Donors/Partners: World Council of Churches-Armenia Round Table Foundation (ART)

Implementing Organization: Aleppo-NGO

Project Duration: February 2020-present

Project Beneficiaries: Local, Syrian, Iraqi and Other Refugee Youth in Armenia

Project Description:

The “Bright Future for Youth” project supports vulnerable Armenian youth as well as refugee youth who have been displaced from various Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iraq, etc. and have settled in the Republic of Armenia.

The project has multiple components all intended to enable participants as high functioning members of Armenian society. The phases are as follows:

Capacity Building

The capacity building component consists of targeted training and other programs. This helps refugee and local vulnerable youth obtain and enhance their skills and knowledge to increase their competitiveness in the educational sphere and in the labor market of Armenia. The component also provides an active and dynamic platform for refugee and local youth to exchange their views, ideas and visions with international youth on a local and international level.

Scholarships:

Partial scholarships will be provided to university students of all levels (BA, MA, and Ph.D.) in Armenia to alleviate the economic burden refugees and local vulnerable youth face in accessing quality education. Education is the foundation upon which refugees can integrate in Armenia’s society and the tool all youth need to contribute to the development of the Republic of Armenia.

Paid Internships

The paid internship component will enhance the skills and professional experience of students and recent graduates by creating a platform to engage in professional work in their own fields of study. Furthermore it is constructive work experience that serves to bolster their resumes while preparing them for the professional world.

The paid internship program is highly competitive and only available to youth who demonstrate academic excellence and a yearning for professional growth. The credentials (CVs/Resumes) of prospective beneficiaries are presented to the most prestigious public and private sector institutions in Armenia and following an extensive review and interview process, those institutions make a final decision to recruit the intern or not.

The program affords an opportunity for youth to acquire institutional knowledge and professional experience by working side by side with experienced professionals in the fields in which they aspire to develop careers. Moreover, the program affords an opportunity for institutions to groom young professionals for potential employment and use the innovative and contemporary skills and knowledge of young professionals in their daily operations.

The interns are provided a monthly stipend of 50,000 AMD to cover their daily transportation and nutrition expenses.

Small Entrepreneurship Grants:

The small entrepreneurship grant program gives refugees and local youth an opportunity to start new enterprises or develop their existing enterprise (established at most 24 months prior to the submission of their grant application) through the provision of 1,000,000 AMD in grant funding.

Due to Armenia’s high unemployment rate (more than 18%), the country’s economy is heavily dependent on self-employment and micro and small scale enterprises. This small entrepreneurship grant program will help local and refugee youth establish or develop their own enterprises which contribute to income generation for themselves and their families and the overall development of strategic industries in the Republic of Armenia.

The primary beneficiaries of the project are vulnerable Armenian youth and refugee youth from Syria, Iraq and other countries from which they have been displaced and have settled in Armenia. The beneficiaries are between the ages of 16 and 35.

Since more than 90% of Syrian refugees in Armenia (the largest refugee population of the country) reside in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the majority of the beneficiaries of the project are from Yerevan, however, participants from other regions (urban and rural areas) are also incorporated within the various components of the project. At least 50% of the project beneficiaries are females, which ensures gender parity.