On December 27, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan gave a press conference during which she briefly presented the activities that the RA Ministry of Diaspora had carried out this year and stated that the activities of the government agency were geared towards the achievement of the priority objectives and to the implementation of the programs that were envisaged.

“To meet the priority objective of improving the procedure and mechanisms for the integration of Diaspora Armenian repatriates (including Syrian-Armenians) into Armenian society, the Ministry continued its efforts to help Syrian-Armenian refugees solve their problems with housing, education, employment and other issues, organized eight sessions of the Inter-Agency Commission on Coordination of Syrian-Armenians’ Issues and six charity exhibition-sales, which are entitled “Breath of Syrian-Armenian Culture in Yerevan” and have already turned into a tradition. In the 2016-17 School Year, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the AGBU and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation co-financed 70% of the tuition fees for 436 Syrian-Armenian students, while the Fund for Armenian Relief reimbursed the remaining 30% of tuition fees for 25 extremely needy Syrian-Armenian students. The Ministry organized the summer vacation for nearly 200 Syrian-Armenian children at camps with the support of Save the Children in Armenia and the Fund for Armenian Relief. In November, the Howard Karaghuesian Medical Benevolent Non-Governmental Organization performed ophthalmological and dentist’s checkups for 45 Syrian-Armenian and Iraqi-Armenian children in the Darbnik village. Those in need of treatment were referred to the clinics of the Howard Karaghuesian Medical Benevolent NGO for treatment free-of-charge.

Importance was attached to the events promoting increase in the level of Armenian language proficiency of young Diaspora Armenians. The Ministry successfully carried out the “Diaspora” Summer School Program, the “Ari Tun” Program and organized accelerated Armenian language courses for the participants of those programs this year as well.

The Minister stated that all the above-mentioned programs of the RA Ministry of Diaspora and the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival, which was unprecedented in terms of the number of participants, were dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Armenia and the Artsakh Republic. The Poetry Festival, the Duduk Festival, the Choral Arts Days and Armenian Dance Days gathered nearly 2,000 Armenians from 23 countries around the world.

Throughout the year, the RA Ministry of Diaspora organized and held 8 pan-Armenian forums and conferences, including the first meeting of young Armenians studying at the world’s top universities (“Armenia: Create Together”), the “Armenian World on the Internet” conference, the conference dedicated to the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the 8^th Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists, the conference entitled “Issues of the Teaching of the Mother Language within the Armenian Communities of the Russian Federation”, the international conference dedicated to the 150^th birth anniversary of Avetis Aharonyan and more.

The Minister declared the year 2017 as the Year of Artsakh and stated that the “What are YOU doing for Karabakh?” pan-Armenian movement launched during the 8^th Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists is gaining more and more momentum. The Ministry’s “Hayern Aysor” (Armenians Today) electronic newspaper created a new section (“What are YOU doing for Karabakh?”), and the Ministry created a Facebook page called “What Are You Doing For Karabakh?” where there is information about events and initiatives devoted to the movement.

The Ministry has taken measures to raise public awareness and ensure proper feedback, and the Ministry posts weekly reports on its official website every week.

A new window was opened at http://www.mindiaspora.am in order to provide Diaspora Armenians with legal aid.”

Afterwards, Minister Hranush Hakobyan answered questions from journalists.