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RA Government Licenses All Mission Armenia Services and Day Centers

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  • RA Government Licenses All Mission Armenia Services and Day Centers

    PRESS RELEASE
    42 Garegin Nzhdeh
    Yerevan, Armenia
    Tel: +37410 44 47 92
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: www.mission.am


    RA Government Licenses All Mission Armenia Services and Day Centers

    USAID/SPSS Launch Sustainability Program


    Yerevan - The Mission Armenia NGO announced that on April 28 the
    Government of Armenia has granted full licensing to the organization's
    social and health services and Day Centers.

    Established in 1988 in Yerevan, Mission Armenia has grown into a major
    provider of community-based services and an advocate of legislative
    reforms in the sphere. The organization operates 50 centers in 24 towns
    and cities across eight marzes of Armenia. The centers comprise day-care
    facilities, health clinics, social-gathering sites, and soup kitchens.

    Mission Armenia provides nutrition, healthcare, counseling, referrals,
    and training to more than 12,000 vulnerable citizens. Beneficiaries
    include incapacitated elderly, disabled individuals, refugees, destitute
    families, and the unemployed. A distinguishing characteristic of Mission
    Armenia is that it provides nutrition and health services to elderly
    citizens both at its facilities and through home visits, with the
    purpose of ensuing maximum beneficiary comfort.

    Since 2007, a portion of Mission Armenia services have been financed
    through the Armenian Government's Medium-Term Expenditures program as
    well as by a number of local-government bodies.

    Referring to the government's licensing of Mission Armenia Day Centers,
    Aghvan Vardanyan, RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, said, "I very
    much appreciate the milestones achieved by Mission Armenia and its
    dedicated staff. This organization, which has emerged as an essentially
    grass-roots effort, has set the gold standard for altruism and
    specifically social-service delivery in the homeland. My ministry is
    committed to supporting the continued growth of Mission Armenia, as
    Armenian society as a whole stands to gain from improving the lives of
    our vulnerable citizens."

    With its recognition of the organization's diverse services as
    representing an effective model of social-service delivery, the
    Government of Armenia has also expressed commitment to expand its
    support in 2009, by partially funding ten Mission Armenia day centers.
    In addition, Mission Armenia has concluded cost-sharing agreements with
    14 municipalities for the same period.

    "This is a wonderful turning point for our organization and
    beneficiaries," said Hripsime Kirakosyan, President of Mission Armenia.

    "Beginning in 2009, donor organizations that support Mission Armenia
    will reduce their funding, based on Armenia's economic-growth
    projections," Kirakosyan continued. "Given this fact, securing the
    long-term sustainability of Mission Armenia's community-based services
    has become an urgent matter. As many of our services are unique to
    Mission Armenia and as of yet are not offered by the state, a decrease
    in donor funding would mean to have to turn away thousands of
    beneficiaries and even close several of our centers, which have been
    established through major investments."

    Kirakosyan went on to say, "As both president of a public organization
    and a citizen concerned for the continuity of a community-based service
    system that has taken years to create, I express my profound gratitude
    to the RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. I would also like to
    stress that the licensing of Mission Armenia services and structures is
    a great advance toward self-sufficiency, as it indicated the willingness
    of Armenia's central authorities and local-government bodies alike to
    invest in the social sector and expand collaboration with organizations
    offering social services."

    According to Kirakosyan, as an advocate of providing systemic assistance
    to vulnerable citizens, Mission Armenia not only provides core social
    and health services to beneficiaries, but strives to help improve
    social-service policy at the national level and develop social-delivery
    partnerships. Currently the organization is working with the Government
    of Armenia toward the elaboration of a national policy on aging and a
    host of legislative reforms. Such collaboration is expected to further
    bolster social-service delivery, helping it become institutionally
    grounded and better targeted, productive, and sustainable.

    Kirakosyan also expressed gratitude to the United States Agency for
    International Development (USAID) and its Social Protection Systems
    Strengthening Project (SPSS), a long-term development initiative
    implemented by TSG International.

    "USAID and, more recently, SPSS, continue to have an instrumental role
    in the development and expansion of Mission Armenia," Kirakosyan said.
    "Their support is not just about financial help, but a high level of
    technical assistance which will enable us to become self-sufficient in
    the long run."

    While USAID has been a major supporter of Mission Armenia, recently the
    American agency expanded its assistance through the introduction of a
    sustainability program, which will help Mission Armenia further enhance
    its organizational capacities and eventually become less dependent on
    outside funding.

    This month Mission Armenia announced plans to reach out to individual
    and corporate donors in both Armenia and the Diaspora, in an effort to
    secure wider public involvement in the organization's growth.

    "Today our goal is not only to excel at our services, but expand them
    considerably, as the needs of our marginalized population remain
    critical," Kirakosyan said. "By promoting corporate social
    responsibility in Armenia and reaching out to potential supporters in
    the Diaspora, we are aiming to make them an active, powerful part of the
    solution."

    Kirakosyan added that Mission Armenia centers try to ensure not only the
    physical but also psychological well-being of beneficiaries. "What we
    ultimately strive to give them are hope, self-esteem, independence, and
    dignity," she said.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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