The Armenian Communities Department is committed to supporting various civil society organizations in Armenia, particularly those that promote civic education and civic participation. The Board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation recently approved 202,000 USD for several civil society initiatives in Armenia. These include: Wikimedia Armenia, Yerekouyn.com, «Inknakir», Ashot Johannissyan Research Institute and the Jinishian Memorial Foundation. It also approved a grant to the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran.

Wikimedia Armenia has the only “wiki” franchise in the South Caucasus. It has had a significant impact in increasing the presence of Armenian language on the web and reaching young people via various projects such as the “wiki” writing camps. Support is being given to increase the number of articles written in Western Armenian.

Yerakouyn.com is an independent real-time non-partisan news service in Western Armenian run out of Yerevan. It is managed by a team of Armenians from the Middle East.

«Inknakir» magazine and literary society gives young writers the opportunity to publish their literary works and has been a source for literary innovation. The grant is directed towards commissioning new pieces for publication and translating from English to Armenian, and Armenian to English, significant articles, essays and literature.

Ashot Johannissyan Research Institute is a new NGO established in Armenia which aims to develop and encourage critical research in the humanities field. Support will be mainly given to the Nerqin Grots Matenashar project which will translate and publish in Armenia PhD dissertations by Armenian scholars who studied in European universities at the turn of the 20^th century.

The Armenian Communities Department will continue its partnership with the Jinishian Memorial Foundation on civic education. Support will be provided for a project which aims to develop the capacity of university students and encouraging their interaction with young people in their communities. Most of the project will take place in the regions of Armenia

For over 10 years the Armenian Communities Department has partnered with Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran (Manuscript Library). We will continue supporting the research teams behind the preparation of the Madenakirk Hayots series. Most recently we have financed the preparation and printing of volumes 16-20. Our subsequent grant is contingent upon the digital publication of the Madenakirk Hayots series.

These grants are in addition to other initiatives approved earlier this year, as well as, the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Ministry of Diaspora.