Armenian General Benevolent Union

On behalf of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, I am pleased and honored to join you for the third Armenia Diaspora Conference. I and other AGBU members here today (from France, Argentina, the United States, Egypt, Italy, Canada, Syria and Brazil) are eager to address issues which influence cross-lateral relations between the worldwide Diaspora community and Armenia and to identify opportunities for us to work collaboratively in the future to reach new levels of achievement.

This conference comes at a memorable and historic time. This week we celebrate 15 years of independence for Armenia and can take pride in the developments and progress that we witness all around us. I am proud to say that this year also marks the Centennial anniversary of the founding of AGBU in 1906, the largest Armenian nonprofit organization in the world.

I will try as much as possible to reflect on the major themes set forth for this conference. One theme focuses on rural development in Armenia and the launching of a government effort to revitalize rural infrastructure, facilitate economic development and create conditions favorable to working and

living in rural communities throughout this beautiful country. A second theme asks us to attend to a related topic -- Armenians in the 21st Century -- in a hopefully constructive discussion where we address questions of language, culture, identity and belonging in an ever-changing and dynamic global arena.

Serving as AGBU’s representative here today, I want to begin by sharing what we are doing as a worldwide organization to address these two issues.

First, to understand fully where we stand today in regard to priority goals and programs, I must remind you of our origins. AGBU was founded in 1906 to serve all Armenians and to preserve the Armenian identity – a mission that we all share today – 100 years later -- in this third Armenian Diaspora conference.

Thanks to the steadfast support of our members and donors, AGBU has flourished into a world-class organization with the resources and goodwill to serve Armenians across the Diaspora and in our homeland. Thus, we are able, willing and responsive partners in the efforts we will discuss during the next several days.

With an emphasis on educational, cultural, and humanitarian programs and an annual budget of $34 million, AGBU today serves some 400,000 Armenians in 35 countries. We operate 17 Day Schools and 16 Saturday Schools and have awarded scholarship grants and loans in recent years to thousands of students worldwide. Through our extensive global network of over 75 Districts and Chapters, 48 community centers and offices, and 14 Young Professional Groups, we sponsor numerous highly successful and effective programs aimed at strengthening the identity of Armenians with their culture and heritage. Indebted to the initiative and dedication of our predecessors and recent generations, AGBU’s first century of service systematically redefined the landscape of Armenian communities throughout the world and most notably, here in Armenia.

AGBU’s assistance began with the supply of agricultural equipment to the farmers of Armenia in 1907, the establishment of Nubarashen in the 1930s, the development of rural schools, the Marie Nubar Eye Clinic, the Tarouhi Hagopian Hospital, the Nubarian Home, which housed scientists and artists, and numerous other efforts to serve Armenians in our homeland during challenging times. With an investment of over $100 Million in Armenia since its independence in 1991, AGBU has and continues to demonstrate its support by creating programs that cement and extend homeland and Diaspora relations. Let me be more specific.

Today, our programs in Armenia, spanning educational, cultural, humanitarian and religious programs for all age and income groups, have become a priority for AGBU – stimulated by increasing support among our donors and major benefactors. During the past 15 years, our special projects in Armenia have served hundreds of thousands and annually employ some 1000 plus individuals. The American University of Armenia has over 1500 active alumni and enrolls over 400 students annually through Master’s degree programs in Business, Engineering, Law, Public Health, Political Science and International Affairs, English and Conservation and Environmental Science. The Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Center at Yerevan State Medical Institute serves hundreds of patients and trains medical students and doctors in all applications of ultrasound, including interventional, abdominal, obstetrics and gynecology. The 100-member Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which currently is celebrating its 85th anniversary, attracts tens of thousands of music lovers annually with their weekly concerts.

Boasting 3500 students, ages five to sixteen, our three Children’s Centers offer after-school instruction in Art, Music, Dance, Computers, Athletics and History. Our six Soup Kitchens provide 1200 pensioners and orphans a daily meal, and for those who are ill and handicapped, special volunteers deliver the meals to their homes. AGBU is also funding the renovation of the newly –named St. Nersess Hospital, which it transferred to Holy Etchmiadzin in late 2001. The hospital includes the departments of proctology, orthopedics, ENT, general laparoscopic surgery and others. In addition, AGBU provides substantial funding to Yerevan State University and other expanding higher education institutions and allocates grants for elementary and secondary schools, orphanages, theater groups, the opera, various video and documentary productions as well as for the translation and publishing of the works of Armenian writers.

With a strong belief in faith, AGBU’s partnership with the Holy See of Etchmaidzin ensures that our common heritage survives for future generations. Through the generosity of our donors, funding has been provided for the construction of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the largest Armenian Church in the world, clergy housing, St. Sarkis and Holy Trinity Churches in Yerevan, St. Hagop Church in Gyumri, St. Gregory of Narek Church in Vanadzor and the Vaskenian Theological Seminary in Lake Sevan.

In Nagorno Karabakh and relevant to economic development for our homeland, we initiated several projects towards restoring Karabakh’s economic, cultural, and educational infrastructure, including the construction of schools and a war veterans housing complex, the establishment of the Karabakh Chamber Orchestra and the implementation of the Karabakh Repopulation Project to rebuild villages devastated by the war, particularly in the border region. Specifically, the village of Norashen in the Hadrut region now has, with the help of AGBU, houses, a kindergarten, a clinic, and an elementary school. Pareshen, a second village that AGBU has assisted now has new homes and more under construction. In addition, AGBU is reconstructing two additional villages - Jrakn and Nor Jraberd. The land breaking ceremony just took place for new homes in Jkrakn.

In regard to rural development in Armenia, a focus of this conference, AGBU applaud the Government of Armenia’s initiative in Rural Poverty Eradication to ensure the comprehensive development of Armenia’s rural community. This is an important and ambitious initiative and our organization will be proud to be part of it.

We cannot and should not let it fail and we are confident that this conference will identify specific strategies and mechanisms to ensure its success. However, the AGBU Central Board foresees many challenges that we all may face as the program is designed and implemented. Usually, governments acting alone are not the most effective vehicle for undertaking programs of this magnitude. To address this issue, we believe that the government needs non-governmental partners and alliances to fully realize the goals of this program. We also believe that the government should initially create a model village that can serve as a demonstration site to encourage and motivate donors.

Needless to say, our hearts and souls rest largely in Armenia. We have demonstrated this through our past actions, and we look forward to further initiatives as the century moves forward. As we push to preserve our Armenian identity through cultural, educational, religious and humanitarian efforts, we have new challenges, new conditions and new parameters.

Our need to evolve is part of our responsibility to the new generation who may not be as tightly linked to the traditional forms of identity and heritage. The majority of young Diasporan Armenians do not speak Armenian and more will follow. Increasingly mixed marriages also bring identity issues.

Our programs must understand this and take it as a premise of how we operate and what we hope to achieve. To this effect, AGBU has recently purchased property in Nork, Yerevan to establish the AGBU Center for Young Diasporan Armenians. The objective of this Center matches closely one of the themes of this conference – fostering ties between the Diaspora and our homeland, The Center will be designed to encourage youth from the Diaspora to discover their origins and modern Armenia in an educational and cultural setting that fosters exchange between citizens of Armenia and Diasporan Armenians through semester abroad programs, internships, summer study programs, and cultural events. The proposed center will also host visiting faculty and researchers whose interest and study center on Armenian topics and issues.

There is no doubt that our investment is extensive in Armenia. That has been intentional and strategic. We understand and accept the fact that life in the Diaspora has always been, for us, tied to Armenia, our chief guardian –along with the Armenian Church –in maintaining our national identity. With the rise of globalization and the proliferation of Armenians in all parts of the world, we must work hard to find ways to instill a sense of identity. We must raise the Armenian consciousness of the new generations. One critical technique for addressing this is an absolute, undeniable, over-riding reality, which we must take into account – and that is when an Armenian touches Armenian soil, something happens to him and her. Many of you here at this conference as individuals and through your organizations have worked hard to ensure that this happens. We expect that our new Center will also make a considerable contribution toward identity-building.

As you can glean from my remarks, AGBU has created two types of initiatives in Armenia – those directed specifically for the homeland and for its inhabitants and those related to the Diaspora. We recognize and accept the fact that Armenia cannot alone meet all the needs of the people, particularly those related to the preservation of the Armenian identity in the Diaspora. As we have for 100 years, AGBU stands ready and willing to continue its intense and enduring ties with our homeland. We realize, that AGBU must extend itself further than it ever has before to embrace those of Armenian descent and generate in some but reinforce in others, the ties that bind them to us, our identity and our motherland. The call of duty to serve our country unites all Armenians. We have all stood witness as ancient civilizations have perished from this earth. For those nations that not only endure but prosper, a working relationship with the Diaspora is pivotal to progress and prosperity. The Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora take no exception. Neglecting the synergetic link between Armenia and the Diaspora only serves to impoverish both sides of the geographic divide. Mutually beneficial, you cannot have one without the other. Let us join together in this universal mission, greater than anyone of us…through cooperation and solidarity…to appeal to all organizations, religious or otherwise, to work as a collective whole with Armenia to tackle the challenges ahead of us in preserving what brings us together here in Yerevan -- the preservation of our national identity.