YEREVAN — Victory Park on June 2 waspacked with business people, activists, politi-cians and big name celebrities, volunteers andhundreds of others all gathered in support of one common cause — child protection.The event, called The Best for Our Children,which was held in honor of InternationalChildren’s Day, raised proceeds to support theFund for Armenian Relief’s HomelessChildren’s Center (HCC).It was only the second year, but participationskyrocketed. More than 15,000 people attend-ed. The event was organized by a group of vol-unteers, led by First Lady Rita Sargisian andformer First Lady Bella Kocharian, who is alsothe head of the HCC’s Friends AdvocacyCouncil.Philanthropy is a relatively novel concept inArmenia, and to strengthen its significanceorganizers coordinated meetings betweencelebrities, businesses and artists for their sup-port. By doing this HCC Director Dr. MiraAntonyan noted that the center has also helpedto establish and unify a broad charity culture inArmenia.“Almost all stakeholders in Armenia — publiccelebrities, businessmen, art and show businessrepresentatives and specialists working with thechildren in difficult and risky conditions — gath-ered in one crossroad to promote child rightsprotection. I hope our benefactors from thediaspora are going to be encouraged to see that their peers in Armenia are stepping up too, andwill continue to support us — Armenia’s chil-dren are in dire need,” she said.The day was indeed a testimony to theArmenian community’s commitment to help itschildren. It was not only a rare event when anation united in a grassroots effort, it was alsoa day when class boundaries were set aside. AllArmenians — rich, poor and middle class — wereunited and engaged in a single vision of hope toimprove the protection and education of theirchildren.Representatives from some of Armenia’slargest companies, including Coca Cola, GrandCandy, Tamara and Noyan Juice, sold theirproducts at the event, raising more than 1.3 mil-lion drams ($4,000) for the center’s programs. Just five companies donated their time andproducts in 2008. This year 11 took a stand tobetter the lives of their nation’s children.For some, like dairy producer Ashtarak-Kat,which has traditionally supported needy chil-dren in its own way, this was the first time thecompany had collaborated with others for thiscause. This newfound partnership will maketheir impact even stronger.Nearly 70 art and culture representatives,celebrities and government leaders also attend-ed. So did national assembly members and rep-resentatives from Yerevan government.Specialists who work with at-risk children werealso in attendance and media companies likeShoghakat TV, Ardzagank Radio and Radio Vanhelped to sponsor the event.Celebrities, including singers ArsenGrigoryan, Alla Levonyan and GayaneHovhannisyan participated, as did comedianAshot Ghazaryan and actress NazeniHovhannisyan.Through the HCC, FAR’s work on child wel-fare and protection has been exten-sive, and groundbreaking, and allmade possible through its support-ers. The center has provided home-less and abused children a safehaven since it opened in 2000.Initially started as a temporary shel-ter that offered crisis interventionand rehabilitation, the center is nowa full-service facility where abusedand abandoned children can accessshelter, counseling, outreach ser-vices, healthcare and legal assis-tance 24 hours a day. Since 2000,FAR has opened more branches of the center to serve even more of Armenia’s families. More than 4,500have been helped through its ser-vices and the number of beneficia-ries increases each year. In 2008,the center served 924 children, thehighest number ever.While FAR’s work has expandedin the last few years, the need is stillgreat and it has been compoundedby the global economic crisis.Thousands of Armenian children stillfall prey to abuse, neglect and abandonment every year. With more households stretchedthin, more parents are leaving their children inthe care of grossly under-resourced state insti-tutions. There, opportunity to better one’s life isslim. The number of institutionalized childrenin Armenia reached 12,000 in 2008 — a dra-matic increase from roughly 15 years beforewhen there were none. When they are forced toleave these orphanages, children are often left with no other option than to live on the streetssurrounded by drugs, begging and prostitution.For more information on FAR or to senddonations, contact us at 630 Second Ave., NewYork, NY 10016.
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By Thomas C. Nash
Mirror-Spectator Staff
WALTHAM, Mass. — At a talk given at BentleyUniversity last week, former Armenian ForeignMinister Vartan Oskanian offered a candidassessment of the political situation in Armeniaand its attempt at rapprochement with Turkey.Oskanian appeared at Bentley on June 17 topromote a book of speeches given during histime as Armenia’s foreign minister, published inNorth America by the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).Oskanian served in the Foreign Ministrysince 1992, serving as the head negotiator forArmenia in the Nagorno Karabagh peace talksfrom 1993 until his departure from government service in 2008 after the election of President Serge Sargisian. He served as foreign ministerfrom 1998 until June of last year.“These were truly a very interesting and chal-lenging 10 years for me,” Oskanian said of hisdecision to publish the collection. “I was alwaysconcerned that we were living history. Thisbook is a small way of paying back.”Since leaving his position as foreign minister,Oskanian started a think tank, the CivilitasFoundation, to work toward strengthening thegovernment’s commitment to democracy. Thefoundation published Oskanian’s book of speeches, titled
Speaking to Be Heard
, earlierthis year.Addressing an audience of around 200,Oskanian focused on the lessons learned dur-ing his time as foreign minister — and how thecurrent administration would do well to heedthem. Among his strongest criticisms was thelack of perceived legitimacy in the Armeniangovernment and how that has hampered nego-tiations with Turkey, calling the efforts“extremely disappointing.”A major issue during his tenure as foreignminister, Oskanian said, was the ministry’sefforts at complementarity when dealing theUS and Russia. He said the progress made isbecoming overshadowed by the current admin-istration’s policies.“We had to be very clear that Armenia willnot choose one over the other,” Oskanian saidof his tenure. “[By] simply being attentive to theinterests of major players, we managed to rec-oncile their competing interests in Armenia.”“The current administration doesn’t seem tobe staying that course,” he added.“Complementarity today is more important than ever, and the administration needs to con-sider its position on the issue.”Oskanian also stressed that the lack of democracy in Armenia continues to stunt thecountry’s growth, primarily because the gov-ernment has yet to establish legitimacy with thepublic.“Every time we go to elections, unfortunate-ly we get reminded that despite the fact that inthese past 17 years Armenia has come a longway and achieved a lot in democracy and free-doms, still we have a long way to go,” he said.“We haven’t yet made deep and broad progressin the democratic process.”“Sometimes we pretend that we are a demo-cratic country, but actually we are not,” headded. “With no natural resources, the onlypath we can take to prosperity is democracy.But we need to be frank with this; we cannot just pretend.”He cautioned, however, that the movement led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosianwas “petulant” in its displays of public protest.“It’s not power that can bring change, but legitimacy,” Oskanian said, later adding, “Wecannot bring change through the streets. Wehave to bring change from within.”Tying in his views on Armenia’s domestic sit-uation and its international standing, Oskaniansaid domestic troubles have weakened thecountry’s negotiating position.“I’ve felt over the past 10 years, that whenev-er we had problems domestically, my effective-ness outside was limited. … The internationalcommunity looks to our domestic situation togauge the legitimacy of our demands.”Oskanian also lamented that the negotiationprocess initiated by Turkish President AbdulahGul’s visit to Armenia last September has weak-ened Armenia’s position in the talks. He saidnegotiations had carried on in secret for yearsprior to the most recent attempts in an effort towin concessions without allowing Turkey toreap rewards from the US for going through themotions.“We always had the suspicion that Turkeywas more interested in process than the out-come,” he said. “The Turks wanted that processmade public, so that the Genocide recognitionprocess would get stopped.”He added that the recently-announced “roadmap” between Turkey and Armenia representeda defeat for the country’s interests, saying,“Armenia got taken for a ride.”Oskanian’s promotional tour continued witha speech at Fordham University the next day.
Vartan Oskanian (center) with friends from his time spent in Boston prior to becoming Armenian for-eign minister. (from left) Daniel Varujan Hejinian, Sarkis Antreasian, Vartan Oskanian, GeorgeMaserejian, Azniv Maserejian and Mihran Minassian
Ex-Foreign Minister Expresses Doubt in Armenian Government, ‘Road Map’
Vartan Oskanian speaking at Bentley University
Event in Yerevan Supports FAR’s Homeless Children’s Center
The crowd gathered for the event.
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