EURASIA FOUNDATION PLEDGES $2 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR 2005

ArmenPress
Dec 6 2004

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: The director of the Eurasia Foundation
Armenia office, Ara Nazinian, told a last Friday news conference
that the Foundation plans to provide Armenian non-governmental
organizations with around $2 million grants next year. Since its
inception in Armenia in 1995 the Foundation has made available some
600 grants totaling $20 million.

The bulk of that money came from the USAID, other major donors were
well-known Armenian Diaspora financial organizations-Lincy Foundation,
Kafesjian and Izmirlian Foundations, as well as the Open Society
Institute.

In the outgoing year the Eurasia Foundation has funded 70 projects
with a total budget of $1.5 million and has approved another 25 new
projects worth some $600,000. Almost two third of funding goes to
non-governmental organizations, active in Armenia’s regions. Ara
Nazinian said the policy of the Foundation is to shift the work and
investments from the capital Yerevan to regions.

He said the main focus of next year’s projects will be on projects
of regional importance, which will cover improvement of business
environment, development of local self-management bodies, improvement
of conditions of local mass media and introduction of high technology
in higher educational system.

Along with that the Eurasia Foundation will fund all other projects
which contain innovations and tend to strengthening of democratic
society.