Vice-President of the Armenian Youth Association of Moscow Gaiane Gharibyan is participating in the Course for Young Leaders and Community Activists, which is part of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia. Established in 2011, the Armenian Youth Association of Moscow has members representing 20 cities across the Russian Federation.

The members of the Armenian Youth Association of Moscow have been actively participating in the “Diaspora” Summer School Program ever since it was launched in 2012. In regard to this, Gaiane said the following in an interview with Hayern Aysor: “We have already achieved high results by participating in the “Diaspora” Summer School Program. In 2014, with the aim to consolidate all the youth organizations in the Russian Federation, we decided to establish the Youth Congress of the Armenian community of Russia, which organized its second forum in Perm this year. Generally speaking, all our programs are aimed at keeping Diaspora Armenian youth attached to their national values and instill them with the idea of unity and the feeling of patriotism so that they can resist the current challenges abroad.”

Today, the Youth Congress of the Armenian community of Russia has 100 active members who carry out different kinds of events aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.

The Youth Congress often organizes forums and conferences for economists, lawyers and other specialists and holds screenings of Armenian films. There is also a choir and a dance group.

The Youth Congress also helped the army of Artsakh during the four-day war in April. Through fundraisers, the Congress purchased four devices that determine the frequency of pulses and respiration and sent them to the state medical center in Stepanakert. The members of the Youth Congress have also decided to provide monthly financial assistance to soldier Roland Sahakyan, who was wounded and is currently undergoing treatment at the military hospital of Muratsan.

One of the Youth Congress’s new initiatives is the “Spyurk” (Diaspora) application for mobile phones presented in April. By downloading the app, one can receive news about the events and upcoming programs of the Armenian Youth Association of Moscow. The Congress intends to provide information about the Armenian community of Moscow in the application later.

Gaiane Gharibyan added that the “Diaspora” Summer School Program will provide her with the opportunity to improve her knowledge of Armenian, meet representatives of other Armenian communities and establish contacts with them for future cooperation. According to her, this is the ideology of the Youth Congress of the Armenian community of Russia.

Gevorg Chichyan