People spend a lot of time on YouTube and social networks, they should have options for something useful and interesting in Armenian:
1. There is no quality internet content in Armenian. We need good Armenian YouTube channels, especially something that will be interesting for children too. In its absence, children watch stupid Russian videos or any scam like that.
2. First step could be translating the best YouTube channels/TED talks into Armenian.
Vardan V., Armenia
Signatory
Back in July 2020 after the Tavush war, I realized that we, the Armenian diaspora need to do something for Armenia right away. Most Armenians in Diaspora have average paid jobs and unless we combine our resources for a specific well-planned project/s, the resources can be easily dissolved. The initial idea was to streamline the borderline villages in Armenia and Artsakh with building shared infrastructures and services that would motivate the rural population, give them hope about the future, make their lives productive and secure, and even boost tourism. Strong underground shelters; Water /Sewer; Electrical/gas grid/solar power; Rural and inter-village-town roads; Irrigation schemes; Area Center/Farmers Market; Kindergarten/Schools. Many things have changed since then. I however, keep thinking that we in diaspora have to do something NOW, today. The idea is this:
1. Gather likeminded donners, who are willing to commit to a rolling 1-year (or more) monthly contribution of $100.
2. Create a secure website (even thought of a name Մի Ծաղկով Գարուն) for donors, admin and the project team.
3. Find a trustworthy group of professionals who will implement the project/s (I understand the project selection and priorities can be different today).
4. Make all contributions, spending and accomplishments transparent via the website.
5. If one-year pilot is successful continue the initiative for next year/s. These are really high-level points and I am sure many others have suggested similar concepts, but the idea of fixed amount monthly contributions targeted on strategic shared services project/s, and the project implementation transparency might be something that will bring many Armenians together who are eager to do something tangible right away. Some of us have dreams/plans moving back to Armenia one day, working part time for Armenia, etc. These are all good plans, but we need to act now as the circumstances are changing rapidly and we can’t afford delaying what we can do today.
Armine L., USA
Signatory
The state should value the birth of every child. It is not about one-time payments. One of the priorities of the state's policy should be to promote the birth of children, regardless of whether the family is well-off or not.
Convention Participant
Հաճախ Սփյուռքից բարձրաձայնված խնդիրներն ու հարցերն ավելի լավ են հնչում, քան Հայաստանից ասվածները։ Սփյուռքն այս առումով կարող է ծրագրային մեծ առաջարկներ իրականացնել։
Համաժողովի մասնակից
It is suggested to create new programs that will promote close contact with Armenia: visits, games - for example, presenting Armenian mythology in comic form.
Convention Participant
I suggest that we as community come up with strategy initiatives, and give opportunity for the signatories to join the initiatives they can add value the most. During one of the calls with Ruben Vardanyan, he was mentioning the importance of having focus areas, which have the most potential to grow and develop in Armenia. I completely agree with his thinking and believe that The FUTURE ARMENIAN can start with a few focus industries, such as Tech, Education, Agritech, etc. Later, each industry will have separate initiatives which people can actively contribute to. This will not only help set actionable goals, but also will improve the sense of community. The signatories will get to know each other, work together, and hopefully even more people around the world will become signatories, as they will be able to come and contribute with something they are passionate about.
Suzie M., UK
Signatory
Only the state can unite the efforts of all Armenians, regardless of party, place of residence, and other circumstances. No public organization is able to do that. Our unification should be through the state mechanism. There is no other option.
Convention Participant
I am a Diaspora Armenian born and raised in California, the daughter of genocide survivors, a physician and biotech expert who has volunteered in Armenia for multiple years in health-related areas.My comments come from the perspective of someone who has tried to be helpful, but who encountered multiple barriers.My suggestions below are cross-cutting and address multiple goals.1)Create a Diaspora-Armenia Innovation and Business Park/Centera.Such an entity would not only attract many more diaspora Armenians to open businesses in Armenia, but it would also create jobs and potentially an economic boom for the country. Jobs would be needed to support all the activities noted below, to support the new businesses and to support the increased number of people engaged in business activities (down-stream impact on restaurants, stores, services etc)b.This would be both a physical brick and mortar office park and a virtual office park whose mission is to make it easy to start a business and that overcomes well-known barriers (corruption, complicated laws and regulations, socio-cultural issues, and so forth). Locations would be in Yerevan and ideally one in each Marz.c.Provide business support services and education to diaspora Armenians, essentially create a business start-up tool-kitd.Provide human resources services to help with hiring and employee management.e.Provide practical educational services such as language classes (Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, Russian, English, French), legal requirements and responsibilities in Armenia, how to set up vendor and contractor contracts in Armenia, socio-political topics, market research topics and so forth. Essentially anything that a diaspora businessperson would need to know to successfully open and manage a business in Armenia.f.Access to trustworthy, honest, high quality business support service providers that are fully vetted (e.g. attorneys, accountants, IT experts) g.Training programs for Armenia citizens to give them the skills needed by the new businesses (this could be a separate entity that contracts with the Innovation and Business Park/Centerh.Access to a variety of physical office spaces that can be rented or purchased.i.Access to executive apartments (long term and short-term rentals) that meet western standards of quality.j.Provide security solutions to businesses to prevent damage and theft (physical and digital).k.Liaison to government authorities to ensure government is able to address diaspora business people’s needs (e.g. 2)Develop in-country Armenia expertise in Eurasia Economic Union capabilitiesa.Given that as of this month all pharmaceutical and biotech approvals must now go through the EAEU and which gives any product approved in one country full reciprocity/approval in all EAEU countries, there is an opportunity for Armenia to be a preferred country in which companies conduct business to gain product registration.
b.Create businesses that provide pharma and biotech companies with the services needed to complete their product registration applications and to maintain their approvals/registrations. Become a one stop shop for these companies. Services would include legal and regulatory affairs experts, writers, translators (all documents must be in Russian), IT support and so forth.c.This could create many well-paying jobs for Armenians.d.This could establish Armenia as the “go to” country for businesses wishing to expand to EAEU countries. Given that Armenia is the most internationally facing of the EAEU countries, this is a logical role for Armenia. e.This will make Armenia indispensable to the EAEU success by attracting more businesses to the EAEU.f.Once this is accomplished for pharma/biotech, the same concept can be applied to other areas.3)Create a Diaspora-Armenia Healthcare Education and Capabilities Institutea.Improvement in the quality of healthcare in Armenia is critical to attracting people to emigrate and to attracting international businesses to open offices in Armenia. No one wants to be in a country for extended periods of time unless there is high quality medical care.b.There is a glut of doctors in Armenia but very few are well trained. On the other hand,there is shortage of nurses and cultural disparagement of the nursing profession (because they compete with doctors). c.The Institute could work to fix this long-term problem and shift the healthcare culture to one of high quality, high standards, accountability and collaboration across specialties and professions.d.This would include mentoring programs with top medical experts throughout the world, exchange programs, continuingmedical education programs and so forth.e.This would include working with the Republic of Armenia government to update regulations and laws to support a system that can provide high quality medical care and that can rout out corruption.f.This would include working closely with existing educational institutions in Armenia (YSMU, AUA, etc).g.Become an avenue for Armenia healthcare professionals to gain access to technical training, information, tech support.h.To become a think tank to problem-solve Armenia’s many healthcare challenges.4)Create a Diaspora-Armenia International Affairs Institutea.Similar in concept to #3 above (Healthcare) except for International and Foreign Affairsb.This would haveavery strong strategic component that included techniques for anticipating response options for different scenarios and game-out thesescenarios.c.Couldbe an avenue for collaboration with other international affairs think tanks of global acclaim.d.A means by which to set a higher standard and higher bar for Armenian foreign affairs which will becritical to survival of theRepublic of Armenia.e.A conduit to creating relationships with other countries that will enablethose countries to be motivated to support a strong and independent and flourishing Armenia.5)Develop a Diaspora-Armenia Philanthropy Societya.Create an NGO that supports NGOs.b.One thing that was clear during the 44-day War was that the ability of the government to provide humanitarian services or even to request humanitarian assistance or to know
which humanitarian organization were available to help completely collapsed in part because there was a lack of management of NGOs. This cannot happen again.c.There is also no strategic or operational coordination of NGOs.d.Armenia and NGOs working to help the people of Armenia would benefit from establishment of such a society.e.The Republic of Armenia would need to “bless” such an endeavor and agree to work and cooperate with this endeavor.f.Similar in concept to #1 above (diaspora business park/center); in fact,some functions could be shared between #1 and #5 (e.g. educational and training services)g.NGOs play a critical role in Armenia and should be part of any emergency response strategy.
Susan J., Armenia
Signatory
Reading. Goal is that people respect people, people learn setting goals and working towards them. Armenians do not make debts to buy something luxury. People understand life-long learning is feasible and valuable. Networking is not related to bribery and corruption. Armenians make rational decisions.
1. Create lists of 10 books every modern Armenian should read. It should contain books teaching skills/thinking needed in 21st century and books reminding and inspiring Armenians to be Armenians. “Atomic Habits”, “The Art of Thinking Clearly”, “The Art of Good Life”, “Emotional Intelligence”, “Freakonomics”, “The Richest Man in Babylon”,
2. Make reading books available for everyone. In rural communities, school libraries can work for the first time. We need public libraries like in AUA where anyone can read a book, maybe do some homework without being disturbed. We need to make internet accessible for everyone.