On February 19, under the direction of Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, the Government of the Republic of Armenia discussed the activities that the RA Ministry of Diaspora carried out to implement the 2015 Action Plan and meet the priority objectives.

Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan presented the activities that the Armenian Genocide Centennial Regional Committees had carried out and mentioned that the RA Ministry of Diaspora had actively participated in all the activities aimed at preparing for and organizing the sessions of the State Commission on Coordination of the events dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In particular, the Ministry of Diaspora ensured the participation of the Diaspora Armenian members of the State Commission and the chairpersons (representatives) of the Regional Committees in the sessions of the Commission, as well as helped prepare and disseminate the required news and advocacy materials.

The minister informed that the Regional Committees carried out activities in a coordinated and consistent manner and highly contributed to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide with the support of the RA Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and with the governmental, state and local government bodies, Armenian communities, non-governmental and lobbying organizations in different countries.

On April 22-23, Yerevan hosted a global forum entitled “Against the Crime of Genocide”, which was held on the sidelines of the programs and activities of the State Commission on Coordination of the events dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Within the scope of the forum, the RA Ministry of Diaspora organized the international conference entitled “International Legal Issues on the Prevention of and Liability of the Crime of Genocide”.

The minister also touched upon the activities carried out for the implementation of integration programs for Diaspora Armenians in Armenia, mentioning that several legal, social, health-related and educational issues of Syrian-Armenians and Iraqi-Armenians have been solved, cultural events, summer camps, year-end events and Eastern Armenian and Russian language courses have been organized within the scope of the “Organizing of the Process of Integration of Diaspora Armenians” Program.

In relation to the activities carried out for disseminating the Armenian language and raising the level of Armenian language proficiency of Armenian youth, the minister informed that several programs and activities had been carried out to meet that priority objective. Thirty hours of Armenian language lessons were broadcast in Armenian communities through the Armenian Language TV School Program; the Eastern Armenian-Western Armenian and Western Armenian-Eastern Armenian converter continued to be expanded; about 46,000 textbooks and supporting materials were provided to Armenian educational institutions of the Diaspora; the Ministry of Diaspora helped open 15 new one-day Armenian schools abroad, organized a conference entitled “Issues of Convergence between Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian” and the “Future” Youth Forum, as well as training courses for Armenian language teachers in Australia, teleconferences devoted to various educational issues and more.

The minister also talked about the events held within the scope of expansion and development of cooperation with pan-Armenian organizations and the results that had been achieved, mentioning that in 2015, the RA Ministry of Diaspora signed cooperation agreements with two pan-Armenian organizations, including the ARS and the Union of Volunteer Land Defenders NGO. The ministry is also drafting new agreements to be signed in the near future. Cooperation has been expanded and deepened and programs have been carried out within the scope of memoranda previously signed with several organizations. Several joint events have also been held within the scope of signed agreements.

Minister Hranush Hakobyan also informed that the programs and list of events for the 2015 “Ari Tun” Program, the 2015 “We Sing Komitas” Pan-Armenian Festival and the 2015 “Diaspora” Summer School Program had also been approved by the relevant decisions of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Positively assessing the activities of the Ministry of Diaspora, Hovik Abrahamyan emphasized that the government agency had done a great job and that the active participation of the ministry in the events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide last year was outstanding. The head of government attached importance to the active engagement of Diaspora Armenian businessmen in Armenia’s economy and, in that context, considered the conduct of business forums with Diaspora Armenian businessmen in Armenia necessary.