Office of High Commissioner has done the utmost to put Armenia-Diaspora ties on firmer basis - Sinanyan

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. In recent years the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia has worked in very difficult conditions as in addition to COVID-19 pandemic, the country has also faced a brutal war which directly affected the Armenia-Diaspora ties. However, even in these conditions, the Office has done the utmost to put the Armenia-Diaspora relations on more fundamental and coordinated grounds, High Commissioner Zareh Sinanyan said in an interview to ARMENPRESS.

He stated that in this difficult situation it’s important to establish relations not on the principles of a donor or a philanthropist, but on a bilateral dialogue, on profitable, mutually understandable basis for both sides.

“In line with this, the Office has carried out major activities for the creation of infrastructure which is a constant work. Because when the issue concerns Armenia-Diaspora integration and organization of repatriation, it’s impossible to run a serious and substantiated policy without having respective infrastructure”, he said.

He said that the Global Armenian Summit, which will take place in Yerevan on October 28-31, is one phase of that dialogue. The event is organized by his Office and is expected to host around 600 participants.

Sinanyan said that the Summit will serve as a new format and dynamic platform for the representatives of the Diaspora and local partners to discuss the common challenges and issues. The summit will cover topics as national security, protection of Armenian interests, development of strategic fields of the homeland, repatriation, investment attraction, preservation of Armenian identity, Diaspora’s self-organization, etc.

“There were many opinions that it’s not the time for it, the situation is difficult now as Armenia has many problems at this moment. But in that case when is that effective time during which summit and dialogue could take place? We have chosen a format that differs from the previous attempts as the participants say that the previous forums were held in a moral formal format and did not give significant results. So, we want to avoid this and hold a summit during which we will gather, talk and discuss the issues of our concern, but we will do that in a reasonable way aimed at involving the results of our discussions in our future actions. And most importantly, we will finally meet face-to-face in Armenia and will be able to present the problems faced by Armenia in Armenia”, Zareh Sinanyan said, adding that the proposals, solutions and results of the summit will become the cornerstone for creating and promoting the pan-Armenian agenda.

The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs said that the Office also has repeating projects that are being held every year. One of them, which has just ended, is the Step Toward Home program, and 2600 Diaspora-Armenians applied to participate in it. 1200 of them got a chance to spend summer in the homeland, 200 participated in the program online.

Another important project, Sinanyan said, is the Diaspora Youth Ambassador program which has launched since 2021. 104 Diaspora-Armenians applied last year, but 20 were selected from 16 countries. This year the number of applicants is 56. And again 20 participants were selected from 13 countries. “The program has already launched, and these days around 20 young Diaspora-Armenians from 13 countries are already in Armenia. They have been provided with an opportunity to get acquainted with different areas in Armenia, the problems existing in provinces and establish close contacts between Armenia and their communities. The program first of all aims at boosting the ties between communities”, Sinanyan said.

As for the iGorts, another interesting program for Diaspora-Armenians, Zareh Sinanyan said that 1450 specialists from more than 30 countries have applied to the program in three years for working at Armenia’s and Artsakh’s public administration systems. 50 more specialists have already started working from September this year.

“The participants of iGorts have implemented programs in science, economy, investment policy, environment protection, social insurance, support to repatriation, study of the demand of Diaspora’s bonds, digital economy development and research on crypto-currency, public services digitization, road safety, water resource effective management, education, improvement of first care services, human rights protection, filmmaking directions”, he said.

The High Commissioner said that more than 50,000 data have already been collected within the frames of Mapping Diaspora’s Potential program.

Interview by Gayane Gaboyan

Photos by Hayk Manukyan