples of the Armenian citizens’ free expression and peaceful struggle.

The award was handed by 2014 awardee Lara Aharonyan, President of Women’s Resource Center NGO. Tehmine Yenokyan thanked for the award, hoping for the problems in the country to be reduced to such an extent, so that there won’t be any need to struggle against them. The award winner noted that she would like not only individuals and organizations to speak out and fight against corruption but the entire nation to join in the struggle for accountability, transparency and human rights to realize and not let any citizen’s right be violated. She also added that the award belongs not only to her but also to all those journalists who continue to struggle and do not allow for their and others’ rights to be violated.

Launched in 2011 on joint initiative of Transparency International Anti-corruption Center (TIAC) NGO and Open Society Foundations-Armenia (OSF-Armenia), Amalia Kostanyan annual Award honors an individual in recognition of his/her principled and courageous actions and contribution to the development of civil society. Amalia Kostanyan was the founder of Transparency International Anti-corruption Center NGO in 2000 and its Chair for a decade till her sudden death in 2010.