ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
57/5 Arshakunyats Street
Yerevan, Armenia 375026
Telephone: (374 1) 44-74-01
Fax: (374 1) 44-74-26
PRESS RELEASE
Nov 17, 2004
UMCOR-ARMENIA TO CELEBRATE ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY BY GREENING
MALATIA-SEBASTIA ALONG WITH ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
Yerevan — In celebration of a decade of United Methodist Committee On
Relief (UMCOR) activities in Armenia, the international organization
will mark its 10th anniversary with a tree planting in the `Motherhood
Park’ at the Malatsia Sebastia Community Site, on Friday, November 19,
2004 in cooperation with the Armenia Tree Project (ATP).
UMCOR has donated a total of 1,000 trees to this park. A portion of
which has already been planted and the remained part will be planted
on this special day by the heads and members of UMCOR, ATP and other
guests at the event. Among them are thujas, ashes and junipers, that
will serve as a beautiful gift from UMCOR to the local community,
ensuring future generations with a flourishing dense green park, in
place of the site’s current deserted land.
The celebration and tree planting is scheduled to begin at 2.00 p.m.
Invited to participate in the ceremonial tree planting are
representatives from UMCOR’s partners and friends, the Ministries of
RA, and over 55 local and international organizations who have shown
support for the Armenian transition over the years. Expected attendees
include the US Embassy, World Vision, Jinishian Memorial Foundation,
Eurasia Foundation, UNDP, USAID, OSCE, and UNHCR.
Following the welcome speeches planting will commence supervised by
agriculture specialists from ATP, who will explain and demonstrate the
methodology of tree planting in order to secure the survival of each
and every seedling. Recently, the seedlings of sites managed by ATP
produce a survival rate of approximately 90%, considered to be well
above average.
The hope of this event is to foster community awareness of the urgent
environmental need to restore disappearing green areas. Furthermore,
the event will establish a basis for further UMCOR-ATP collaborations
with respect to community outreach and poverty reduction programs
throughout the city.
`UMCOR believes that improving the environment is something that will
have a lasting effect on the families that live in Armenia and we are
honored to support such an important initiative in commemoration of
our ten years of service to Armenia’, – says Warren Harrity, the Head
of Mission of UMCOR.
UMCOR and ATP already have had an opportunity to collaborate with each
other. It was in June 2000, when 3 volunteers through UMCOR’s `Global
Justice Volunteer’ program joined ATP staff doing volunteer work in
ATP’s programs. These volunteers were hosted by ATP employees’
families and they spent their time helping and supporting ATP in its
daily activities.
The greening of Armenia is an important initiative that UMCOR seeks to
support, and will do so through a coordinated effort with the Armenian
Tree Project.
United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR)
UMCOR was formed by the United Methodist Church in 1940 to alleviate
the human suffering caused by World War II. In subsequent decades, it
became UMCOR’s mission to assist people in need resulting from natural
or manmade disasters, addressing three fundamental areas: emergency
response, hunger and poverty, and refugee concerns. UMCOR works in the
United States and approximately 90 other countries. Nowadays UMCOR
also initiates programs geared towards development and capacity
building, addressing the roots of hunger and poverty, and provides
beneficiaries with the opportunity to become self-reliant. UMCOR
headquarters is located in New York City.
The NGO Unit of UMCOR was established in 1993. It operates as a
professional humanitarian agency and is funded largely through grants
from US and European government institutions, the United Nations and
private donors. The NGO Unit has offices in New York, USA and Vienna,
Austria. At present UMCOR directly implements programs in eleven
countries worldwide, including Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in the
Caucasus region.
In the aftermath of an earthquake, regional conflict and economic
distress, UMCOR established an office in Armenia in August
1994. Initially the office focused on the distribution of
pharmaceuticals to health institutions and clinics. Gradually the
organization transitioned from relief to more developmental activities
including the provision of medium-size agricultural loans,
micro-credit and the provision of agricultural inputs.
This year UMCOR-Armenia celebrates its 10th anniversary.
UMCOR responds to natural and manmade disasters worldwide. It
alleviates human suffering by providing relief and development
assistance without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender,
social status or political affiliation. The whole UMCOR membership
believes in human dignity, that all people have a right to a life in
which their basic needs are met. In Armenia, UMCOR assists the young
and the elderly; men and women; the vulnerable and the poor; the
healthy and the handicapped; those residing in the city and the
countryside.
On November 19, 2004, UMCOR Armenia will plant 1,000 trees in one of
its final 10th anniversary commemorative activities. A park in
Yerevan, known as `Motherhood Park’, will receive the trees and
provide a wonderful green area for the surrounding of high-rise
buildings, secondary school, and children’s polyclinic hospital.
For more information, please, contact Warren Harrity,
Head of Mission, UMCOR Armenia office
Tel.: 24 81 41, 28 29 77, 24 92 15
Address: 16 Karapet Ulnetsu St., Yerevan, 375115,
Armenia
E-mail: warren@umcor.am
Website:
Armenia Tree Project (ATP):
Armenia Tree Project was founded in 1994 during Armenia’s darkest and
coldest years with the vision of securing Armenia’s future by
protecting Armenia’s environment. Funded by contributions from
diasporan Armenians, ATP has by now planted and rejuvenated 580,000
trees at more than 468 sites ranging from Gyumri to Goris.
ATP planted over 19,000 trees at 51 churches in Armenia in 2001 to
commemorate the 1700th anniversary of accepting the Christianity as an
official religion in Armenia.
ATP’s Community Tree Planting (CTP) devision plants and tends more
than 40.000 trees each year, and the amount of planted and rejuvenated
trees grows sharply monthly. We are partnering with communities,
schools, orphanages and other institutions to plant and tend trees
that deliver a range of tangible benefits.
Our 3 nurseries (in Karin, Khachpar villages and Vanadzor, Lori)
provide high quality, drought resistant indigenious trees for
community tree planting. The Michial and Virgian
Environmental-Educational Center in Karin serves as a research and
training center for tree nursery technology. Many students from
Agriculture Academy have already participated in the classes led by
ATP specialist and experts from other countries.
ATP creates a village-based model of poverty reduction and
reforestation. ATP seeks to become `partners in development’ and
inspire villagers to become agents of reforestation via tree-related
micro-enterprise in remote Armenian villages.
For additional information, please, contact Bella Avetisyan, ATP
Public Outreach Coordinator Assistant at:
Tel.: 44 74 01, 44 74 02
Fax: 44 74 26
Address: Arshakunyats 57/5
E-mail: trees@arminco.com
Web: