The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Announces New Strategy for Lebanon

LISBON — The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has developed a new strategy to guide its activities specifically in Lebanon. In the context of its 2019-2023 Programming Plan (to be published in fall 2019), the strategy for Lebanon outlines the nature of the Department’s engagement with Armenian institutions, teachers, students and other individuals in the country, while maintaining its focus on Western Armenian.

To enhance its capacity to fund educational and cultural programes in Lebanon, the Department has appointed Kayane Madzounian (Yoghoutjian) as its Program Coordinator. “We are very pleased to have Ms. Madzounian as part of our team,” said Razmik Panossian, the Director of the Armenian Communities Department at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. He added, “Kayane’s expertise in the educational field, organisational skills and deep knowledge of the Armenian community in Lebanon are invaluable assets to us. She will work with all sectors of the community to ensure that our support is effective.”

The Armenian community in Lebanon is a crucial element in ensuring the vitality of Western Armenian. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation remains committed to supporting programes in Lebanon, emphasizing innovation, youth engagement and local participation in initiatives that will have sustainable impact. Moving away from small grants to various schools, it will channel its aid to specific projects that address the needs of Armenian education in the country. The Lebanon Strategy being released by the Foundation is based on its assessment of the current challenges and needs in Lebanon. The strategy concludes on the importance of being “visionary and yet realistic, forward looking and yet grounded in unavoidable current realities and structures.”

The Strategy is comprised of five pillars, focusing on schools, on the preparation of teachers, on language-related projects and on youth creativity:

1. Working with and supporting Armenian Schools in Lebanon for specific initiatives
2. Giving Scholarships to Armenian university students to major in the field of Education
3. Supporting creativity in Western Armenian through the youth
4. Funding some other language-related initiatives that are currently in place
5. Supporting Special Education.

The Armenian Communities Department will start the implementation of its Lebanon Strategy September 2019 on wards.

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